Web Puzzle Compendium
Created by Barry Sharples
PUZZLES
49 Sunflowers Puzzle
49 Sunflowers Puzzle
For a cheerful start let’s have a field of sunflowers to puzzle over.
Acorns Puzzle
Acorns Puzzle
The squirrel needs help gathering all the acorns in the oak wood.
Alcuin’s River Puzzles
Alcuin's Puzzles
Simple puzzles from possibly the earliest book of puzzles.
All Change Puzzle
All Change Puzzle
A simple puzzle to turn the board from all orange to all blue.
Ancient Greek Puzzles
Ancient Greek Puzzles
The oldest arithmetical puzzles from Greece but easy to solve.
Archipelago
Archipelgo
Aka “Islands” and “Bridges”. Link all the islands by bridges.
Arrows Maze Puzzle
Arrows Maze Puzzle
Follow the arrows around the board until you hit the target.
Ball Push Puzzle
Ball Push Puzzle
Mix up the balls and then try to put the colours back together.
Ball Tumble Puzzle
Ball Tumble Puzzle
The classic puzzle where you must clear the board of the coloured balls.
Bubbles Puzzle
Bubbles Puzzle
Blowing soap bubbles to build up your score is the challenge.
Button Mania
Button Mania
A number puzzle using buttons to set all the numbers to zero.
Cave Explorer
Cave Explorer
Explore the cave by torchlight to discover wonders.
Chomsky’s Dream
Chomsky’s Dream
A bit different. A mind puzzle rather than a board puzzle.
Clive’s Puzzle
Clive's puzzle
A magazine puzzle over 40 years old known to millions of people.
Coconuts Puzzle
Coconuts Puzzle
How many coconuts were collected? The monkey got five.
Classic Solitaire
Classic Solitaire
The solitaire you know from the well-known, well-loved toy.
Codebreaker
Codebreaker
Known for many years as the plastic puzzle ‘Mastermind’
Codeword
Codeword
The famous crossword puzzle without clues. Several levels to choose.
Coin Puzzle
Coin Puzzle
Put gold coins on the board placing them according to the clues.
Connections Wall
Connections Wall
Sort 16 clues into four groups of four related items.
Cross Sticks
Cross Sticks
A matchsticks puzzle to test on your family on quiet afternoons.
Crossword
Crossword
We had to have an example of a UK-style crossword.
Dominosa
Dominosa
So simple, this dominoes puzzle. But can you solve it first time?
Double Slide
Double Slide
A new puzzle that promises to be the most addictive here.
Fifteen Puzzle
Fifteen Puzzle
A classic sliding puzzle that has been around since 1878.
Firelight Puzzle
Firelight Puzzle
A medieval puzzle with braziers to keep lit on a cold night.
Flood It
Flood It Puzzle
A colourful, dynamic way to use this computer characteristic.
Froghopper Puzzle
Froghopper Puzzle
Another classic puzzle with frogs hopping about on lily pads.
G.C.H.Q. Puzzles
GCHQ Puzzles
Four difficult thinking puzzles set by cryptographic experts.
Henry’s Puzzles
Dudeney puzzles
A small selection of Henry Dudeney’s mathematical puzzles.
Hitori
Hitori
Shade numbers so rest appear once in each row and column.
Hoppity
Hoppity
A simple cross-the-board puzzle based on Halma.
Hungry Rabbit Puzzle
Hungry Rabbit Puzzle
You need to build a rabbit-proof fence in the field and save the cabbages.
Hymn Board Puzzle
Hymn board
Henry Dudeney’s most difficult puzzle with a full solution.
Ice Maze Puzzles
Ice Maze Puzzles
Three puzzles where you leap between the ice floes to reach solid ground.
Jigsaw
jigsaw
At last a playable webpage jigsaw puzzle completes the compendium.
Kakuro
Kakuro
Another Japanese number puzzle once called “Cross Sums”.
Key Spinout Puzzle
Key Spinout Puzzle
All you do is turn the tumblers to free the key. Simples!
Knight’s Tour
Knight’s Tour
Another classic. A chess knight must visit all the squares on the board.
KuroMasu Puzzle
Kuromasu
Not often seen, this is a clever Japanese number puzzle.
Laserlight Puzzle
Laserlight
A very simple puzzle to explain, a mite less easy to solve.
Lawnmower
Lawnmower
Mowing the lawn to remove all the daisies is tricky. You’ll see why.
Leaf Fall
Autumn
Place leaves according to the rules to create a colourful solution.
Letter Slide
Letter Slide
A 21st century puzzle which, like Codeword, is a crossword without clues.
Lights Out Puzzle
Lights Out Puzzle
Switch all the lights off to solve the puzzle. Then you can create your own.
Living World Puzzle
Living World Puzzle
A mesmerising puzzle to create self-sustaining life in a small world.
Magic Buttons Puzzle
Magic Buttons Puzzle
Choose a button and magically another one changes colour.
Market Challenge
Market Challenge
Farmer Giles’ cattle or your sheep. Who will win at the market?
Master SuDoku
Master SuDoku
Seriously challenging puzzle needing advanced techniques shown.
Match Four
Match Four
A simple puzzle that needs some clear thinking to solve.
Maze (Wavy)
Wavy Maze
We needed at least one maze puzzle and this one has a tricky twist.
