Play in your browser · Spatial

Tangram online

The classic seven-piece puzzle, free in your browser. Drag the pieces onto the shape, turn them into place and beat your time on six figures.

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How to play

Choose a figure and press Start. The grey shape is the target, and the seven pieces wait beside it.
Drag a piece onto the shape. Tap it to turn it by 45°, and use Flip for the parallelogram. A piece clicks into place when its spot and angle are right.
Place all seven pieces to finish and see your time. If you are stuck, Hint places one piece for you.

What your score means

Your result is the time from the moment the pieces appear to the moment the last one clicks into place. Each figure keeps its own best time, and a solve with hints counts as finished but does not set a record.

Figures differ a lot: the square and the triangle are compact, while the cat and the sailboat have more corners to fill. Compare times on the same figure, and try the corners-first technique below: it usually saves more time than moving faster.

About tangram

Tangram is a Chinese dissection puzzle: a square cut into seven pieces, namely two large triangles, a medium one, two small ones, a square and a parallelogram, which are rearranged to make figures. Every figure uses all seven pieces with no overlaps, so each silhouette has the same area as the original square. The puzzle became popular in the West in the early 19th century, and many collections of figures have been published since, from letters and boats to people and animals. Solving one is spatial construction: you compare the outline with the pieces, picture each piece turned and look for the corner it could fill. Placing the large triangles first often helps, because they fix most of the layout. This version has six figures and a snap that tells you when a piece is right. In Omni Brain the same idea runs as Tangram, with difficulty that adapts as you play.

A Direct skill · Fitting pieces into a shape is spatial construction, a direct skill that shows up in packing, assembling and reading plans. It improves quickly with practice.

Techniques from the app

Corners first. A corner of the silhouette can only be filled by a piece with a matching corner. Place those; the middle sorts itself out.
Turn it before you place it. Look at the piece, imagine it in each of its four turns, and pick the one that matches the hole. Then place.

Train spatial thinking every day in Omni Brain

Tangram and many more short games, each with a technique you can use outside the app. Free every day.

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Questions about tangram

What are the seven tangram pieces?

Two large triangles, one medium triangle, two small triangles, a square and a parallelogram. Together they make a square, and every tangram figure uses all seven without overlapping.

How do I turn or flip a piece?

Tap or click a piece to turn it by 45°, or select it and press R. The parallelogram is the only piece that changes when flipped: use the Flip button or the F key.

Is there only one solution?

Some figures can be filled in more than one way. This version checks your pieces against one layout per figure, with the two large and the two small triangles interchangeable, so a piece snaps only where that layout needs it. If a piece will not click, try another spot or angle.

Does tangram train spatial skills?

Fitting pieces into a shape is spatial construction, a skill used in packing, assembling and reading plans, and it improves quickly with practice. That is why the game in Omni Brain carries an A evidence label: you practise the skill itself.

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