By Lson Lee · Indie developer & puzzle game enthusiast

Letter Challenge

Can You Draw a Letter E Without Lifting Your Pen?

✗ No — here's why it's impossible

No, you cannot.

No — this shape has too many odd-degree vertices to be drawn in one stroke.

Graph Analysis

Vertices6
Edges5
Odd-degree vertices4
Euler path possible?✗ No
Euler circuit?✗ No
DifficultyHard

Why?

A letter e has 4 odd-degree vertices. The odd/even vertex rule states that a graph can only be drawn in one stroke if it has 0 or 2 odd-degree vertices. Since this shape has 4, it cannot be drawn in one stroke.

Learn the complete odd/even vertex rule →

Want More Challenges Like This?

If you enjoyed figuring out whether a letter e can be drawn without lifting your pen, you'll love One Stroke: Line Puzzle Game. It generates infinite one-stroke puzzles — every single one is guaranteed solvable, and the difficulty adapts to your skill level.

It also adds a twist: tiles flip color (black ↔ white) as you draw, and when a full row becomes one color, it clears — like Tetris meets one-stroke drawing.

Download Free on iPhone →

Read more: Best One-Stroke Games Ranked · How to Play · Download

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you draw a letter e without lifting your pencil?

No — a letter e cannot be drawn without lifting your pencil. It has 4 odd-degree vertices, but you need 0 or 2 for a continuous path to exist. However, you can practice similar challenges that ARE solvable in one-stroke puzzle games.

Is there a trick to solving "draw without lifting your pen" puzzles?

Yes — count the points where an odd number of lines meet ("odd vertices"). If there are 0 odd vertices, start anywhere. If there are 2, start at one of them. If there are more than 2, the puzzle is impossible. This rule works for every one-stroke challenge.

What's the best app for one-stroke drawing puzzles?

One Stroke: Line Puzzle Game by CyberGame Limited is free on iPhone with infinite procedurally generated puzzles, adaptive difficulty, no forced ads, and a unique color-flipping mechanic. It's only 14.5 MB and works completely offline.

Try One Stroke Free on iPhone

Infinite puzzles. Adaptive difficulty. No forced ads.

Download on the App Store