Slide fifteen

How to play Slide fifteen

Fifteen numbered tiles sit in a 4 by 4 grid with one empty space. Tap or click a tile next to the empty space to slide it in. Your goal is to put the tiles in order from 1 to 15 reading left to right, top to bottom, with the empty space at the bottom right. The game counts your moves so you can chase a low score.

Tips

• Solve the top row first, then the second row, then the bottom two together
• When you get to the last two rows, work in 2 by 2 chunks
• Plan a move sequence in your head before you start sliding
• If a tile is in the wrong place, do not be afraid to move others temporarily

About Slide fifteen

The 15 puzzle was a craze in 1880 across the United States and Europe. Sam Loyd, the famous puzzle maker, offered a thousand dollar prize for solving an unsolvable version, knowing it could not be done. Mathematicians later proved that exactly half of all starting positions are solvable. Ours always are, so do not worry. The toy stayed popular for almost 150 years and still shows up in plastic frames in every kid drawer.

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