Tangram
Fit all seven pieces into the silhouette.
How to play Tangram
You get the seven classic tangram pieces (five triangles, a square, and a parallelogram) and a target outline to fill. Drag each piece into place and rotate it to make everything fit the silhouette with no gaps or overlaps. Pieces snap when they’re close. Complete the shape as fast as you can.
Place the big triangles first
Seven pieces, one outline to fill, and a natural order to do it in: start with the two large triangles. Between them they cover half the total area, so they almost always form the bulk of a silhouette and its longest straight edges. Anchor those and the smaller pieces have far fewer places left to go. Working big to small also keeps you out of the classic trap: tucking the little triangles into a corner early, only to find the large ones have nowhere left to sit.
Read the outline before you drag. Its longest straight side is usually a large triangle's hypotenuse, and a clean right-angle corner often wants the square or a triangle's square corner. A few seconds spent matching shapes to features saves a lot of shuffling later. Symmetry is a free clue too. When the outline has a mirror line down the middle, the twin pieces, meaning the two big triangles and the two small ones, tend to sit in mirrored spots on either side of it. Test that guess first; it's right often enough to be the percentage play.
Watch the parallelogram
One piece causes more grief than the rest combined: the parallelogram. It's the only tan that isn't symmetric (its mirror image is a genuinely different shape), so sometimes rotating it won't do and you have to flip it over to make it fit. If a puzzle is stubbornly one piece from finished and that piece is the parallelogram, try flipping it before you tear the whole thing apart. Pieces snap into place once they're close enough, so let the board confirm a fit for you.
- Two large triangles first, then the medium one, then the square and parallelogram, then the small triangles to fill corners.
- No gaps and no overlaps: every piece must be used, and together they fill the outline exactly.
- Rotate freely, and remember the parallelogram can be flipped as well as turned.
Where people get stuck
Three habits cause most dead ends. First, spending the small triangles early on a pretty corner; they are your flexible pieces, so save them for last. Second, forgetting the flip: if the outline has a slanted spur that never quite fits, it's nearly always the mirrored parallelogram. Third, refusing to lift pieces that look right. The seven tans tile the outline exactly, so one piece sitting a notch off poisons everything around it. When a puzzle fights you for more than a minute, pull the two big triangles and re-seat them. More often than not the error was in one of those two, because they had the most freedom when the board was empty.
The two small triangles are skeleton keys
Every tan is built from the same right triangle, and that gives you swaps. Join the two small triangles along their long sides and they make the square. Join them along a short side and, depending on how you swing them, they make the parallelogram or the medium triangle. So when the last hole in a silhouette looks square but your square is already spent, the small triangles will fill it. Area helps the same way. Each big triangle covers four small-triangle units; the medium triangle, the square and the parallelogram cover two each. If the hole left over is bigger than everything still in your hand, something large is misplaced, and it's cheaper to lift one big triangle than to shuffle five small pieces around it.
Seven boards of cunning
Tangram comes from Qing-dynasty China, where the name translates roughly as the seven boards of skill. The earliest surviving book of tangram problems was printed there in 1813, and within a few years trading ships had carried sets to Europe and America. Around 1817 it became a genuine craze: publishers rushed out silhouette books, cartoonists mocked tangram obsession, and the story spread that Napoleon passed his exile arranging the tans. In 1903 the American puzzle writer Sam Loyd published The Eighth Book of Tan, which claimed the puzzle was four thousand years old and invented by a god named Tan. He made it all up, and people repeated it for decades. The mathematicians got their word in too: a 1942 proof showed there are exactly thirteen convex shapes you can build from the seven pieces, a tidy little result for such a simple set.
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Tangram: frequently asked questions
How do I rotate a piece?
Tap or click a placed piece (or use its handle) to turn it in steps until it lines up.
Do I have to use every piece?
Yes. Every silhouette is built from all seven pieces exactly once.
How many pieces are in a Tangram and what are they?
Seven, known as tans: two large triangles, one medium triangle, two small triangles, a square and a parallelogram. Together they always add up to the same total area, which is the whole silhouette you're trying to fill.
Which piece should I place first?
The two large triangles. They make up half the total area and usually form the longest edges of the target shape, so setting them first leaves the smaller pieces with far fewer possible positions.
Why won't the parallelogram fit no matter how I turn it?
The parallelogram is the only piece whose mirror image differs from the original, so rotation alone sometimes isn't enough. If it stubbornly won't sit right, flip it over to its mirrored side and try again.
Do I have to use every piece?
Yes. A completed tangram uses all seven pieces to fill the outline with no gaps and no overlaps. If some pieces are left over or two are stacked, the solution isn't finished.
Where does Tangram come from?
It originated in China, and its name is often translated as the seven boards of skill. It became a worldwide craze in the early nineteenth century, around 1817, with whole books of silhouette puzzles published for enthusiasts.
Is the story that tangram is four thousand years old true?
No. That tale comes from The Eighth Book of Tan, a 1903 book in which puzzle writer Sam Loyd invented an ancient god named Tan as a joke. Plenty of readers believed him. The real puzzle is from China around 1800, which is still a respectable age.
Is Tangram free to play?
Yes. Tangram is completely free on Inkplay, with no download, no sign-up, and no in-game purchases. Open the page and play instantly on desktop or mobile.
Can I play Tangram unblocked?
Yes. Tangram runs entirely in your browser with no download, install, or plugins, so it loads instantly and keeps working even on school or work networks where bigger game sites get blocked.
More games to play
In the mood for more? Try 2048, Memory Match, Lights Out, Minesweeper, or browse all puzzle games and the full games list on Inkplay.