Solve strategies explained

Solving slide puzzles becomes much easier when you have a plan. Instead of moving tiles randomly, it helps to follow a clear strategy that works for any grid size.

This guide explains a simple and reliable approach to solving slide puzzles, step by step.

Moving a tile from A to B: the rotation principle

In a slide puzzle, you cannot move a tile directly to any position. Instead, tiles are moved by rotating small groups of tiles using the empty space.

The following video shows how this technique can be used to move tile 1 into its correct position.

Small rotations are easier to control than large movements. That's why it's recommended to keep the rotations small and avoid involving more than four tiles, unless you clearly know where you're heading.

Instead of thinking:

"How do I move this tile straight to its target?"

A more effective way to think is:

"How can I rotate this tile one step closer to where it needs to be?"

Solving order

A reliable way to solve any slide puzzle is to work in layers, making the unsolved area smaller each time.

Recommended solving order

1. Solve the top row, from left to right
2. Solve the first vertical column, from top to bottom
3. Solve the second horizontal row
4. Solve the second vertical column

By following this order:

• Solved tiles stay mostly in place
• The remaining puzzle becomes smaller and easier to manage

This strategy works for all puzzle sizes. When solving a 9×9 puzzle, you effectively turn it into:

• an 8×8 puzzle
• then a 7×7 puzzle
• and so on

Each completed row or column reduces complexity.

In the following example, you can see how a 5×5 grid is reduced to a 3×3 puzzle.

Avoid disturbing solved tiles

As a general rule:

• Try not to move tiles in the rows and columns that you have already solved.

This keeps progress stable and prevents unnecessary backtracking.

Sometimes, however, briefly moving a solved tile is unavoidable. The next section explains how to handle one of the most common tricky situations.

Getting a tile into a corner

Placing tiles into corners while keeping the rest of the row intact can seem difficult. Let's look at the following example.

The goal is to get tile 4 in the position of tile 11 without disturbing the first three tiles that are already in their correct position.

To achieve this, you can use the following approach:

• Place the tile to move one position out horizontally and one position out vertically of its destination
  Tile 4 needs to get in the position of tile 15
• Rotate the correctly position tiles of the row counter-clockwise along the edge of the grid to create an empty space above the tile that needs to go to the corner
• Slide the tile to move upwards
  Tile 4 goes to the empty space
• Rotate all tiles of the row back, until the target tile is placed in the corner

General solving tips

• Work methodically instead of randomly
• Focus on one tile at a time
• Prefer small, controlled rotations
• Don't panic if a solved tile needs to move briefly — it's a normal part of the process

Solving slide puzzles is a skill that improves with practice. Over time, patterns become easier to recognize and moves become more efficient.

Practice makes progress

The best way to improve your solving strategy is simply to keep playing.

• Start with numeric puzzles to focus on logic
• Increase grid size gradually
• Apply the same strategy consistently across puzzles

With the right approach, even large slide puzzles become manageable.

Learn more

This article is part of the how it works guide. You may also find these articles helpful:

• The puzzle interface
  Understand the controls, preview options and puzzle stats
• Puzzle types explained
  Discover the difference between number, image and video puzzles
• Daily puzzles
  Rules for the daily puzzle challenge
• FAQ
  Answers to common questions about puzzles and gameplay.