Gerrymandle tutorial: learn step by step
The interactive tutorial above teaches the core mechanics of Gerrymandle across four short puzzles, each built around a single idea. You begin by drawing simple districts and work up to empty terrain and maps with three parties. If you get stuck you can reset a level and try a different approach. The whole tutorial takes about two to three minutes.
What each level teaches
- Drawing your first districts on a small, mostly blue map. You learn to tap houses to group them into a district and win more districts than your rival.
- Winning when the houses are split evenly. You pack the orange voters together so blue still takes most of the districts.
- Drawing districts around empty terrain. Empty tiles hold no houses and cast no votes, so you build your districts around them.
- Winning against two rival parties. You pair up your rivals so a district ties, and a tied district wins for nobody.
Mistakes new players make
New players tend to hit the same few snags. Watch out for these:
- Leaving a district unfinished. Every house has to belong to a district, and all districts must be the same size before you can submit.
- Drawing a disconnected district. Each district has to be one connected shape, with no separate islands.
- Forgetting that empty tiles do not vote. Only houses count toward who wins a district; empty land just bridges them together.
- Spreading your own voters too thin. To win more districts with fewer houses, pack your rivals together and spread your support just far enough to win.
What to play next
Once you finish all four steps you reach a completion screen. From there you have a few options:
- Play today's daily puzzle. A new puzzle is published every day at midnight in your timezone, and everyone gets the same one, so you can compare results.
- Browse community levels. These are puzzles created by other players, ranging from beginner friendly to expert.
- Create your own levels in the editor. Design maps with custom terrain, party mixes, and district counts.
For a full explanation of the rules, including ties, packing, and cracking, see the How to play guide on the homepage.
Replaying the tutorial
You can run through the tutorial again any time from the "Play the tutorial" button in the How to play section on the homepage. Your tutorial progress is kept separate from your daily puzzle stats, so replaying it never affects your streak or score history.