How to play Slide Puzzle
Slide Puzzle is the classic fifteen-puzzle: a 4x4 grid holds tiles numbered 1–15 with one empty space. Click any tile next to the empty space and it slides in. Arrange all tiles in order — 1–4 across the top row, 5–8 below, and so on, with the empty space finishing bottom-right. Every board is shuffled with guaranteed-solvable moves, so a solution always exists. A move counter and timer track your run; the puzzle completes the instant every tile sits home.
Controls
Click or tap a tile adjacent to the empty square to slide it — distant tiles will not move. Arrow keys work too: pressing an arrow slides the tile on that side of the empty space into it. Start or Restart deals a fresh shuffled board anytime. Wrong moves cost nothing, so experiment while you learn the patterns.
Tips & strategy
Solve row by row, left to right: finish 1-2-3-4 completely before moving on. Never trap a nearly finished row by sliding its tiles out of order — plan two moves ahead. For the last two tiles of a row, park them in a small cycle around the empty space and rotate them into place. Solve the bottom two rows together rather than one at a time. Stuck? Undo your instinct — most dead ends come from the last five moves, not the whole board.
Scoring
Your score is your move count — fewer is better — shown live above the board, with the timer as a secondary challenge. Your fewest-moves record saves in your browser. Aim under 120 moves as a first milestone; experienced solvers finish under 80.