Tessera is now on iPhone and Android
Paul Cooper, October 2026
Tessera started as one puzzle on one web page. Puzzle #1 went up on 27 April 2026. More than 160 daily puzzles later, it's a free app on iPhone and Android.
Made by one person, with a lot of help
I'm Paul, a product designer, and Tessera is my indie project. I designed and built all of it on my own: the puzzle generator, the website, the iPhone and Android apps, and the server that keeps your streak safe. That's more than 600 commits since April.
But it was never made alone. From the first week people played it, broke it and told me what they thought, and a lot of what Tessera is today came from them. Thirteen of them are in the credits: Christine Banfield, Simon Bradley, Don Brown, Alison Burd, Stanley Cooper, Matt Desmier, Darren Edhouse, Leigh Edhouse, Stefan Kay, Brett Pandora, Richard Pattie, Cleo Schneider and Alex Watson. Players on r/TesseraPuzzle shaped it too. And Stanley Cooper tested the app build after build, which is a big part of why the version you download today works the way it does. Thank you, all of you.
Swap, don't guess
Every letter you need is already on the board, just in the wrong place. Swap two tiles at a time until every row spells a word.
There's one puzzle a day, the same for everyone, so the only question is how few swaps it took you. Share your result without giving the answer away, and keep your streak going.
What the app adds
- Tessera Chain, a ladder of levels for when one puzzle a day isn't enough. Solve in fewer moves for up to three stars. Every tenth level is a bonus round against the clock.
- Leagues with friends, and daily leaderboards worldwide and in your country.
- 20 themes, from Walnut Workshop to Night Drive. Try any of them free for one puzzle.
- Hard mode on a 5x5 grid, past puzzles, light and dark modes, a colour-blind mode, and Spanish.
It's free to play. Coins and the every-theme unlock are optional, and there are no ads unless you choose to watch one for coins.
If you've been playing on the website
Your streak, history, handle and leagues come with you. If you signed in here, sign in to the app with Continue with email and the same address. If you played without signing in, open tesserapuzzle.com in the browser you played in, tap Move my streak, then sign in to the app with that email. The website still lets every visitor try one puzzle. The rest lives in the app.
This is just the start
1.0.1 is the first version on both stores, not the finished one. Tessera grew out of what players told me on the website, and the app will grow the same way. Tell me what you'd like next on r/TesseraPuzzle or at support@tesserapuzzle.com. If something's broken, the support page is a good place to start.
See you on tomorrow's puzzle.
Paul