Color Sorting

About Color Sorting: A Gradient Tile Puzzle

Color Sorting is a puzzle built entirely from colour. Each board begins as one continuous gradient sliced into tiles and shuffled — the goal is to read that gradient and restore it to order. Pinned tiles anchor the corners and fix the gradient's direction, so every other tile has exactly one correct position. Several scenes show a grid of colorful squares arranged in four rows and five columns. Several scenes also show squares within the grid that carry a centered circular dot.

Colours are generated in OKLab, which means each step along the gradient looks visually equal rather than mathematically equal. No board is presented unless it remains readable with red and green removed, and a colour-blind palette option in Settings raises that accessibility floor further.

Par — the fewest swaps needed to complete a board — is computed precisely, not estimated, making it a real target rather than a rough grade. Personal best and average times are tracked for every difficulty level.

How to Play Color Sorting

The objective is to return the shuffled gradient to order until colour flows evenly across the entire board. Par is the fewest swaps that can finish it, and there is no time limit.

Difficulty and Board Sizes

• Easy: 5×4 board
• Medium: 7×5 board
• Hard: 9×6 board

Board Actions

• Undo: takes back one swap
• Reset: returns the board to its shuffled state
• Hint: plays an optimal swap
• New puzzle: deals a fresh board

Controls

• Drag (desktop and mobile): drag a tile onto another to trade the two
• Tap / click (desktop and mobile): tap or click one tile, then tap or click a second to trade them

Games You Might Like

If sorting colours across a grid appeals to you, puzzle games on Playgama offer a wide range of logic and pattern challenges worth exploring. For another colour-sorting twist, Nuts Puzzle: Sort By Color has you arranging coloured nuts onto screws, with puzzles that grow steadily more demanding as you plan further ahead.

Yarn Fever! Unravel Puzzle brings a thread-sorting challenge with boosters and customisable slots for when levels get tough — a calm but rewarding companion to gradient puzzles. Blockibo: Color Blocks shifts the focus to moving coloured blocks, unlocking gates, and clearing boards through careful planning, much like working out the optimal swap sequence here. Fans of logic-based challenges will also find plenty to enjoy across skill games on Playgama.