Twelve shapes, each made of five squares, and one rectangle that must be filled without a single hole. Five-Square Tiling Puzzle unblocked is the kind of puzzle that feels nearly done for a long time, right up until the last piece refuses to fit.
Christopher Müller built it for his PaperGames collection. Pieces are placed with taps, not dragging, and every shape is labeled with a letter it resembles, like L, T or X.
How to play Five-Square Tiling Puzzle
Pick a shape from the tray under the board. A preview appears with a dot marking one square, next to buttons that rotate or mirror it. Once it faces the way you want, tap the board square where the dot should go. Tap a placed piece to send it back.
In the open mode, called Free laying, every complete covering counts. Easy hands you five shapes and a small square board, Medium hands you eight, and Hard asks for the full dozen on a rectangle of your choosing.
The second mode, Start pieces given, locks some shapes onto the board before you begin and leaves the rest to you. Here just one arrangement works, so each remaining piece has a single correct home.
Controls
| To… | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Choose a piece | Tab to the piece in the tray, then Enter | Click the piece below the board | Tap the piece below the board |
| Turn or flip the chosen piece | Tab to "Turn" or "Flip", then Enter | Click "Turn" or "Flip" | Tap "Turn" or "Flip" |
| Lay the piece | Tab to the square where the piece's dot should go, then Enter | Click the square where the piece's dot should go | Tap the square where the piece's dot should go |
| Lift a laid piece | — | Click the piece on the board | Tap the piece on the board |
| Ask for help | — | Click "Hint" | Tap "Hint" |
Tips
- Start with the awkward shapes. The X and the long I are the hardest to fit, so place them while the board is still open.
- Fill edges and corners early. Gaps along the border are hard to close later. Work inward from the sides.
- Count the leftover squares. A sealed-off pocket must hold 5, 10, 15 or some other multiple of five cells, or no set of pieces can fill it. Fix it now.
- Lean on the hint when stuck. It points to a spot that fits the pieces already down, or warns you when one of your placements makes the puzzle impossible.
- Warm up on Easy. Five pieces in a small square teaches you how the shapes lock together before the full set.
Five-Square Tiling Puzzle questions
Which rectangles can I choose on Hard?
You can pick from four boards that each hold exactly 60 cells, from a wide six-row layout down to a skinny strip only three rows tall. The thin strip is by far the toughest.
Can I play with a keyboard?
Yes. The keyboard can choose, turn, flip and place pieces, and taps or clicks work just as well on a phone or tablet.
What do the letters on the pieces mean?
They are the traditional names for the twelve shapes, each one picked for the letter the piece looks like. Together with the black-and-white fills, they help you tell pieces apart at a glance.
