Pentomino Quest

How to play pentomino puzzles

A pentomino is a shape made from five equal squares joined edge to edge. There are twelve different shapes when rotations and reflections count as the same shape. Fit every piece offered for your puzzle into the rectangle, without gaps or overlaps.

Start with three pieces and build up to six. The four full rectangles each use all twelve shapes and cover sixty squares. Boards stand vertically so their squares remain large enough to tap on a phone. Scroll inside a tall board to reach its other end.

Choose, turn, and place

Choose a colored piece from the tray, rotate or flip it, then tap a board square. That square anchors the top-left corner of the piece's bounding box; some shapes have an empty corner. You can also drag a piece from the tray or from the board. An invalid drop leaves the piece where it was.

On a touchscreen, drag from the tray. The preview sits slightly above your finger. Hold near the top or bottom of a tall board to scroll while dragging, then lift your finger when the preview fits. You can also swipe the board to scroll and tap to place.

To move or turn an already placed piece, select it on the board or in the tray. A turn that would overlap another piece or go outside the board is rejected. To tray removes only the selected piece. Undo and Redo let you experiment safely. Restart begins a fresh attempt and asks before clearing placed pieces.

Look for spaces, not just pieces

• Watch the small gaps. Every remaining piece covers five squares. A disconnected region whose area is not a multiple of five cannot be filled.
• Use the edges. Corners and narrow regions have fewer possible placements. Try those first, then work toward the open center.
• Turn a piece before giving up. Rotation and reflection can make the same five squares fit a very different space. The letter on each piece identifies it even when the color is hard to distinguish.