Tiling puzzle

Tiling puzzles are puzzles involving two-dimensional packing problems in which a number of flat shapes have to be assembled into a larger given shape without overlaps (and often without gaps). Some tiling puzzles ask you to dissect a given shape first and then rearrange the pieces into another shape. Other tiling puzzles ask you to dissect a given shape while fulfilling certain conditions. The two latter types of tiling puzzles are also called dissection puzzles.

Example of a tiling puzzle that utilizes negative space.

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Tiling puzzles may be made from wood, metal, cardboard, plastic or any other sheet-material. Many tiling puzzles are now available as computer games.

Tiling puzzles have a long history. Some of the oldest and most famous are jigsaw puzzles and the tangram puzzle.

Other examples of tiling puzzles include:

• Conway puzzle
• Domino tiling, of which the mutilated chessboard problem is one example
• Eternity puzzle
• Geometric magic square
• Puzz-3D
• Squaring the square
• Tantrix
• T puzzle

Many three-dimensional mechanical puzzles can be regarded as three-dimensional tiling puzzles.