Fantasy sliding puzzle how to#

Fortunately, the chances are quite good that you'll end up with the final three numbers in order, but it's not the end of the world if you don't. The 13, 14, and 15 can't be solved like the rest, because there's no room left to work with. Now that the 15 is in the corner, we can solve the third row exactly like the first two. If 11 or 12 get stuck there, you'll just be repeating this step. And to be safe, make sure that you replace it with a high number. You have to forget about the 9 for a second and work on moving that 10 away. Notice how the 10 is in the corner? Not ideal. At this point, however, if the 10, 11, or 12 end up in the lower left corner, you will need to move the 9 out and actually just work on trading out that 10, 11 or 12 for a 13, 14, or 15 (preferably the 13). Begin by moving the 9 into place as usual. This is the part where you will know if you can earn the achievement or not.

Try and follow along, the strategy is identical. I will demonstrate once again with pictures below. Move the inconsequential number down and slide the 1-2-3 back into place.Īfter this you can do precisely the same with the 5-6-7-8. Slide the 1-2-3 down and around, keeping their order intact.Ĭircle that group of 3 numbers containing the 4 until the 4 is in its final spot. Notice the 4 is in that group of three numbers in the upper right corner? Voila! First row done (and don't worry, there are pictures illustrating what I'm talking about). Then move the two inconsequential numbers down and out of the way, and move the 1-2-3 back up and around the opposite corner. Then circle the 4 around into the corner where it needs to end up. Keep the 1-2-3 in order, but move the whole lot of them down and around the lower corner. My strategy is simple, and always repeatable. Now in the process of moving the starting numbers into their positions, you will come to the number 4 and realize that you haven't got the space to get it in the corner without at least disturbing the 3. That practice is the true key to beating the puzzle quickly, but it doesn't require much explanation, just muscle memory.

Fantasy sliding puzzle how to#

It's fairly obvious how to move each number in the beginning, but it takes practice before you can quickly and automatically see where a number is and where it should be. I always begin with 1, and put each number in its place in order. Here is a completed puzzle, for reference (and to drive home the reliability of this solution, notice that I casually got a time of 30.71 seconds in the process of obtaining this screenshot): A completed puzzle is numbered in sequence, from 1 to 15, horizontally, in descending rows from left to right. The object of the puzzle is to move each number into its proper position in the puzzle. For the last hour or so of attempts, I was consistently able to beat the puzzle in under a minute, but as I said, once you are fast enough, it's all dependent on the puzzle configuration you start with. I earned the achievement on attempt number 130, after previously finishing with a heart-breaking 30.25 seconds 20 attempts earlier. Just for reference, it took me 16 minutes to solve the puzzle the first time I attempted it. Earning the achievement legitimately will require dedicated practice, but not too much (it took me about 2 hours to become fast enough to complete a favorable configuration). It's my opinion that most puzzle configurations cannot be solved in 30 seconds, solver or no. Unfortunately, this isn't a magical solution that will get you the achievement in seconds, rather, it is a strategy that will always solve the puzzle. I had never played the 15 Puzzle before, and there may be more optimal solutions out there than the one I figured out, but eventually I was able to complete the puzzle in 27.98 seconds using my strategy. Since I haven't had access to a computer while through-hiking the Appalachian Trail, I was forced to obtain the 'Half-Minute Hacker' achievement legitimately, and so I thought it might be nice to write up a short guide here in case there are any others out there who are unable to use the Solver method outlined in the achievement guide. So, it appears from all of my Google searches that no solver program exists online for the 15 Puzzle that is compatible with a mobile device.