Pycto puzzle
The Pycto-style picture puzzle. Every piece of the photo is on the board, just in the wrong place. No gap, no numbers: players swap two pieces at a time until the picture is whole.
When to use it
A picture of the day on the smartboard while the class comes in. A five-minute brain break that needs no explaining. A photo from the school trip or the team outing, posted for everyone to put back together.
What makes it this
Built on the Sliding puzzle generator with these changed. Everything else is the default.
- How the tiles move
Slide: one tile is taken out and the rest slide through the gap. Swap: every tile stays on the board, and players swap two at a time — tap one and then the other, or drag one onto the other.
In the builder: How it plays › Pieces & board
- Number the tiles Off
Numbers make it far easier to see where a tile belongs.
In the builder: How it plays › Solving aids
- Faded picture behind the board Off
The finished picture shows through as a guide.
In the builder: How it plays › Solving aids
- How scrambled it starts
More shuffling means more moves to get it back.
In the builder: How it plays › Pieces & board
Preview
View only — copy it to play.Pycto puzzle: harbour at sunset
Every piece is on the board, just in the wrong place. Tap two pieces to swap them, or drag one onto another.
Why the example is built this way
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The picture is the only clue.
Numbered tiles and the faint example underneath are both off, so every piece has to be placed from what is on it. Pick a photo with something different in every part of the frame: colours, edges, a horizon, so no two pieces look alike.
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Hard deals every piece away from home.
On a swap board the difficulty decides how many pieces start in the wrong place: half on Easy, every one of them on Hard. Sixteen pieces on Hard take at least fifteen swaps.
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No gap to work around.
Any piece can go anywhere, so there is nothing to learn before the first move. That makes it the version for younger players and for anyone who has never solved a sliding puzzle.
Build it yourself
- 1 Open the Sliding puzzle builder and fill in the Image & tiles tab.
- 2 Change the settings under What makes it this. Each one says where it is in the builder.
- 3 Share the link with your players, or embed the activity in your own site.
Or skip the building: copy this example and swap in your own content.