Jump Game III
A medium-tier problem at 66% community acceptance, tagged with Array, Depth-First Search, Breadth-First Search. Reported in interviews at Tanium and 3 others.
Jump Game III is a medium-difficulty array problem that shows up in assessments at Tanium, Pinterest, Snap, and Goldman Sachs. You're given an array where each element tells you the maximum jump distance from that position, and you need to determine if you can reach the last index. The 66% acceptance rate masks a common trap: candidates waste time on greedy or dynamic programming approaches when a simple graph traversal solves it in seconds. If this problem hits your live OA and you blank on the pattern, StealthCoder surfaces a working solution invisible to the proctor.
Companies that ask "Jump Game III"
Jump Game III is the kind of problem that decides whether you pass. StealthCoder reads the problem on screen and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Invisible to screen share. The proctor sees nothing. Built by an Amazon engineer who realized the OA tests how well you memorized 200 problems, not how well you code.
Get StealthCoderThe trick is treating the array as an implicit graph where each index is a node and its value defines outgoing edges. From index i, you can jump to any index in the range [i+1, i+arr[i]]. A depth-first search or breadth-first search answers the reachability question directly. Most candidates overthink it, trying to track the furthest reachable index with a single pass or building a DP table, when either DFS or BFS hits the answer in one pass with O(n) time. The pitfall is assuming greedy works here, it doesn't if the array values don't monotonically support forward progress. StealthCoder is the hedge for the live assessment when you second-guess yourself on which traversal method to use.
Pattern tags
You know the problem.
Make sure you actually pass it.
Jump Game III recycles across companies for a reason. It's medium-tier, and most candidates blank under the timer. StealthCoder is the hedge: an AI overlay invisible during screen share. It reads the problem and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Built by an Amazon engineer who realized the OA tests how well you memorized 200 problems, not how well you code. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
Jump Game III interview FAQ
Is Jump Game III harder than Jump Game I or II?+
No. Jump Game I and II are about maximizing range with greedy logic. Jump Game III strips that away and just asks: can you reach the end as a graph reachability problem. It's actually simpler once you see it as DFS or BFS instead of a range-maximization puzzle.
Why do companies like Goldman Sachs and Snap ask this?+
It tests whether you can recognize an implicit graph structure inside an array problem, not just blindly iterate. It separates candidates who pattern-match (greedy, DP) from those who think about problem structure. High signal for problem-solving maturity.
What's the most common mistake on Jump Game III?+
Attempting a one-pass greedy solution or DP array when the answer is a simple DFS visit count. Candidates also forget to mark visited indices, causing infinite loops or redundant work. BFS or DFS with a visited set solves both problems cleanly.
Does this problem require backtracking?+
No. Standard DFS or BFS is sufficient. You don't need to undo decisions. Just track visited nodes to avoid revisiting. Any recursive or iterative traversal that marks nodes as seen will work.
How does Jump Game III relate to the other Array and DFS topics?+
It combines Array indexing with DFS to solve a reachability question. Once you see the array as a graph, you're applying DFS like any connectivity problem. It's a bridge between simple array iteration and graph traversal patterns.
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