How to Play the NYTimes “Tiles” Puzzle Game

The interactive capabilities of Web browsers have continued to increase with each release. Now they can run programs as complex as Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop. Impressive, right? Heck, the Web-as-operating-system is the entire idea behind ChromeOS and it’s a remarkably capable alternative to Mac and Windows.

There are also lots of powerful and sophisticated games you can run within your Web browser nowadays, but more people play what are known as “casual” games. If you’ve ever tried your hand at Words with Friends, Wordle, even Tetris, or Candy Crush, you’ve tried a casual game. That’s the gist of the games that the New York Times offers on its Website too. Even better, you don’t need a paid subscription to play any of their games. Just go to nytimes.com/games to see everything available.

Shortcuts: Finding Tiles at the NYTimes | How to Match Tiles | When Things Go Wrong | The Endgame

For this tutorial, however, we’re going to focus on the pattern-matching puzzle game Tiles. It’s pretty easy to figure out, but getting a perfect streak? Not so easy. Let’s have a look.

FINDING AND STARTING “TILES”

If you’ve never set up an account, you’ll want to sign up. You can use a throwaway email address if you want, but I haven’t received a single unsolicited email message from the publisher in my years of having a free account. Go to the puzzles area and you’ll see Tiles:

If you look at the logo, it’s rather a hint about how the game works: Squares have multiple overlaid patterns and the challenge is to keep picking matches so you produce streaks. Click and you’ll see the starting puzzle:

Nice and abstract, right? But remember that these are stacks of concentric circles of various colors, not just rings like a bullseye. Different puzzles might utilize different shapes and patterns, but each is internally consistent.

HOW TO MATCH TWO TILES

The very first move is free; click to choose an image. Your next click will need to be a second Tile that has at least one element in common with the first.

For example, in the above I have chosen row 2, column 4 as my first Tile. Matching tiles will have a narrow 2nd step yellow circle, a wider, but smaller, light blue circle, or a light green filled-in dot as the center spot. See any that match? How about row 3, column 5?

The match removes the yellow circle from 3,5 (row 3, column 5). I can then match the open magenta inner circle with Tile 2,3 (row 2, column 3), which removes that match, leaving me here:

Notice that the game is tracking my longest combo, which, so far, is 3 tiles.

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

If you chose a Tile that doesn’t actually match, you’ll see this error:

This ends your streak, so be careful with your choices!

Further along, I’m slowly but surely clearing all the Tiles:

Notice that the cursor is on 1,3 while the selected Tile is 1,5. They match, so this will continue my combo.

If your match removes all attributes from a Tile, you get a free choice option:

That’s it. This is a fun and engaging puzzle that challenges your attention to detail. Some pattern styles are easier to play than others, and if you’re color blind, some combinations might be unexpectedly difficult, but overall, a fun brain teaser.

THE ENDGAME AND SCORING

When you’re done, it’ll show you the longest combo you achieved:

What it doesn’t do is time you, which I prefer. No stress is the watchword of casual gaming!

I’m convinced that there’s an optimal solution that would let you clear the entire board with one super long streak, but so far, I haven’t achieved it. My best was 32 steps, but I definitely took my time on that puzzle. How about you? What’s your best with Tiles?

Pro Tip: I’ve been a gamer and puzzle solver forever and am always interested in learning about new games. I’m also a board game fan and review them over on my PlanetDave site too. Check it out: board game reviews. Thanks!