Kindling the Samhain fire…
No ads on the table — just stones, the moon, and the host of the dead
Play Samhain: The Veil Between — a free Celtic block-blast puzzle
Play Samhain: The Veil Between free. A Celtic block-blast puzzle: set carved standing stones, seal ley-lines to banish the Sluagh, and save the swan-maiden Caer Ibormeith. 30 chapters, four acts, endless mode.
Samhain: The Veil Between is a free browser block puzzle built on the Celtic feast of Samhain, the old origin of Halloween. In the story, the Morrígan has loosed the Sluagh — the restless host of the dead — and the swan-maiden Caer Ibormeith is dissolving into wraiths. You are the last druid of Brú na Bóinne: drag carved standing stones onto the great stone table, seal ley-lines, and hold the door until dawn.
The loop is simple and merciless. Three stones are offered at a time; they never rotate; every cell you fill counts. Complete a full row or column and the line seals — swept away for points, taking any grave-slabs or wraiths with it. The chapter is won at the target line and lost the moment no offered stone fits anywhere. Two hazards keep the table honest: cursed grave-slabs rise from Act II, and from Act III the Sluagh land a wraith every few stones you set.
How to play
- Drag or tap. Drag a stone from the shelf onto the table, or tap the stone and then tap a glowing cell. The ghost preview shows exactly where it will land — red means it cannot fit.
- Seal lines. A full row or column is swept for 100 points. Several lines at once pay 50 points per extra line.
- Build streaks. Every consecutive placement that seals grows the streak bonus by 20 points a step.
- Watch the hazards. Grave-slabs and wraiths block their cells until a sealed line crosses them.
- Hit the target. Reach the printed target to win the chapter; three stars want 80 percent of the solver's par.
The rules, exactly
| Thing | What it does | What it pays or costs |
|---|---|---|
| Stone cell placed | Fills one cell of the table | 2 points per cell |
| Sealed line | A full row or column is swept away | 100 points |
| Multi-seal | Several lines sealed by one stone | 50 points per extra line |
| Streak | Consecutive placements that seal | 20 points × streak |
| Veil perfect | The table is emptied in one seal | 500 points |
| Grave-slab | Blocks its cell from Act II on | Gone only when its line seals |
| Wraith | Lands every few stones from Act III on | Gone only when its line seals |
| Hint | Three per chapter, solver-proven | Free |
The four acts of the ladder
| Act | Chapters | Where you are | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| I · The Hazel Woods | 1–8 | Samhain eve under the trees | The stones teach themselves; no hazards |
| II · The Mound of Hostages | 9–16 | The ancient burial mounds | Grave-slabs rise; only sealed lines remove them |
| III · The Plain of Wands | 17–24 | The bare plain the Sluagh ride | Wraiths land every few stones |
| IV · Brú na Bóinne | 25–30 | The great passage-mound at the Boyne | Graves and wraiths share the table |
Why every chapter can be finished
Every chapter runs on a fixed, seeded stone sequence — no random numbers while you play. During development a reference solver played every chapter with the same rules the player gets, its score was recorded as the par, and the win target was set to forty-five percent of that score. The same solver is shipped inside the game as the hint button, so the hint always offers a line that is actually on the board.
Strategy that actually works
- Keep the country wide. Big stones need big rooms; a board of single-cell pockets is how runs end.
- Clear from the edges inward, and never leave a hole you can only fill with the one shape you do not have.
- Spend the tray smallest-first when the table is open, and biggest-first when it is tight.
- Seal through grave-slabs and wraiths early — the longer they squat, the fewer lines remain that touch them.
- Streaks are the quiet multiplier: plan a seal for every placement if the table allows it.
Technical notes
Everything is generated: no image is loaded by the game, no audio file is played, no third-party script runs. The stones, the table, the moon and the mist are Canvas 2D drawn from the same level data the reference solver reads, and the drone, the harp plucks, the stone clacks and the seal chimes are synthesised with the Web Audio API. The rules contain no random numbers — every stone comes from a seeded sequence, so a chapter plays identically on every device. Progress and stars live in your own browser under samhain.veil.v1. Nothing is uploaded, because there is no server.
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Samhain: The Veil Between — frequently asked questions
What is Samhain: The Veil Between?
It is a free browser block puzzle built on the Celtic feast of Samhain, the old origin of Halloween. In the story, the Morrígan has loosed the Sluagh — the restless host of the dead — and the swan-maiden Caer Ibormeith is dissolving into wraiths. You are the last druid of Brú na Bóinne, setting carved standing stones to seal ley-lines and close the veil. Thirty chapters across four acts, plus an endless mode.
How do you play it?
Drag one of the three offered stones onto the eight-by-eight table, or tap the stone and then tap a glowing cell. Stones never rotate. When every cell of a full row or a full column holds stone, the line seals and all of it is swept away for points. The chapter is won when your score reaches the target line; it is lost when none of the three offered stones can fit anywhere.
What are grave-slabs and wraiths?
They are the two hazards. Grave-slabs rise out of the table from Act II onward: nothing can be built over them, and the only way to clear one is to seal its row or its column. From Act III onward, every few stones you set, a wraith slips through the veil and lands on an empty cell, where it blocks the same way. Both are swept away by any sealed line that crosses them.
How does scoring work?
You score two points per stone cell placed, one hundred per sealed line, fifty for each extra line sealed at the same moment, and a streak bonus that grows with every consecutive placement that seals something. Emptying the whole table in one seal pays a five-hundred-point perfect bonus. Each chapter prints the reference score a strong solver achieved; three stars want eighty percent of it, two stars sixty-two percent, and one star is the chapter target.
Is every chapter actually winnable?
Yes, and it is measured rather than promised. Every chapter runs on a fixed, seeded stone sequence — no random numbers while you play. During development a reference solver played every chapter with the same rules the player gets, its score was recorded as the par, and the win target was set to forty-five percent of that score. The same solver is shipped inside the game as the hint button, so the hint always offers a line that is actually on the board.
What is the endless mode?
The Long Night. Waves of ever-larger targets with no chapter end: stones keep coming, the mix of shapes gets meaner, and from the third wave the Sluagh land wraiths on the table more and more often. Your best wave and score are kept in your own browser.
Does it work on a phone, and does it cost anything?
No download, no install, no account and no payment. The whole game is one HTML5 page: every stone, grave, wraith and sound is drawn or synthesised in the browser. Drag-and-drop works with a mouse and tap-to-place works with a thumb, and it runs down to a 320-pixel screen in portrait or landscape. Progress and stars are stored in your own browser and nothing is uploaded.