Tangram
In Tangram you turn each of the seven pieces to the right angle and put it back into the square. Every set can be completed. Free, no install, no sign-up.
In Tangram, seven pieces are taken out of a square and shuffled. Turn each one to the right angle and put it back where it came from.
about 37.0 KB
Works offline after the first visit. No install, no sign-up.
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How to play Tangram
The seven pieces make exactly the square
Their areas add up to the square's area exactly — no more, no less — and no two of them overlap. That is not a design claim: it follows from how the set is made, by cutting the square into pieces rather than assembling pieces into a square. Cutting can only ever produce a set that fits back together.
Two actions per piece
Tap a piece in the tray to pick it up, then use the rotate button to turn it a quarter turn at a time. When the angle is right, tap the square and the piece drops into place. There is no dragging and no fine positioning to get wrong.
The preview tells you whether the angle is right
While a piece is held, an outline of it is drawn on the square. It is drawn in green when the angle is correct and in red when it is not, so you can see the answer before you commit.
A wrong angle costs nothing
Tapping the square with the angle wrong simply puts the piece back in your hand with a message. Nothing is lost, nothing is deducted, and you can keep turning.
Four turns always come back round
Every piece returns to its starting orientation after four quarter turns, so there is no orientation you can get stuck in. Turning is not a one-way door.
Placed pieces lock in
Once a piece is in, it stays and cannot be picked up again by accident. The tray shows a tick for each piece that is home.
Tangram Tips and Strategy
Place the large triangles first
The two big triangles are the hardest pieces to fit once the square is broken up, so start them while the shape is open. The square, the parallelogram and the small pieces drop into what the triangles leave, and each is far more forgiving about its angle. Big to small stops you forcing a large piece into a small gap.
Corners belong to square edges
Each corner of the square can only be covered by a piece that has a matching corner angle, and in most sets that limits the candidates sharply. Find those pieces first and put them on the corners while the interior is still empty. A corner placed late often has nowhere to sit once the surrounding area has been filled in.
Check the angle, do not guess
The outline on the square tells you the angle in one tap, so use it instead of imagining the piece in place. The parallelogram is the piece people get wrong, because its two plausible angles look similar until they are drawn at size. Turning through all four is cheap, because a wrong angle puts the piece back in your hand.
Tangram — Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know which way a piece should face?
The outline drawn on the square turns green when the angle is right. Keep turning until it does.
Why will it not let me place the piece?
The angle is wrong. The outline turns red to say so — turn it again and the colour changes.
Can I get a piece stuck at the wrong angle?
No. Four quarter turns bring any piece back to where it started, so every orientation is reachable and every orientation is escapable.
Are the pieces the classic seven shapes?
They are seven pieces cut from a square — a set of straight-edged polygons that fit back together exactly. The shapes come from the cuts shown by the set itself, and the board is verified by sampling every part of the square to confirm there are no gaps and no overlaps.
Does it need installing or an account?
No. It runs in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer and works offline after the first visit.
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