Picture Twist

What is Picture Twist?

Picture Twist is a picture rotation puzzle. A painting is cut into a grid of square tiles and most of the tiles are turned on the spot, a quarter, a half or three quarters of a turn, so the picture becomes a patchwork of sideways roofs and upside-down boats. Nothing is missing and, on the first two levels, nothing has moved: every tile is already in its place. Your job is to turn each one until the whole picture stands upright again.

Every picture is an original painting made for this game, twenty-four in all: fishing harbours, mountain villages, tulip and poppy fields, a canal town, a night avenue, a desert canyon, a glasshouse, a kitchen dresser and more. They are painted with plenty of detail in every corner (windows, masts, stems, roof lines) so that each tile shows clearly which way is up.

How to play

• Tap a tile to turn it a quarter clockwise. It spins into its new position.
• Turn back. Press and hold a tile (or right-click it) to turn it a quarter the other way. You can also switch on Turn back, and then every tap turns tiles anticlockwise until you switch it off.
• Swap (hard only). On hard the tiles are shuffled over the board as well. Drag a tile onto another and let go: the two change places, each keeping its turn.
• Peek shows the whole finished picture while you hold the button.
• Hint sets one tile right for you: upright and, on hard, in its own place. Each hint adds 30 seconds to your score.
• Keyboard. Move over the board with the arrow keys and press Enter to turn a tile (Shift+Enter turns it back). On hard, press Space to pick up a tile and Space again on another tile to swap them.
• Score. Your time from the first touch to the finished picture, plus 30 seconds for every hint and 2 seconds for every move beyond the fewest that solve the board. Lower is better.

The levels are easy (4 by 4, 16 tiles), medium (5 by 5, 25 tiles) and hard (5 by 5 with the tiles shuffled too). The fewest moves is known for every deal: a tile turned a quarter needs one turn, either way; a tile upside down needs two; and on hard each swap can send at least one tile home. When the picture is whole the seams close and the result shows how many moves you made and the fewest possible.

Strategy tips

1. Find the up direction first. Skies, horizons, roofs, masts, stems and the light falling from above all point the same way. One look at those tells you how far a tile is off.
2. Turn the short way. A tile leaning a quarter to the left needs one turn back, not three taps forward. Holding a tile, or switching on Turn back, saves two moves every time.
3. Count before you tap. A tile upside down always needs exactly two turns, whichever way you go, so tap it twice without stopping to look.
4. On hard, place before you turn. Swap the tiles with clear landmarks (the horizon, the top of a tower, a boat) into place first, then finish the turning. A tile keeps its turn when it moves, so nothing is wasted.
5. Peek sparingly. The clock keeps running while you look, so take one long look at the start rather than many short ones.

FAQ

Is Picture Twist free to play?

Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account needed.

What counts as an extra move?

Any turn or swap that does not bring the board closer to solved: turning a tile three times clockwise instead of once back counts two extra moves, and turning a tile away from upright and back again counts two as well. A hint never counts as an extra move; it costs its 30 seconds instead.

Where do the pictures come from?

They are original paintings made for this game, twenty-four in all, of towns, harbours, landscapes and interiors. None of them shows text, logos or real people.

What is the daily puzzle?

Every day everyone gets the same medium puzzle: the same picture with the same tiles turned the same way, so times compare directly on the daily leaderboard.