Twisted Tiles is a free online rotate puzzle. A picture — a sailboat at sunset, a hot-air balloon, a lighthouse, a rocket — is cut into square tiles, and each tile has been given a quarter, half or three-quarter turn. Tap a tile to turn it a quarter turn and keep going until the picture is whole again; a small copy of the finished picture is always beside the board. The first six pictures grow from 3 × 3 to 6 × 6 tiles. From picture seven the tiles are out of place as well: tap the brass knob where four tiles meet and the whole 2 × 2 block twists round, every tile moving one place and turning with it. Each board has a par, and stars reward finishing near it. Turn either way, ask for a hint, or reshuffle as often as you like. No download, no account.
How to play Twisted Tiles
- Look at the small picture beside the board: that is what the tiles make when every one is the right way up.
- Tap a tile to give it a quarter turn clockwise. Keep tapping until it matches the picture around it — a sail pointing up, a cloud in the sky, a fish swimming the right way.
- To turn the other way, press the ↻ Clockwise button so it reads ↺ Anticlockwise, or right-click or Shift-click a tile. With both directions, a tile leaning a quarter turn either way is always one tap from right.
- From picture 7 the tiles are mixed up as well as turned. Tap a brass knob where four tiles meet and that 2 × 2 block twists a quarter turn: each of the four tiles moves one place round and turns with it.
- Twist tiles into their places, then turn any that still lean the wrong way. The picture snaps whole the moment every tile looks right.
- Every board has a par. Finish in par moves or fewer for three stars; within the moves it would take turning clockwise only, for two; any finish earns one.
- Hint marks a tile to fix next. Start Again replays the same shuffle; New Shuffle deals a fresh one.
- On a keyboard, the arrow keys move a cursor, Enter or Space turns the tile under it, T twists the block at the ringed knob, and holding Shift turns the other way.
Tips
- Start with tiles that have something you recognise — the edge of a roof, a horizon, the sun. Sky and water tiles are easier once their neighbours are right.
- Lines carry on across tiles. If a mast, a path or a horizon breaks at a seam, one of the two tiles is turned wrong.
- A tile leaning a quarter turn clockwise is one anticlockwise turn from right, but three clockwise taps. Switching direction for those tiles is the difference between two stars and three.
- In the twist levels, put tiles in their places first and fix their turns last: every twist turns the four tiles it moves, so turning a tile early is often undone.
- Four twists of the same knob the same way bring the block back where it started. If you have gone two twists too far, two twists the other way undo them.
FAQ
Is Twisted Tiles free to play?
Yes. It runs in the browser with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. All ten pictures are included and unlock one after another as you finish them.
How do you play a rotate tile puzzle?
The picture is cut into square tiles and each tile is turned. Tap a tile to rotate it a quarter turn, and keep going until every tile is the right way up and the picture is whole. A small copy of the finished picture stays beside the board to check against.
What do the knobs do?
From picture 7, brass knobs sit where four tiles meet. Tapping one twists that 2 × 2 block a quarter turn: the four tiles each move one place round the block and turn with it, the way four cards would if you rotated them together on a table. Twists move tiles into place; single taps fix the turns.
How is par worked out?
In pictures 1 to 6 par is the fewest quarter turns that fix every tile, counting each tile the shorter way round, so it is exact. In the twist levels par is the number of moves the shuffle itself made; the tests search every sampled shuffle for a shorter solution and none has turned up. Three stars for par or fewer, two for no more than solving it turning clockwise only.
Can a tile look right turned more than one way?
Yes, a tile that is plain sky or water can look the same either way up. The game compares what each tile looks like rather than which way it was cut, so such a tile counts as right whenever it looks right, and when the picture is finished every tile settles into its exact place.
How many pictures are there?
Ten. Six turn-only pictures: a sailboat at sunset and a hot-air balloon at 3 × 3, a cottage and a lighthouse at 4 × 4, a rocket at 5 × 5 and a coral reef at 6 × 6. Then four twist pictures: a night owl at 3 × 3, a mountain lake and a castle at 4 × 4, and a flower garden at 5 × 5.
Does Twisted Tiles work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Tap tiles and knobs with a finger; the knobs never shrink below fingertip size. On a phone held upright the board fills the width of the screen; held sideways, the buttons move beside it.
How is this different from a sliding puzzle or a jigsaw?
In a sliding puzzle tiles slide into one empty gap, and in a jigsaw pieces are dragged into place. Here no tile ever leaves the board: tiles only turn on the spot, and in the later levels blocks of four rotate together. This site has Sliding Puzzle and Classic Jigsaw Puzzle too.