Sliding Puzzle 5x5
Twenty-four tiles and one empty square. The biggest board here, for players who have mastered the 4x4.
5x5 levels to play
The 5x5 board, also called the 24 puzzle, holds 24 numbered tiles, 1 to 24, and one empty square. This page has 4 numbered 5x5 levels, needing from 31 to 46 moves when solved perfectly, plus 2 picture levels.
Expect your own solves to take a good deal more moves than that: a board this size rewards patience. Your progress and best results are saved in this browser, so you can stop after any level and pick up where you left off.
How to solve a 5x5 sliding puzzle: shrink it
A 5x5 looks overwhelming, but you never have to solve it all at once. Finish the outer row and column, and what's left is a smaller board you already know:
- Top row: place 1, 2 and 3, then 4 and 5 as a pair. Move 4 into the top-right corner and 5 directly below it, bring the empty square to 4's home, then slide 4 left and 5 up.
- Left column: place 6 and 11, then 16 and 21 as a pair. Move 21 into 16's home and 16 right beside it, bring the empty square to the bottom-left corner, then slide 21 down and 16 left.
- The rest is a 4x4: tiles 7 to 10, 12 to 15, 17 to 20 and 22 to 24. Solve its top row and left column the same way, and you are left with a 3x3.
- Finish the 3x3: its top row, its left column as a pair, then turn the last three tiles around the empty square until they drop into order.
Every step uses the same two tricks as the smaller boards: a pair for the end of each row and column, and a turn of the last corner. How to Solve a Sliding Puzzle, Step by Step shows both on boards you can play, and How to Solve the Last Two Rows explains the column pairs in detail.
Why the 5x5 is so much harder
Going from 4x4 to 5x5 adds only nine tiles, but the number of positions you can reach jumps from about 10 trillion to about 7.8 × 10²⁴, hundreds of billions of times as many. Even computers struggle: for the 3x3 and the 4x4, the most moves any position can need is known (31 and 80), but for the 5x5 nobody has been able to work it out yet. Every level here has been solved by computer, so you know each one can be finished.
Tips for long solves
- Protect what you have finished. Route the empty square around solved tiles, never through them.
- Prepare pairs early. While you place the first tiles of a row or column, steer its last two towards the end, so setting up the pair takes only a few moves.
- Push several tiles at once. Clicking a tile further along a row or column slides every tile between it and the empty square. It saves clicks, though each tile that slides still counts as a move.
- Count your progress in layers. After the outer row and column you are on a 4x4, and after the next row and column a 3x3. Each layer is easier than the last.
Need a warm-up?
If the 5x5 is too much for now, practise on a smaller board first. Every trick you need here already appears on the 4x4.