15 Puzzle

Rules

1. Arrange tiles 1 through 15 from left to right, top to bottom.
2. Only a tile next to the empty square may move.
3. The empty square belongs after tile 15.
4. Use fewer moves and less time to improve your result.

Controls

Select any highlighted tile beside the empty square. The timer starts on your first move. Every new board is generated by legal moves from the solved layout, so it is always solvable.

A brief history

Sliding block puzzles became a late-19th-century craze. The 15 Puzzle was popularized in the 1880s by a widely publicized challenge involving its last two tiles; the swapped version cannot be solved, a fact that added to its notoriety. This version avoids that trap by shuffling through legal moves only.

Source: Puzzle Museum.

Privacy

The board, timer, and move count stay in this browser tab. No account or network request is required.