How to play pattern (and how to spot a swapped tile in half a second)
pattern is a free color gradient puzzle you play in the browser. Each round shows a grid of tiles fading smoothly from one color to another, with a few pairs of tiles swapped out of place. You find them and put them back, against the clock.
People are wired to notice a broken pattern. pattern asks how fast you can act on that.
No download, no account, no app. It runs on a phone and keeps working with the network switched off.
How a round works
- Look. The board appears already broken: a few tiles sit where they do not belong, so the gradient has a bump in it.
- Swap. Drag a misplaced tile onto the spot it belongs in. The two tiles trade places. A tile that lands home flashes.
- Finish. When every tile is home the board is solved and the round ends. The timer is the only other way out.
A run is five boards, and each one hides more swapped pairs than the last.
Scoring
Each round is worth 0 to 10 points, so a run scores up to 50.
- Solved boards score on speed. A quick solve earns the full 10, and the score falls away smoothly the longer you take. Boards with more swapped pairs get a longer allowance before the points start dropping.
- Unsolved boards still pay for progress. If the timer runs out, you keep credit for the pairs you fixed, up to just over 9 points on a board that was one swap from done. A board you never touched scores nothing.
Scores are kept to two decimals, so close runs still separate on the board.
Easy and hard
| easy | hard | |
|---|---|---|
| Swapped pairs | 1, 2, 2, 3, 3 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
| Timer | 10 s down to 8 s | 11 s down to 8 s |
The timer shrinks as the pair count grows on each level, so the late boards are both busier and tighter.
The daily set
The daily set is five boards, picked from the UTC date, so every player gets the same boards that day and scores are comparable.
Tips for spotting a swap
Read the board along one axis at a time. Scan each row for a tile that jumps in hue, then each column for one that jumps in lightness. A swapped tile is almost always wrong in both directions at once, so a tile that looks off in its row and its column is a safe bet. Swapped tiles come in pairs: once you find one, its partner usually sits where its color belongs, so drag it straight there. Do not hunt for the last pair before fixing the first. Each fix is banked as partial credit if the clock wins.
Frequently asked
How do you play pattern? Each round shows a color gradient grid with a few pairs of tiles swapped. Drag a misplaced tile onto the spot where it belongs to swap them, and fix every pair before the timer runs out.
How is a round scored? From 0 to 10. A quick solve earns the full 10 and the score falls the longer you take. Five rounds make a maximum of 50.
What if I run out of time? You keep partial credit for every pair you fixed, up to just over 9 points.
What is different on hard? More swapped pairs per board, from two on the first board to six on the last, with slightly more time to match.
Is the daily set the same for everyone? Yes. It comes from the UTC date, so every player gets the same five boards that day.
Where pattern sits
pattern is the speed puzzle of the color games. For a color memory test, try toon; for a color mixing game, try tint.