Puzzle Arena
Jigsaw puzzles, solved together in real time.
A free, real-time multiplayer jigsaw platform. Friends share one table, see each other’s cursors, talk over camera and mic, and turn their own photos into puzzles in seconds.
puzzlearena.net(opens in a new tab)- Design and engineering — product, realtime, web
- Web — desktop & mobile browsers
- Next.js, React, WebRTC, Realtime sync, Image processing
Overview
Puzzle Arena takes one of the oldest social games on the table and puts it online without losing what makes it social. Players join the same room, move pieces on one shared board, see where everyone is working, and talk face to face while they solve.
Problem
Most online jigsaws are solitary: one player, one board, no sense of anyone else. Solving together — the part people actually enjoy — usually means screen-sharing, where only one person can play.
Goals
- Let several people move pieces on the same board at the same time
- Make other players feel present — cursors, voice, video
- Turn a personal photo into a playable puzzle in seconds
- Keep it free and instant: no install, join with a link
My role
Design and engineering — product, realtime, web.
- Product and interface design
- Realtime room and board synchronisation
- Camera and microphone integration with WebRTC
- Puzzle generation from uploaded photos
- Library, profiles, levels and achievements
Technology
- Next.js / React
- Room & board sync / Live cursors
- WebRTC / Camera & microphone
- Photo → puzzle generation / Puzzle library
Architecture
The board is shared state: every move is small and frequent, has to feel instant for the player making it, and has to stay consistent for everyone else in the room.
Room
Quick play, invite codes or links; public and private rooms
Board sync
Piece moves and snaps broadcast to everyone in the room
Presence
Live cursors show where each player is working
Media
WebRTC camera and microphone between players
Generator
An uploaded photo is cut into 6–500 interlocking pieces
Challenges & solutions
Two hands, one piece
When two players grab the same piece at once, naive syncing makes it jump between them or end up in two places.
A piece belongs to whoever is dragging it; others see it as taken, and the board settles on a single position when it’s released.
Instant feel over the network
Waiting for a round trip before a piece moves makes dragging feel sticky and unresponsive.
Moves render locally first and stream to the other players continuously, so the person dragging never waits on the network.
Puzzles from any photo
Photos arrive in every size and aspect ratio, yet pieces must interlock cleanly at any count from 6 to 500.
The generator fits the grid to the image’s proportions and cuts interlocking edges per piece, so any photo becomes a fair, solvable puzzle.
Screens
- puzzlearena.net / boardPuzzleArenaOda · K7Q2Yosemite · 400 parça248/40012:48Davet etOyuncular3/6EElifMMertSSenÇık
Shared board — live cursors, voice and video - puzzlearena.net / lobby
Lobby — quick play, rooms, the library and your own puzzles
Results
- Live and free at puzzlearena.net
- Multiplayer, single-player and custom puzzles in one product
- A library across 11 categories, with levels, achievements and friends
Lessons learned
“Presence is the feature — cursors and voice matter more than graphics.”
“In a realtime interface, the local player must never wait for the network.”
“The best onboarding is a link that drops you straight into a room.”