How to Play LinkedIn Zip
Zip is a path-drawing puzzle where you connect numbered dots by drawing a continuous line through a grid. Visit every cell exactly once while passing through dots in sequential order — but watch out for walls that block your way!
Walls are thick lines between cells that prevent direct movement. Plan your route around them to fill every cell. The fewer dots and the more walls, the harder the puzzle.
Basics
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1
Start from Dot 1
Find the cell marked "1" - this is where your path begins. The grid shows numbered dots you must pass through in order.
1234 -
2
Draw Your Path
Click or drag to draw a line through adjacent cells. You can only move horizontally or vertically (no diagonal moves).
Valid Moves
✓✓✓✓Invalid (Diagonal)
✗✗✗✗ -
3
Pass Through Dots in Order
Your path must pass through each numbered dot in sequence: 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 and so on. You can visit any empty cells in between.
123Path goes: 1 → → → 2 → → → 3
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4
Cover Every Cell & End at Final Dot
Win by drawing a path that visits ALL cells exactly once and ends at the highest-numbered dot. The path must terminate at the final dot!
1234All 16 cells covered, ending at dot 4 ✓
Movement Rules
- → Adjacent only: Move horizontally or vertically to neighboring cells (no diagonal)
- → No revisiting: Cannot pass through a cell that's already part of your path
- → Sequential dots: When you reach a dot, it must be the next number in sequence
- → Start at dot 1: Your path must begin at the cell containing dot 1
- → Walls block movement: Thick lines between cells prevent direct passage — you must find a way around them
Tips & Strategies
Plan Your Route
Before drawing, look at where all the dots are. Think about how to connect them while still being able to fill all the empty cells.
Watch the Corners
Corner cells only have 2 neighbors. Plan when to visit them carefully - if you pass by a corner without entering, you might not be able to reach it later.
Backtrack One Step
Stuck? Tap on the previous cell to undo one step. Experimenting is part of solving the puzzle!
Don't Isolate Cells
Avoid cutting off empty cells from your path. If a cell becomes unreachable, you won't be able to complete the puzzle.
Plan Around Walls
Walls force detours. Before drawing, scan for walls near your dots — they often require approaching from a different direction than you'd expect.
Controls
Mouse / Trackpad
Click and drag to draw your path through cells. Click on the previous cell to backtrack one step.
Touch Screen
Touch and drag to draw your path. Tap on the previous cell to backtrack one step.
Why a board feels impossible
Almost every stuck Zip board comes down to one of four things. None of them are about being bad at puzzles — they are about the rule that people forget is a rule.
1. You are treating coverage as optional
Connecting the dots in order is only half the puzzle. The path also has to pass through every single cell on the grid. A route that reaches the last dot early, with empty cells left over, is not a near-miss — it is a wrong answer. If you find yourself arriving at the final dot with space to spare, the error usually happened many moves back.
2. You stranded a cell without noticing
Every time your path runs alongside a wall or the edge of the board, check the cells on the far side. A cell with only one remaining open neighbour must be entered and exited through that one opening, which is impossible unless it is the very end of your path. Corners are where this bites hardest, which is why experienced players sweep the edges early rather than saving them for last.
3. You cut the board in half
Your own path is a barrier too. Draw a line straight across the middle of the grid and you have created two separate regions — and a single continuous path cannot visit both unless it was already going to cross at the right moment. When a board suddenly feels unsolvable, look for the moment you split it, not the move you are on now.
4. You are reading a wall as a suggestion
Walls sit between two cells, not on them. Two cells that look adjacent may have no legal move between them, and the path has to go the long way round. On harder boards the walls are the actual puzzle — the dot order is often the easy part.
A method that works on hard boards
- Read the walls before you draw anything. Find the cells with only one or two legal exits. Those are forced moves, and they are true no matter what the rest of your route looks like.
- Work the edges and corners first. They have the fewest options, so they constrain the puzzle most. The open middle is flexible and can absorb whatever is left over.
- Treat each dot pair as its own leg. Ask how many cells the path must cover between dot 3 and dot 4, not how to finish the whole board at once.
- Backtrack early. A leftover cell three moves back never fixes itself. Undo as soon as the count stops working instead of hoping the ending absorbs it.
Ready to try one?
Play a board now, or pull up a past puzzle and step through its solution to see the method in action.