Play Network tile-rotation puzzle (Net) online Works — plays right here, unlimited puzzles
Guide updated October 2026 · Runs via WebAssembly (native port)
Net is a rotation puzzle: a network of cable pieces has been scrambled by turning every tile at random, and you turn them back until everything is connected into one tree with no closed loops. Tiles joined to the centre light up, so you can see your progress. The puzzle is ready below; click a tile to rotate it.
Controls — what does what
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse / touch |
|---|---|---|
| Select a tile | Arrow keys | Point at it |
| Rotate anticlockwise | A | Left-click |
| Rotate clockwise | D | Right-click |
| Rotate 180° | F | — |
| Lock or unlock a tile | S | Middle-click or Shift-click |
| Scroll a wrapping board | Shift+arrow | — |
| Change the highlight source | Ctrl+arrow | — |
| Scramble all unlocked tiles | J | — |
| Undo / redo | U / R (or Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+R) | Game menu buttons |
FREE This is the complete game, free. Open source under the MIT licence: the complete puzzle, with a new grid every time.
Net is from Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection, © Simon Tatham and contributors, used under the MIT licence. Built from source by scripts/build-puzzles.mjs.
How to play
- You may only rotate tiles, not move them.
- When solved, every tile is connected to every other through the cables.
- No cable end may point at the edge of the board, at a barrier, or at a tile without a matching end.
- The network must contain no closed loops.
On wrap-around boards, cables leaving one edge come back on the opposite edge.
Sizes and difficulty
Presets are 5×5, 7×7, 9×9, 11×11 and 13×11, each with or without wrap-around edges. Wrapping boards are harder because there is no border to start from. Custom adds barriers (fixed walls that act as hints) and lets you allow puzzles with more than one solution.
Solving tips
Start at the border on a non-wrapping board: no cable can point outward, which fixes corner and edge tiles. End pieces (one cable) can never connect to each other, and straight pieces next to the edge must run along it. Lock each tile once you are sure of it, so you can see what is left and avoid turning it by accident.
Where this puzzle comes from
Net is part of Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection, a set of about forty logic puzzles written by Simon Tatham and contributors and released under the MIT licence. Every grid is generated on the spot, so the supply never runs out, and for the grid-logic puzzles the generator makes sure each has exactly one solution, reachable by reasoning rather than guessing. The version here is the collection's own code compiled to WebAssembly; the Game menu can save a puzzle to a file and load it again, and the Type menu changes the size and difficulty.
Frequently asked questions
Is there only one correct layout?
By default yes; the generator makes sure each puzzle has a unique solution. Custom lets you switch that off for harder, ambiguous puzzles.
What does the highlighting show?
Tiles currently connected to the centre tile are highlighted, so a solved board is lit throughout. Loops are flagged as errors.
Is Net free to play here?
Yes, with no limit on the number of puzzles. Net is open-source software under the MIT licence, and every grid is generated fresh when you press New game.
Does it work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. A tap works as a click and the puzzle resizes to fit the screen. Puzzles whose controls use the right mouse button are easier with a mouse.
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Want a game like this on your own site?
Network tile-rotation puzzle (Net) isn't ours to give away — we host it, we didn't write it. But eleven of the games here we did write from scratch, and those are free for anyone to put on their own page: one line of HTML, no account, no permission, no attribution beyond a credit line.