Frostpane Slide is the puzzle you might remember from a plastic toy in a stocking, rebuilt with the eight Arctic paintings of the den. Choose a picture and a size, and the painting is cut into tiles with one corner left empty. The tiles then fly to scrambled positions. Your task is to slide them, one gap at a time, until the picture is whole.
Every scramble is guaranteed solvable, so no puzzle is ever a dead end. Before your first move, the game shows the move targets for three stars and two stars, which depend on how thoroughly that particular board was mixed. A move counter and a timer run as you play, and your fewest moves and fastest time are saved for every picture at every size.
How to play Frostpane Slide
- Pick one of the eight paintings and choose a 3×3, 4×4 or 5×5 grid on the start screen.
- Check the star targets shown below the board, then make your first move to start the timer.
- Tap a tile in line with the gap, swipe, or press the arrow keys or WASD to slide tiles into it.
- Turn on tile numbers with N or the Numbers button, and hold P or Peek to see the full picture.
- Return every tile to its home to finish, then see your moves, time, stars and any new best.
Frostpane Slide controls
Getting better at Frostpane Slide
- Solve the top row first, then the left column, and the puzzle shrinks to a smaller one each time.
- Place the last two tiles of a row together: park one, bring the other beside it, then rotate both in.
- Switch numbers on while learning; it turns a tricky picture region into a clear, logical sequence.
- Tapping a tile further along the line slides several tiles at once, and each tile counts as a move.
- Hold Peek before you start to fix the painting in mind, especially on the sky-heavy aurora scenes.
Three grid sizes and the jump between them
The 3×3 grid has eight tiles and is a perfect introduction: small enough to solve by feel, large enough to teach you how a gap moves around a board. The 4×4 grid, with fifteen tiles, is the classic size, and it is where a little method starts to matter. The 5×5 grid, with twenty-four tiles, is a proper thinking puzzle for a long, dark evening.
Each size has its own saved bests, so you can keep a tidy record of your fewest moves and fastest time on every painting at every size. It is a good idea to learn a painting at 3×3 before trying it bigger. Knowing where the station domes or the husky team sit in the frame makes larger grids feel far less like a blizzard of tiles.
Star targets you can see before you start
We dislike puzzles that keep their scoring a secret, so Frostpane Slide shows its targets up front. Before your first move, a line below the board tells you how many moves earn three stars and how many earn two. Those numbers are worked out from the scramble itself, so a board that was mixed more deeply allows more moves.
Finishing always earns at least one star, which keeps the game kind to beginners. The three-star target is where the real challenge lives, and it rewards planning rather than shuffling tiles about at random. A few of us at the station keep a running tally on the whiteboard, and the 5×5 Snow Globe Market has caused more friendly arguments there than anything else we have built.
Questions about Frostpane Slide
No. Every shuffle is built from solvable positions, so each puzzle can always be completed. If you feel stuck, solve the top row and left column first.
It shows each tile’s number in its corner, which makes the correct order easy to follow. Press N on a keyboard to toggle it on or off.
Your fewest moves and fastest time for every painting at every size, along with the total number of puzzles you have completed, all stored in your browser.
