A little help. Still your puzzle.
I've loved jigsaw puzzles since I was a kid. They've stayed with me year after year. It's a habit I keep coming back to, and honestly one of the few places where I feel completely at peace. Just me, a table and a picture slowly coming together.
But I've also watched the other side of it. Someone is having a great evening with a puzzle, and then they hit that one piece. They turn it around, try it in ten spots, check the box again. Nothing. There's no one to ask and nothing out there that gives them even a hint. The fun drains away, the box goes back on the shelf, and the puzzle never gets finished.
That's why I made PuzzlePal. It isn't here to solve your puzzle for you. That would take away the whole point. Think of it as someone sitting next to you at the table. You do the puzzle. When you're truly stuck, snap a photo of the piece and PuzzlePal suggests where on the picture it probably belongs. Then you go back to doing it yourself.
Use it once, use it never, use it when you're about to give up. It's your puzzle either way.
What PuzzlePal does
PuzzlePal is a helper for real, physical jigsaw puzzles, the cardboard kind you build on a table. It isn't a puzzle game. You start by taking a photo of the picture on your puzzle box. That picture becomes your reference.
When a piece has you stumped, photograph it (or a small handful of pieces at once). PuzzlePal compares each piece with the box picture and marks the area where it most likely belongs, so you know where to look instead of trying every gap on the table.
It can also suggest colour groups for sorting, read details from the box such as the piece count, and answer puzzling questions through the Ask Puzzle Pal box.
What it doesn't do
PuzzlePal gives a hint, not a guarantee. Suggestions come from AI and work best with a clear box photo and good light. Skies, oceans and other big single-colour areas are hard for anyone, the AI included. Always try the piece yourself. The fit in your hands is the final answer.
It also won't build the puzzle for you, and there's no timer, score or pressure. The point is to keep you puzzling, not to race.
Who it's for
Anyone who has ever put a half-finished puzzle back in the box. First-timers trying their first 500 or 1,000 pieces, families working on one table together, and long-time puzzlers who just want a nudge on a tricky section.
If you finish a puzzle you're proud of, you can share a photo in the Hall of Fame, the members' space where puzzlers post finished work, ask each other questions and see how they rank.
Your photos and privacy
Your puzzle shelf is private to your account. Photos you take for scanning are only used to help you with that puzzle, and nothing from your shelf is shared with other members unless you choose to post it in the Hall of Fame. The privacy page explains the details.
Learn as you go
Alongside the app there's a free library of puzzle guides: how to start, how to sort, what to do when you're stuck, and what to expect from a 1,000-piece puzzle. They're written for people at the table, not for search engines, and you don't need an account to read them.
More: puzzle guides · Hall of Fame · privacy
Questions or ideas? Write to puzzlebudapp@gmail.com.