TriangleBlocks (PuzzleMadness)

About TriangleBlocks (PuzzleMadness)

In TriangleBlocks the board is an irregular shape cut from a grid of triangles, usually with a few triangular holes, and the pieces are small shapes built from two to six triangles: diamonds, strips, chevrons and hearts. You fit every piece into the board. When you are done there must be no overlaps and no triangle left uncovered.

Triangles add a twist that square tiling does not have, because each cell points up or down and a piece only fits where its triangles line up with the grid's. Today's Medium board, for example, has ten pieces and three holes.

PuzzleMadness is a free puzzle website run by Dewi, a software developer who started out making games for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii and DS and now builds the site as a hobby. It carries dozens of puzzle types, from classic sudoku to newer logic grids, and each one gets its own dated puzzle every day at each difficulty. TriangleBlocks comes in Easy, Medium and Hard versions plus a Mixed page, and the same day's TriangleBlocks puzzle is shared by everyone who opens it.

The site checks your grid as you go and tells you when it is finished; it does not publish solutions. Each completed puzzle earns a score, and scores feed a monthly and an all-time TriangleBlocks leaderboard, where only your best attempt at a puzzle counts. Older days stay in the archive, so a missed puzzle can still be played later and still counts toward the current month. Playing needs no account; a free registration gives you a username on the leaderboards and a cloud save. The pages carry adverts.

How to play TriangleBlocks (PuzzleMadness)

1. Open today's TriangleBlocks page on PuzzleMadness and choose a difficulty from the menu above the grid.
2. Move a piece from below the grid onto the board; you can pick it up again if it is in the wrong place.
3. Place every piece so that none overlap and none hang outside the board.
4. Finish when every triangle of the board is covered.
5. The site tells you when the grid is complete and adds your score; registered players appear on the leaderboards.

Screenshots

Tips

• Begin at the points and jagged edges of the board, where only a piece of the right outline can fit.
• Watch which way each triangle points: a piece that fits a space pointing up may not fit one pointing down.
• Leave the smallest pieces, such as two-triangle diamonds, until the end.
• Missed a day? Earlier puzzles are in the archive, and finishing one still counts toward this month's leaderboard.

Questions