No-draw zones

No-draw zones are the hatched rectangles in the play area. You can't draw anything inside them. The ball passes through freely; only you are kept out. Their job is to take the easiest solution away from you.

Where they go

No-draw zones are placed where you'd most want to draw. There are three typical spots:

• In front of the ball: you can't put a ramp right in front of it, so the ball has to roll along the floor first.
• In front of the wall: you can't draw a last-moment ramp or spring before the hole. The ball must already be on the right path.
• On the floor: you can't start a line on part of the floor, so ramps flush with the ground have to start somewhere else.

No-draw zones are introduced early in Level 2 and appear alongside other obstacles in most later Levels. Some obstacles also carry an invisible no-draw margin: you can't draw within 5 centimetres of rocks, trees, meteors or cacti. The margin around black holes is wider.

Dealing with no-draw zones

Move the drawing forward or back

If the space in front of the ball is off limits, put the ramp where the zone ends. The ball rolls there along the floor and keeps most of its speed. Since the ramp has moved, you'll need to re-tune the power.

Tools that act at a distance

For a wind arrow, only its two ends, the tail and the tip, have to be in an allowed spot. The arrow's body can cross the zone and the wind strip reaches into it. That lets you push a ball passing through the zone without drawing inside it. Likewise, you can design a flight that passes over the zone: send the ball across it and catch it where drawing is allowed.

Decide earlier

When the area before the wall is blocked, you have to decide how the ball enters the hole much earlier. From the last point where you can still change its path, the ball must travel to the hole in a straight line or a single arc.

More in this section

• SpikesTouch them and the ball pops and the stage restarts. Your margin is a few centimetres.
• PitsA ball that falls in is lost. Jump it, or cross it at speed.
• PipesTakes a slow ball from the floor and drops it from the ceiling. Speed is everything.
• GatesSlides up and down in front of the hole. When you shoot matters as much as what you draw.
• Wall behind the ballThe target is behind you. Send the ball forward, then bring it back.
• TrianglesTheir slope carries the ball upward. Used well, a free ramp.
• Rubber blocksBounces the ball without losing speed. Think of it as a spring you can't move.
• Magnetic floorsSlows a touching ball by 18 m/s every second. Cross fast or don't touch it.
• Sticky floorsThe ball sticks and the shot ends. Your drawings stay, though.
• PistonsExtends from the floor or ceiling and pulls back. You get past by choosing your moment.
• Ceiling targetThe hole is in the ceiling, not the wall. You have to send the ball up through it.
• Black holesPulls in a passing ball and swallows one that gets too close. A slingshot at the right distance.