Games & consoles · puzzle game
enclose.horse
Hacker Approved
A daily puzzle where you wall in horses to enclose the most area; people praise its simple, challenging levels. Critics note confusing wall and gate visuals and a missing way back to the best solution.
Summarized from 78 comments.
A daily puzzle where you wall in horses to enclose the most area; people praise its simple, challenging levels. Critics note confusing wall and gate visuals and a missing way back to the best solution.
- recommend
- 64
- criticize
- 10
- months recommended
- 4 of 13
Why people love it
Once-a-day puzzle brings you back · 5
The one shot per day provides a reason to sink your teeth into one board.
Jan 2026 · commentI've been playing this every day since I saw it on HN.
Jan 2026 · commentIt‘s a daily challenge, so come back tomorrow.
Jan 2026 · commentFun, enjoyable, addictive gameplay · 4
A very fun game - it took quite a bit of fiddling to get an optimal solution
Jan 2026 · commentFirst and foremost I love it, thank you!
Jan 2026 · commentThis is a very cool and enjoyable game.
Jan 2026 · commentChallenging, fresh level design · 2
both are very fun and really challenging to play depending on the level
Oct 2026 · commentthe level design scratch an itch that few games do
Jan 2026 · commentCustom level editor and sharing · 2
You can freely make levels and browse other people's levels.
Jan 2026 · commentIt has a very pleasant editor to make + share custom maps
Jan 2026 · comment
What people warn about
Walls and gates look confusing · 4
lots of fun! the fact that the walls spill over the square boundaries is very annoying though
Jan 2026 · commentGreat game! ... It's also visually confusing, the gate looks like it's covering two cells.
Jan 2026 · commentThey take up one and a half spaces so are confusing
Jan 2026 · commentNo way back to best solution · 2
it needs to add a toggle button to let you switch between yours and optimal quickly
Jan 2026 · commentNice puzzle! But I'd like a button to go back to your most optimal solution so far
Jan 2026 · comment
What hackers pick instead
- Outer WildsExploration puzzle game praised for its story, sense of wonder and discovery, best played blind. Critics find the controls fiddly and say some puzzles are hard to finish without spoilers.65recommend
- The WitnessRecommended for its atmospheric island, discovery-driven puzzles and memorable moments of revelation; critics say repetitive puzzle sequences grow tedious.60recommend
- BraidPeople praise Braid as a brilliant puzzle game whose mechanics express its story, and an early indie landmark. Critics find its writing pretentious and self-indulgent.36recommend
- Blue PrincePeople recommend it for layered puzzles, deduction and a house that rewards careful noticing. Critics most often cite crashes, bugs and a random, repetitive run structure.30recommend
- Baba Is YouPeople recommend it for mechanics that make puzzles feel endlessly clever and rewarding. Some find the late game frustrating, and few players seem to finish it.25recommend
Every quote
The 40 most detailed of 78 comments. Each links to the original.
lots of fun! the fact that the walls spill over the square boundaries is very annoying though
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
Great game! ... It's also visually confusing, the gate looks like it's covering two cells.
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
Nice puzzle! But I'd like a button to go back to your most optimal solution so far
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
A very fun game - it took quite a bit of fiddling to get an optimal solution
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
The one shot per day provides a reason to sink your teeth into one board.
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
both are very fun and really challenging to play depending on the level
Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “elect.horse”
You can freely make levels and browse other people's levels.
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
It has a very pleasant editor to make + share custom maps
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
I've been playing this every day since I saw it on HN.
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Show HN: The HN Arcade”
They take up one and a half spaces so are confusing
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
the level design scratch an itch that few games do
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
It‘s a daily challenge, so come back tomorrow.
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
Great game, I returned back to play next day.
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
First and foremost I love it, thank you!
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
This is a very cool and enjoyable game.
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
it’s like Wordle, come back tomorrow
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
I enjoyed it, thanks for making it!
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
it needs to add a toggle button to let you switch between yours and optimal quickly
Criticizes · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
It breaks the visual logic of 2D for no benefit.
Criticizes · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
Enclose horse was a big inspiration for me, since it's such an elegant game. So I'm very sad to see that they have decided to copy my game.
Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “elect.horse”
Right now, experimenting after finding a solution seems like a punishment if I can't recall exactly what I did to hit my rolling 'best'.
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
you can move the gates around as long as you want, so the means of finding the maximum area are entirely within your grasp
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
Removing a block was a bit fiddly on FireFox (Floorp) due to the right click menu appearing
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
Quite entertaining, but something that you could look at and reason about to solve.
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
Great game. I've been having fun with it every day, but today there is no puzzle!
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
Love this! I feel like this would get a lot of traction as a mobile app.
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
A nice easter egg - click on a horse, when enclosed, on mobile
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
Score init should say N/EIGH instead of N/A, otherwise great.
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
try to run it locally if you can't get the result via render
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
I wish they removed all the clearly fake high-scores though
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Show HN: The HN Arcade”
I am a big fan of both enclose.horse and gerrymandle.com.
Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “elect.horse”
Competitve side is much weaker than in enclose.horse
Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “elect.horse”
I didn't know enclose.horse, and loved playing it
Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Modeling what makes paper-folding puzzles hard”
Nice game, I'm going to sink some time on these!
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
lovely, I've created a solution finder for it.
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
There’s just something about enclosing horses.
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Show HN: The HN Arcade”
the animation style is too distracting for me
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
Makes it much easier to see what you missed.
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
A good game. Possibly the 2048 of 2026.
Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
it did made playing on mobile annoying
Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “enclose.horse”
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