Memory Puzzle
Memory puzzle
A turning card memory puzzle on an animal theme with elephant cards.
Missing Person
Missing Person
Look for the famous missing person in these two amazing pictures.
Monty Hall Problem
Monty Hall
A bit different. A quiz show mind puzzle rather than a board puzzle.
Mousetrap
Mousetrap
Find the hidden mouse. Choose for him to stay still or move about.
Oasis Puzzle
Oasis Puzzle
As chief water engineer, the irrigation plan depends on you.
Open Sesame!
Keypad Puzzle
If magic fails then you must use your wits to open the doors!
Parking Lot Puzzle
Parking Lot Puzzle
Aka ”Rush Hour”. Help the red car to leave the parking lot.
Patchwork Puzzle
Patchwork Puzzle
Sort the patchwork squares to recreate the original quilt.
Peg Jump Puzzle
Peg Jump Puzzle
Two versions of the little wooden jumping puzzle to solve.
Pencils Puzzles
Pencils Puzzles
Two puzzles with pencils which change colour and disappear.
Pennant Puzzle
Pennant Puzzle
A sliding blocks puzzle which requires patience. It first appeared in 1909.
Picture Puzzles
Picture Puzzles
Four pictures to re-assemble will test your observation skill.
Polar Journey
Polar Journey
Your snowmobile has to make it from base camp to the pole.
Presidents Puzzle
Presidents Puzzle
A knowledge puzzle with a follow-up English alternative.
Puzzle Boxes
Puzzle Boxes
Pack the valuable boxes carefully on the tray so that none slide about.
Ralph’s Puzzle
Ralphs Puzzle
This puzzle may date back 400 years. It is set in a tavern.
Rebus Puzzle
Rebus Puzzle
Discover the hidden words in these easy image puzzles.
Red Donkey Puzzle
Red Donkey Puzzle
An ancient puzzle re-invented several times in different countries.
Rolling Cube
Rolling Cube
A simple but intriguing puzzle. Rarely seen on the web.
Sam’s Puzzles
Sam Loyd puzzles
A small selection from the large number of Sam Loyd’s brainteaser puzzles.
Sheepdog Puzzle
Sheepdog Puzzle
Help the dog collect the sheep from the field into the pen.
Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors
Two sliding puzzles with one-way doors to add extra difficulty.
Slide Puzzles
Slide Puzzles
Three interesting picture puzzles to solve by sliding the blocks.
Slider
Slider Puzzle
A new and clever variant on the many sliding puzzles.
Star Turn Puzzle
Star Puzzles
A new twist in puzzling involving sliding the piece and turning the board.
States Puzzle
States Puzzle
For everyone who finds the United States a puzzling country.
SuDoku Puzzle
SuDoku Puzzle
Eight ‘Number Place’ puzzles in various different styles.
Squares Puzzle
Squares Puzzle
A puzzle you could make with pins and string. Or draw on the screen here.
Suguru Blank Puzzle
Suguru Blank Puzzle
A particular example of a new puzzle from Japan with a twist.
Tangles Puzzle
Tangles Puzzle
A connecting puzzle needing all your skill to solve.
Tapa Puzzle
Tapa Puzzle
A Turkish games designer created this unusual puzzle in 2007.
Three Rings Puzzle
Three Rings Puzzle
Three rings to be re-assembled and three puzzles to choose from.
The Puzzler
The Puzzler
Turn the wheels to bring the red wheel together behind the blue.
Tiles Puzzle
Tiles Puzzle
Inpired by the beauty of tile patterns here is a creative puzzle.
Tile Solitaire
Tile Solitaire
A tile-matching puzzle using Mah Jongg tiles and ‘famous faces’ tiles.
Tom & Jerry Roller
Tom & Jerry
A different slide puzzle where rows and columns roll up and down.
Tower Blocks
Tower Blocks
A very simple test of your spatial awareness and reflexes.
Tower of Hanoi Puzzle
Tower of Hanoi Puzzle
A patience puzzle said to be based on a Brahmin creation legend.
Traffic Lights
Traffic Lights
Even changing traffic lights can be made into a tricky puzzle.
Train Tracks
Train Tracks
A favourite newspaper and magazine puzzle ideal for the screen.
Triangles Puzzles
Triangles Puzzles
So simple to solve but fascinating to invent more of the same.
Turnstile Puzzle
Turnstile Puzzle
Turn the discs to rearrange the colours to their starting position.
Two by Two Puzzle
Two by Two Puzzle
A minimalist but colourful puzzle to exercise the little grey cells.
World Countries Puzzle
How well do you know the world we live in? A puzzle for all the family.
Wordled Puzzle
Wordled Puzzle
A simple puzzle created by Josh Wardle in October 2021.
GAMES
Battleships
Battleships
The famous sea battle game where you aim to sink the enemy fleet.
Hexagon Hustle
Hexagon Hustle
Aim to fill the board with your colour by placing and moving counters.
Oware
Oware
A Mancala game where you don’t own any pieces but collect them to win.
Reversi
Reversi
The original game from which ‘Othello’ was derived. It needs careful play.
Senet
Senet
The ancient Egyptian race game using sticks for dice and a tile board.
Tigers and Goats
Tiger's move.
A two part game played particularly in Nepal where these tigers hunt.
Gomoku
Gomoku.
A Japanese game played using a ‘Go’ board and pieces.
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