Tangrams is the ancient Chinese dissection puzzle. You are given the seven timeless tans — two large triangles, one medium triangle, two small triangles, a square and a parallelogram — and a target silhouette to fill. Your task is to drag, spin and flip those pieces until they cover the outlined shape.
It looks deceptively simple, but fitting every angle just right is a wonderful spatial-reasoning workout that has delighted puzzlers for two centuries. Each new shape — square, triangle, diamond, arrow, house, boat and more — is a fresh little brain-teaser, and a live "percent filled" readout shows how close you are. This is free online Tangrams you can play in browser with no download whenever you want a calm mental stretch.
The tangram as we know it took shape in China around the turn of the 19th century, and within two decades trading ships had carried it to Europe and America, where it sparked a full-blown puzzle craze in 1817–18. Napoleon is said to have whiled away his exile with a tangram set, and later devotees included Edgar Allan Poe and Lewis Carroll. Thousands of silhouette figures — people, animals, boats, letters — were published in booklets that puzzlers raced to solve.
For a seven-piece toy, the tangram hides surprising mathematics. All seven tans are built from identical right triangles, which is why so many different silhouettes are possible, yet in 1942 two Chinese mathematicians proved that only thirteen convex shapes can ever be formed. Classic paradoxes deepen the fun: two figures can look almost identical while one seems to be missing a piece, a visual trick that has puzzled solvers for two centuries.
Position all seven pieces so they cover the target silhouette as completely as possible, with little overflow outside the outline.
Drag a piece with the mouse or finger to move it. Rotate with the ⟳ button, the R key or a right-click; flip with the ⇋ button, the F key or a double-tap. Press N or ✦ New shape for a fresh puzzle.
A shape counts as solved when you cover at least 90% of the target with little overflow. Difficulty changes target visibility: Easy shows a bright filled target, Medium a faint one, and Hard only the silhouette outline.
Place the two large triangles first — they fill the most area and anchor everything else. Look at the corners of the silhouette to work out which angled piece belongs where, and remember you can flip the parallelogram, which is often the trickiest tan to seat.
Do I have to use all seven pieces?
Yes — every classic tangram figure uses all seven tans, laid flat with no overlapping. That constraint is what makes each silhouette a genuine puzzle.
Can I flip the pieces over?
The parallelogram is the only tan that isn't symmetrical, so some figures require flipping it. Rotation is allowed for every piece.
Are tangram puzzles good for kids?
Excellent — tangrams are widely used in classrooms to build spatial reasoning and geometry intuition, and this version's hints make it friendly for beginners.
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