Saltfire — a free daily fusion puzzle
Saltfire is a free daily puzzle about combining things. Each day names one
target element, and you reach it by fusing pairs — starting from four primordials, Salt,
Ember, Dew and Breath — in as few merges as you can. Everyone in the world gets the same
target on the same day, so any two scores are directly comparable. A run takes about
three to five minutes.
How does a Saltfire run work?
- Open the site. The day names one target element and shows its par — the fewest merges the puzzle can be solved in.
- Tap two elements in your tray to fuse them. A pair that takes makes a new element; a pair that does not is a dud, and it is marked so you never pay for it twice.
- Everything you make becomes an ingredient, so your tray grows as you go. Keep chaining until the target condenses.
- When the target forms your score locks: merges taken against par, plus your streak, on a spoiler-free card you can share. The workbench stays open afterwards for free discovery.
What does par mean here?
Par is the smallest number of merges the day can be solved in, and it is a computed
number rather than a designer's estimate. A breadth-first search walks the entire recipe
tree outward from the four primordials before the puzzle ships, and the first level at
which the target appears is the floor. The chain that search finds is then replayed
against the game's own merge rules, and if the replay spends one step more or one step
fewer the build fails and the day never runs. So par is the provable optimum: you cannot
beat it, and matching it is the best round that exists.
What is the cabinet?
Every element you have ever discovered is kept in your cabinet, a shelf that grows
across days and stays in your own browser. It is a museum, not a head start — every run
begins from the same four primordials, which is exactly what keeps par meaningful and
two scores comparable. What carries over from yesterday is what you remember.
Is Saltfire free, and do I need an account?
It is free and ad-supported, and there is nothing to buy — no purchased hints, no
unlocks. There is no account, no sign-up, no download, and no typing of any kind: the
only input you ever make is tapping two elements together. Your cabinet, your streak and
today's progress live in your own browser, and we hold no personal data about you. The
one thing that reaches our server is the number of merges a finished run took, counted
anonymously into that day's totals with no identifier of any kind attached to it.
What else is on the site?
Playing needs JavaScript, but the rest of the site does not.
Read the full guide for the scoring rules, tips and a plain FAQ;
browse past days, each published with its full solution and an
explanation of why that chain is the short one; or read the
privacy policy.