In most cases, you will need to put the tiles in numerical order, starting with no. 1 at the top-left corner, and moving down each row left-to-right. Slide puzzles with images may not have numbers on the tiles. In this case, assign your own numbers to the tiles. For example, if a tile has the top-left corner of a face, make that tile no. 1 on your grid. Starting with the corners and working your way to the middle is a good way of figuring out numbers for image tiles.

When moving tiles, look ahead to how far your tile is from where you want it to be. This will help you strategize how to get to the destination in the fewest number of moves possible.

For a 4x4 puzzle, move the no. 2 tile to the spot immediately to the right of the no. 1 tile. For a 5x5 puzzle, move the no. 2 and no. 3 tiles to their respective positions on the top row.

On a 3x3 grid, the last tile is no. 3. On a 4x4 grid, the last tile is no. 4. On a 5x5 grid, the last tile is no. 5.

On a 3x3 grid, the next-to-last tile is no. 2. On a 4x4 grid, the next-to-last tile is no. 3. On a 5x5 grid, the next-to-last tile is no. 4.

You’ve now solved the top row! Leave it untouched for the remainder of the puzzle.

On a 4x4 grid, the next tile of the left column is no. 5. On a 5x5 grid, the next tile of the left column is no. 6.

If your grid is 5x5, these two tiles will be nos. 16 and 21.

If your grid is 4x4, the next-to-last tile is no. 9. If your grid is 5x5, the next-to-last tile is no. 16.

Leave the left column untouched for the remainder of the puzzle, just as you are leaving the top row untouched.

If your grid is 4x4, you will have a 3x3 grid to solve after taking care of the first two methods. Repeating the first method (“Solving the Top Row”) will leave you with a 3x2 grid. If your grid is 5x5, your new grid will be 4x4, and you will have to repeat each of the first two methods (“Solving the Top Row” and “Solving the Left Column”) once more.

On a 3x3 grid, the top-left tile tile of the 3x2 grid is no. 4. On a 4x4 grid, the top-left tile tile of the 3x2 grid is no. 10. On a 5x5 grid, the top-left tile tile of the 3x2 grid is no. 18.

On a 3x3 grid, the bottom-left tile of the 3x2 grid is no. 7. On a 4x4 grid, the bottom-left tile of the 3x2 grid is no. 14. On a 5x5 grid, the bottom-left tile of the 3x2 grid is no. 23.