Locksidelarks is a little canal arcade we made ourselves. Putt a ball up a flight of nine locks, merge cargo from a sprig of water mint to a gleaming tiller badge, hunt words through a skipper’s logbook, pop painted roses, steer a towrope round the towpath, and slide scattered pictures back together. Nothing to install, and your bests stay aboard your own device.
Lock Flight Golf is the one that keeps us at our desks past teatime. Nine holes climb a flight of locks, and every one asks you to pull back, judge the power and let the ball roll along the brickwork.
We built it around a single gesture: drag back from the ball, watch the dotted guide stretch out, and release. The ball rolls with proper friction, kisses walls and bumpers at believable angles, and slows in sand or on a slope. Drop it in the water and it comes back to try again. Some holes have gates that open and close, so timing matters as much as aim. Each hole carries a par, the scorecard tallies your strokes as you go, and the layouts are drawn for this canal alone.
Each of these started life as a doodle in the margin of a mooring timetable and finished as something our crew bickers about over sandwiches. Two want a steady hand, two want a quiet head, and two sit happily in the middle. Have a look at the cards and the feel profile, then cast off.
Hal’s favourite01Nine holes climb a flight of locks, from the bottom chamber to the basin at the top. Drag back from the ball to aim and set power, then release and watch it roll, bank off brick walls and bumpers, slow in sand and splash back from the water. Every hole has a par and the scorecard keeps count.
Deepest think02Slide the whole board and let matching cargo meet. A sprig of water mint becomes a kingcup, then a jar of blackberries, and up the ladder goes through ladles, lanterns, windlasses and a butty boat to the gleaming tiller badge. A strip under the board lights each rung you reach, and one Undo rescues a bad swipe.
Daily habit03Twelve themed packs drawn from canal life, from lock keeping and ropes to hedgerow fruit and the village fete. Each grid hides its words in any of eight directions. Drag across the letters, or tap the first and last, and keep three hints in reserve. A daily pack changes every day, and stars reward a swift finish.
Brightest colours04Painted roses, castle panels, lanterns and ladles crowd the top of the board. Aim the launcher, bank shots off the side walls and land each piece beside two or more of its twins to pop them. Anything left dangling falls away, and every few shots the ceiling creeps lower, so clean shooting pays.
Quickest go05Steer a towrope round the grid as it grows longer with every bite. Blackberry jars are worth one point, sprigs of water mint two, and golden kingcups a lovely five. Classic mode ends the run at the walls; Garden mode lets you slip off one edge and back on the other, with mileposts in the way.
Slow and soothing06Eight painted scenes, from a rose-decorated cabin and a brick lock to a punt below the spires and a hedge maze at golden hour, are cut into tiles and shuffled. Slide them back one by one on a 3x3, 4x4 or 5x5 grid. A move counter and timer run, Peek shows the full picture, and stars reward a thrifty finish.
Tell Hal how the day feels, how long you can stay moored and what makes you grin. He’ll flap about the roof for a second, then point you at the game that fits this very afternoon.
We are a small crew, and every game on this towpath is our own code, painted and balanced by hand. A handful of rules travel with us from the first sketch to the final coat of varnish, and they explain why the whole canal feels the way it does.
Points come from what you actually do: the putt you judge, the merge you plan, the word you spot. Where chance appears, it only arranges the board, such as which cargo tile turns up next or how the picture tiles are shuffled. It never drops a surprise reward in your lap. Strokes, stars and personal bests are the whole tale.
Best scores, finished pictures and star counts are stored quietly in your own browser. There is no account to open and nothing to sign. Come back next week on the same phone or laptop and the canal remembers which pictures you finished, how many strokes your best round took and how long your longest towrope ran.
Each golf hole is built from layouts we know can be holed. Slide puzzle shuffles are always solvable, and word grids shrink sensibly on a narrow screen. Difficulty rises gradually, and we play everything ourselves until it feels tricky in a satisfying way rather than an unfair one.
Locksidelarks is a passion project from a small crew who simply enjoy building gentle games. The pages stay uncluttered, each game loads straight onto the stage, and nothing tugs at your sleeve between rounds. We build for the moment the ball drops on the last hole or the final tile slides home, and we keep the towpath swept so that moment arrives without fuss.
Some afternoons you want a puzzle to mull over, some you want something to react to. Here is how our stretch of canal divides by feeling.
You enjoy angles, power and the quiet satisfaction of a ball dropping in. Lock Flight Golf offers nine holes up a flight of locks, with walls to bank off, sand to avoid and gates that keep you honest about timing.
Lock Flight Golf →stackerYou like a board that rewards forethought. Towline Treasures lets you slide every tile at once, pair up matching cargo and climb thirteen rungs, with one Undo kept in the locker for a genuine mishap.
Towline Treasures →readerTwelve themed packs, from lock keeping to hedgerow fruit. Logbook Word Hunt hides words in eight directions and keeps three hints in reserve for when the letters start to swim.
Logbook Word Hunt →popperAim, bank off a wall and land a painted rose beside its twins. Rosepaint Pop clears three or more at a time, drops whole clusters left hanging, and edges the ceiling lower every few shots.
Rosepaint Pop →steererSteer a growing towrope round the grid, gather berries, mint and kingcups, and keep clear of your own tail. Towrope Trail is short, lively and wonderfully easy to restart.
Towrope Trail →menderPick one of eight canal and country scenes, choose a grid from three by three up to five by five, and slide the tiles home. Lockkeeper’s Tiles counts every move and lets you peek when you need to.
Lockkeeper’s Tiles →GuideFour miles an hour is the speed limit on most British canals, and it is a fine speed for an afternoon of games too. Here is how our crew strings the six together.
GuideEach of our games asks for a slightly different skill, but a handful of habits help across all of them. These are the ones our crew swears by.
Our own small crew. Locksidelarks is an independent studio, and all six games are our own code, drawn and balanced in house. The painted roses, windlasses, butty boats and characters belong to this canal as well, which is why you will spot the same bullfinch or keeper’s cottage turning up across several different games.
Nothing whatsoever. Every game loads straight into the page and plays in a modern browser on a laptop, tablet or phone. Open a game, press Play on the start screen and you are under way. Fullscreen and restart buttons sit just above the stage whenever you want them.
In your own browser, on the device you are playing on. There is no account to remember. Clearing your browser data or picking up a different device starts you afresh, so think of each device as its own little logbook, with its own best rounds and finished pictures written inside.
Yes. Every game page has a sound toggle above the stage. With sound on you hear short, soft synthesised blips for merges, pops, putts and found words. With it off, everything plays exactly the same in perfect quiet, which is how plenty of us play on a late train home.
We build them with families in mind. The words in Logbook Word Hunt are everyday English, the characters are friendly animals, and nothing on the canal is frightening. Younger players often start with a three by three picture in Lockkeeper’s Tiles or a gentle round of Rosepaint Pop before taking on the golf.
All six adapt to narrow screens. Towline Treasures and Towrope Trail are lovely with swipes, Lock Flight Golf only needs one finger to drag back and release, and Logbook Word Hunt switches to a smaller grid on a slim screen. A five by five slide puzzle is happiest with a little more room.
We are always sketching on the back of lock tickets. For now we would rather polish six games until the brass shines than rush a seventh, so expect small improvements first. If you have an idea for a canal game or a word pack theme you would love, the contact page reaches our crew directly.
Six games, nothing to install, and your best rounds kept safe on your device. Choose one, press Play, and let the afternoon drift by at four miles an hour.