Slide Snap
Picture slide puzzles on one clock: 4 × 4, or pick 3 × 3, 5 × 5 or 6 × 6.
- Round
- 2 minutes
- Works on
- Mobile & desktop
- Category
- Puzzle
Slide Snap controls: Click a tile in line with the gap, or use the arrow keys. Press Play, then the game takes the keyboard. Press Tab to leave it.
2 minutes
Click a tile in line with the gap, or use the arrow keysTap a tile in line with the gap to slide it
How to play Slide Snap
Pick a board size: 3 × 3, 4 × 4 (the classic, and the size the Daily plays), 5 × 5 or 6 × 6.
Look at the goal picture beside the board: every numbered tile belongs where that part of the picture is, tile 1 in the top-left corner and the gap in the bottom-right.
Tap or click a tile in the same row or column as the gap to slide it, and every tile between it and the gap, one cell toward the gap.
Or swipe across the board, or press an arrow key, to move the tile next to the gap in that direction.
Put every tile back in its home cell: the picture snaps whole and the next one is dealt.
Solve every picture of the run (four 4 × 4 or 3 × 3, three 5 × 5, two 6 × 6) before the two-minute clock runs out, in as few moves as you can.
Controls
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Tap a tile in line with the gap | Slide that tile and the tiles between it and the gap |
| Swipe ↑ ↓ ← → | Move the tile beside the gap in the swipe's direction |
| Click a tilemouse drag | Slide the line, or swipe |
| Arrow keysW A S D | Move the tile beside the gap in the arrow's direction |
Tips
Solve the top row first, then the left column, and keep finished tiles where they are: the last two rows (or the last two columns) are solved together at the end.
Use line slides: when the next few moves all push the same way, one tap on the far tile does them all at once and saves time, though each tile still counts as a move.
Watch the FEWEST number. Wandering detours cost efficiency points, so before you slide, picture where the gap needs to go next and take the short way round.
To place the last two tiles of a row, park the last tile where the second to last belongs, slide the second to last tile under it, then rotate both into place together.
Keep the gap out of the corners you have already solved: a gap stuck in a finished area forces you to undo good work.
Levels and modes
- 3 × 3Four small 3 × 3 pictures against one clock
- 4 × 4Four 4 × 4 pictures against one clock
- 5 × 5Three 5 × 5 pictures, 24 tiles each, against one clock
- 6 × 6Two big 6 × 6 pictures, 35 tiles each, against one clock
About Slide Snap
Slide Snap is the classic sliding puzzle, the one many people know as the 15 puzzle, rebuilt as a quick race against the clock. Each board is a bold, flat poster picture cut into numbered tiles with one empty gap. Slide the tiles around the gap until every piece is back in its home cell, and the picture snaps whole: the missing corner piece drops in, the seams close and the next picture shuffles itself. It plays free in your browser on a phone, a tablet or a computer, with nothing to download, like every game in our puzzle games collection.
A run is a set of pictures on one two-minute clock, and you choose the board size. The classic size, and the board the daily challenge plays, is 4 × 4: four pictures with fifteen tiles each, the size of the classic game of fifteen, each scramble a little longer than the last. Want it smaller or bigger? 3 × 3 is four quick pictures of eight tiles (the 8 puzzle), 5 × 5 is three pictures of twenty-four tiles, and 6 × 6 is two big pictures of thirty-five tiles, and each size has its own leaderboard. You do not have to push one tile at a time: tap any tile in the same row or column as the gap and the whole line slides toward it in one go, the way the best modern slide puzzle apps play. Every tile carries a big number in its corner and a slice of the picture, and the goal picture sits beside the board, so you can solve by the numbers, by the picture, or both.
What makes it a real brain game is the counter. Beside the board, MOVES counts every tile you move against FEWEST, the shortest possible solution of that exact board. Each solved picture is worth 1,000 points plus up to 500 for efficiency (all 500 if you match the fewest moves, 250 if you take twice as many), and finishing every picture of the run adds a time bonus of one point for every two ticks left on the clock. A tidy, fast solver beats a lucky one every time.
Every run is fair. The scrambles come from a bank in which every board of a picture has exactly the same shortest solution, measured by computer search, and the same number of line slides for a perfect player, so no seed is easier than another. That is why Slide Snap works as a ranked game: every run counts, and your best one goes on the leaderboard of its board size, with top runs replayed on our servers to check them. The pictures change from run to run, eight compositions in six palettes, so the boards never feel the same.
On a phone, tap a tile in line with the gap or swipe across the board; on a computer, click the tiles or use the arrow keys or W A S D, where each key moves the tile beside the gap in that direction. It is listed with our mobile games and our PC games, and a run takes about one to two minutes, which makes it one of our quick games and a good pick among the free games to play at work.
If you like numbered tiles and tidy grids, try the other number games such as Merge 2048 and Sudoku Sprint, or plan routes in Maze Dash. More short logic challenges wait in the brain games collection.
Details
- Category
- Puzzle Games
- Tags
- Genre
- Puzzle
- Orientation
- Portrait (9:16)
- Works on
- Mobile & desktopPhones, tablets and computers
- Controls
- Keyboard, mouse or touch
- Modes
- 4
- Released
- Updated
- Credits
- Design and development: Gamefinity
- Age rating
- 4+
Slide Snap FAQ
How long does a game of Slide Snap last?
At most two minutes. The run ends as soon as you solve its last picture, so a quick solver finishes well inside the clock, which runs out at 1:58 of play if you have not finished.
How is the score calculated?
Each solved picture is worth 1,000 points plus an efficiency bonus of 500 × the fewest possible moves ÷ your moves. Solving every picture of the run adds a time bonus of one point for every two ticks (a sixtieth of a second each) left on the clock. Each board size has its own leaderboard.
What counts as a move?
Every tile you move. Sliding a line of three tiles with one tap is three moves, the same as moving them one by one, so line slides save time rather than moves.
Is every puzzle solvable, and is every run equally hard?
Yes. Every board comes from a bank of scrambles that are all solvable and, for each picture, all have exactly the same shortest solution, so no run is easier than another. On 4 × 4 the four pictures need 14, 17, 21 and 25 moves; on 3 × 3 12, 15, 18 and 21; on 5 × 5 22, 27 and 32; on 6 × 6 28 and 34.
Can I play Slide Snap on my phone?
Yes. Slide Snap is made for both phones and computers: tap or swipe on a touch screen, or click and use the arrow keys or W A S D on a computer.
Is this the 15 puzzle?
The 4 × 4 board is: fifteen numbered tiles and one gap, the classic 15 puzzle or game of fifteen. The 3 × 3 board is the smaller 8 puzzle, and the 5 × 5 and 6 × 6 boards are the 24 and 35 puzzles.
Can I play a smaller or a bigger board?
Yes. Choose 3 × 3 for four quick pictures, 5 × 5 for three pictures of twenty-four tiles or 6 × 6 for two big pictures of thirty-five tiles. The daily challenge always plays the 4 × 4 run.
Next up
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