Tangram
Play Tangram Online for Free
Fill the gray shape with all 7 pieces, none on top of another. Start with the two large triangles: where they go settles most of a shape.
How to play
Pick an outline on the start screen, then press Play. Shadow only shows just the gray shape; Lines shown also draws where the pieces meet inside it, which helps a young child.
- Drag a piece from the tray onto the shape.
- Tap a piece to pick it, then tap it again to turn it an eighth of a turn.
- Press Flip to mirror the parallelogram.
- Place all 7, any way that fills the shape. Your time shows; press Next level for the next one.
After the twelfth shape you start again at the house.
Controls
| Action | Touch | Mouse | Keyboard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pick a piece | Tap it | Click it | Space picks the next piece, Shift+Space the one before |
| Move it | Drag it, or tap it and then tap where it goes | Drag it, or click it and then click where it goes | Arrow keys or W, A, S, D; hold Shift to go 4 times as far |
| Turn it an eighth | Tap the picked piece again, or Turn left / Turn right | Click the picked piece again, or the buttons | Q turns left, E or R turns right |
| Mirror the parallelogram | Flip | Flip | F |
| Fit it to the nearest corner | Let go near the corner | Let go near the corner | Enter |
| Put one piece in place | Hint | Hint | H |
| Undo | Undo | Undo | Z |
| Pause or resume | Pause button | Pause button | Esc |
The keys work once the board has focus; press Tab to reach it.
Tips and strategy
Put the two large triangles edge to edge
In the game’s answer to every shape, the two large triangles share a whole edge. Mostly they make one bigger triangle. In the house, teapot, rabbit and fish they make a square, and in the swan a leaning parallelogram.
Let go close to a corner
Drop a piece with a corner near another corner and the two snap together. Near is about a third of the small triangle’s short edge. Wrong corner? Drag again, or press Undo.
Each outline keeps its own progress
A child can work through Lines shown on your phone while you play Shadow only, and neither of you loses a place or a best time.
About the tangram
The puzzle comes from China, where its name means “seven boards of skill”. Thomas Britz, a mathematician at UNSW Sydney, dates its first craze there to around 1800, and its spread to France, Denmark and other European countries to 1817 and 1818. The tale of a god named Tan inventing it 4,000 years ago is a hoax by the puzzle writer Sam Loyd.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the 7 tangram pieces?
- Two large triangles, a medium one, two small ones, a square and a parallelogram, all cut from one square.
- Can you flip tangram pieces?
- Yes, but only the parallelogram looks different flipped, so Flip works on it alone. It has just 4 different angles; if none fits, flip it.
- How many shapes can you make with a tangram?
- Any number of pictures, but only 13 shapes with no dent or notch (convex shapes), as two mathematicians proved in 1942. Here, the big triangle, the parallelogram and the square are 3 of them.
- Where can I see the solution to a shape?
- Press Hint. Each press moves one piece to where the game's answer has it, the large triangles first, so 7 presses show a whole solution. A shape made with a hint keeps no best time.