Treasure Trails/Guide/Puzzle boxes

For the item, see Puzzle box.

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When speaking to an NPC in a hard or elite trail, the player may receive a puzzle box. Puzzle boxes are 'step two' of a clue: first the player has to find the right NPC to speak to (when they get a cryptic or anagram clue), and then they have to solve the puzzle, to advance along their trail.

Puzzle boxes are the RuneScape version of n-puzzles – they contain a scrambled image that players must work to unscramble by clicking on tiles to move them to an empty space. Once the puzzle box is completed, players will need to talk to the NPC who gave the puzzle to receive the next clue or the reward. While puzzle boxes from compass clues are random, NPCs give the same puzzle box each time; for example, Oziach will always give the Vanstrom Klause puzzle, while Zenesha will always give the Wizard puzzle.

Many people find puzzle boxes daunting, but taken from the right approach they can be simple and quite fun. The game scrambles the puzzles by randomly moving pieces approximately 50 - 200 times.

A puzzle box skipping ticket may be used to skip a puzzle box from Treasure Trails.

Solution

The steps to solve a puzzle box the most efficient way without messing up the already-completed tiles.

To solve the puzzle, (refer to the picture to the right)

1. Begin by arranging from left to right, the first section (red) so that it matches the solution.
2. Repeat step one with the second section (orange).
3. Repeat the process for the third section (yellow).
4. Correctly arrange the two tiles located in the fourth section (green).
5. Repeat the process as in step four for the fifth section (blue).
6. Lastly, arrange the last six tiles in the sixth section (purple).
7. When all of the tiles match the solution exactly, exit the interface to complete the puzzle.

Note: After a step is completed, DO NOT re-arrange any tiles in the previous step; just work with what you have.

List of puzzles

Following is a list of all known puzzle boxes. The completed puzzle also can be viewed by hovering on the Hint icon at the bottom left of the screen. When finished, simply close the box; if on a hard clue, speak with the NPC who gave you the box.

The bloodveld puzzle only appears after completing the You Are It quest.

Adventurer	Archers
Araxxor	Black dragon
Bloodveld	Bridge
Castle	Clan Citadel
Corporeal Beast	Elves
General Graardor	Gregorovic
Helwyr	Ice strykewyrm
Nomad	Nymora
Pharaoh	Sword of Edicts
Tree	Troll
Tuskan warrior	V
Vanstrom Klause	Werewolf
Wizard	Wyvern

Detailed guide

The image to the right is a solved puzzle. We can use numbers to reference each tile. A solved puzzle will have all of the tiles ordered from left to right in each row with the empty space in the bottom right corner. You should begin by placing tiles 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in their correct position.
One possible way to achieve this is to position the tiles like the image to the right. Try not to move tiles 1, 2, or 3. Tile 5 should be directly underneath tile 4. Occasionally, tile 4 will be stuck underneath tile 5. If this happens, you will have to move the tiles using this method to complete row 1. Or, just make tile 5 sink a few lines lower in the puzzle, put tile 4 in the top right corner, and then move tile 5 back underneath tile 4. However, if your board looks like the one to the right, you can continue with these steps.
Now, the board should look something like this after sliding tiles 4 and 5 in the correct position. The same method can be used to solve rows 2 and 3.
Now, the board should look something like this after solving rows 1, 2, and 3.
From now on, the puzzle should be solved in terms of vertical columns instead of rows. It is easiest to just place tiles 16 and 21 on the right hand side of the bottom row and slide the remaining tiles clockwise.If you try to arrange the tiles too close to the left border, you may find it difficult to place the pieces next to each other in the correct order.
Tiles 17 and 22 can be solved in a similar fashion. Now that two columns are completed, the remaining 5 tiles should be rearranged to solve the entire puzzle. Every puzzle box generated by the game can be solved. If you cannot manage to complete the puzzle, it is likely that you have confused the positions of two very similar looking tiles. Refer to the completed images below and look closely at the details of each tile. Make sure yours matches the picture exactly! After getting 17 and 22 to their positions, try and get 23 to the left of 18. Then put 18 and 23 in their places. You should be able to get it now.
Congratulations! Solving slide puzzles isn't too difficult when a method is used. With enough practice, almost anyone can become an expert.

Additional Techniques

What to do if 4 is underneath 5:

The process is quite simple using an easy process that involves moving 4 blocks to moving 6 blocks. As only one block can move in the same direction at any given time, a way to reduce confusion when following this guide is to only remember the direction and not the tile. Here's how to do it:

1	2	3		5
X	X	X	A	4
X	X	X	B	C
X	X	X	X	X
X	X	X	X	X

With tile 5 at the top right corner, try to position tile 4 on the far right side of the middle row.

• Move A one square up.
• Move B one square up
• Move C one square left.
• Move 4 one square down.

Which gives us this "C" shaped pattern:

1	2	3	A	5
X	X	X	B
X	X	X	C	4
X	X	X	X	X
X	X	X	X	X

Place tile 5 next to tile 3.

• Move B one square right.
• Move A one square down.
• Move 5 one square left.

Which gives us:

1	2	3	5
X	X	X	A	B
X	X	X	C	4
X	X	X	X	X
X	X	X	X	X

Finish by placing tile 4 underneath tile 5. Then just rotate them into place.

• Move B one square up.
• Move 4 one square up.
• Move C one square right.
• Move A one square down.
• Move 4 one square left.
• Move B one square down.
• Move 5 one square right.
• Move 4 one square up.

Congratulations! Here's what you should have:

1	2	3	4	5
X	X	X		B
X	X	X	A	C
X	X	X	X	X
X	X	X	X	X

Remember: This technique works for other rows (such as pairs 9 and 10, 14 and 15) and the squares on the last two rows (16 and 21, 17 and 22, 18 and 23). Also keep in mind that the main goal when using this technique is moving one of the two object squares (in this case square 4 or 5) into the location it isn't supposed to be (i.e. moving square four to the location where square five is supposed to be or vice versa) whilst keeping the other square away from the one you are focused on. Then, you should proceed to bring the isolated one near the formation and simply rotate everything into place.

Update history

This information has been compiled as part of the update history project. Some updates may not be included—see here for how to help out!

• patch 7 June 2021 (Update):
  • The empty tile now appears correctly on the Slider Puzzle Boxes.

• hotfix 13 February 2018:
  • Slide puzzles no longer produce null errors upon opening and completing.

• ninja 12 February 2018 (Update):
  • Slider puzzles have been updated to be much more responsive to control.
  • A 'check' button has been added to the slider puzzle interface to indicate which tiles are incorrectly placed.
  • It is now possible to invert the keyboard controls on a puzzle box using a checkbox on the interface.

• ninja 10 July 2017 (Update):
  • The clue scroll bridge puzzle sliding puzzle has had a duck added to help differentiate between some similar coloured tiles.

• ninja 2 November 2015 (Update):
  • Treasure Trail sliding puzzles have been reworked:
    • They now move slightly quicker.
    • Arrow keys can move the pieces around the board.
    • More than one piece can be moved at a time.

• patch 31 August 2011 (Update):
  • Some puzzle pieces from hard Treasure Trails have had their colour restored.

• patch 12 August 2008 (Update):
  • Treasure Trail sliding puzzle boxes were getting stuck, making them impossible to complete. This bug has been fixed.