The Number Slide Puzzle (also known as the 15 Puzzle) is one of the oldest and most famous mechanical puzzles in history. The concept is elegant: numbered tiles are arranged randomly on a grid with one empty space. Slide the tiles one at a time into the empty space to arrange them in numerical order. Play free online at Skorven with 3 different grid sizes.
The rules couldn't be simpler. Click or tap any tile that is adjacent to the empty space, and it will slide into that space. Keep sliding tiles until all numbers are arranged in order from left to right, top to bottom, with the empty space in the bottom-right corner.
The smallest grid with 8 numbered tiles. A great starting point for beginners. Most configurations can be solved in under 30 moves with the right approach.
The classic version that has challenged puzzlers since the 1870s. With 15 tiles and vastly more possible configurations, this requires real strategy and planning.
The ultimate challenge for slide puzzle enthusiasts. With 24 tiles, the number of possible configurations is astronomical, and solving requires patience and advanced techniques.
The sliding tile puzzle was popularized in the 1870s by Noyes Chapman and Sam Loyd. It became one of the great puzzle crazes of the late 19th century, with newspapers offering cash prizes for solutions. Mathematicians proved that exactly half of all starting configurations are solvable — the other half are mathematically impossible to solve. Every puzzle generated on Skorven is guaranteed to be solvable.
Number Slide Puzzle is completely free to play. Browse more puzzle games on Skorven or try our Memory Match card game.
