Strata

Heat it, weather it, melt it — route a rock through the rock cycle to the target form in as few moves as possible.

How to play

You start on one rock form and must reach the target form by applying geological processes — cooling, weathering, compaction, heat and pressure, or melting. Each process spends one time token, so reach the goal within the budget, ideally matching par.

• Cool molten rock, weather solid rock to sediment, compact sediment, metamorphose with heat and pressure, or melt back to magma
• Every transformation costs a time token
• Solving at or under par scores best

Controls

• Desktop: click a process to apply it to the current rock
• Phone & tablet: tap the process buttons — fully touch-friendly

Game modes

• Difficulty: Easy, Medium or Hard
• Daily shared puzzle or endless Practice

Tips & strategy

• Plan the full path before spending tokens — backtracking wastes the budget
• Some target forms have a single shortest route; look for it
• Remember the cycle's direction: sediment compacts to rock, rock metamorphoses, then melts

What you'll learn

Strata turns the rock cycle into a routing puzzle, building understanding of how rocks transform between igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.

• Skills: the rock cycle, earth science, rock types, geological processes
• Best for: roughly grades 6–10 (ages 11–16)
• For parents & teachers: the rock cycle as a path you actually trace.

About Strata

Strata is an original earth-science puzzle that turns the rock cycle into a shortest-path routing challenge. It's free to play in your browser, no install needed.

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