Multiplayer jigsaw sites compared
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Looking for multiplayer on Jigsaw Explorer or Jigsaw Planet?

Plenty of people find a jigsaw site they like, then want to do a puzzle with someone else and go looking for the multiplayer button. Here is how that works on three popular choices, what each is good at, and where Pieceware (this site) fits. Everything about the other three comes from their own pages, linked below, checked in September 2026. Things change; if something here has gone out of date, their pages win.

Jigsaw Explorer

Jigsaw Explorer has had a proper multiplayer mode since 2020. Open any puzzle, including a custom one made from your own photo, click the multiplayer button, enter a nickname and press Create Game Link. Send that link to whoever you want; they click it, pick a nickname and see everyone's moves on their screen.

  • No account: each player just chooses a nickname, which its privacy policy says is not linked to any account.
  • Players: invite as many as you like; up to 20 can be in the game at the same time.
  • Saving: progress is saved automatically and the game link is the way back in. An unfinished game is deleted after 30 days of inactivity, and a link expires 30 days after the puzzle is completed.
  • Worth knowing: a puzzle you have already started cannot be switched to multiplayer without resetting it, and once a second player joins, the edge pieces only button acts as a rearrange button instead.
  • Ads: the public puzzle pages are ad-supported; its privacy policy says custom puzzle pages do not display advertising.
  • What it does well: thousands of hand-picked photos with new ones every day, a daily jigsaw, a Friday mystery puzzle that only reveals the whole picture when you finish, full screen, edge-only view and rotation.

Jigsaw Planet

Jigsaw Planet is a huge community site: its about page talks of millions of free puzzles created by its users. You can make a puzzle from any picture, keep it in a private album or publish it, share it and embed it on a website, and change shape, rotation and piece count through Play As. Unfinished games are saved, with limits on how many and for how long if you are not signed in, and there is a weekly Puzzle of the Week contest where signed-in users make a new puzzle on the week's theme. It is funded by advertising.

What we could not find is multiplayer. Its game help and FAQ describe one person solving a puzzle, and neither mentions a way to work on the same board together.

Jigsaw Puzzle Dreams

Jigsaw Puzzle Dreams is a different kind of thing: a free-to-play game on Steam that puts the puzzle on a table in a sunlit room you can decorate. Pieces are cut fresh for every new puzzle, you choose any piece count you like, and 27 high-resolution puzzles come free, with paid packs (mostly more pictures). Buying any pack also unlocks custom puzzles.

  • How multiplayer works: the host opens their room; Steam friends can join during the session or be invited from the game or the Steam friends list, or join with a room code.
  • Only the host needs the paid packs for friends to play pack puzzles and custom puzzles with them.
  • In the room: in-game chat (the host can switch it off), a puzzle timer synced for everyone, and the host can lock finished sections so nobody lifts them by accident.
  • What it needs: Steam on a 64-bit Windows 10 PC, at minimum with 2 GB of video memory and 4 GB of free disk space; Steam also rates it Playable on Steam Deck.
  • What it does well: it looks and feels like a real table, and its players have their own Discord with a channel for finding people to puzzle with.

Where Pieceware fits

Pieceware was built for playing together first. You make a lobby on the home page, share the link, and anyone who opens it in a browser is on the same board: live cursors, pieces moving as others drag them, snaps that happen for everybody at once. No account for anyone, nothing to install, no ads.

  • Players: up to 50 per room, with at most 6 connections from one internet connection.
  • Puzzles: 24 to 1500 pieces, three piece shapes, optional rotation, a catalog of 60 pictures or your own photo.
  • No organising needed: the global puzzle is always running for anyone who drops in, and the daily puzzle is the same picture for everyone with a leaderboard.
  • Where it is weaker: the catalog is small next to the others, and a room is deleted 12 hours after the last player leaves, so it is not the place for a puzzle you chip away at over a month. It is also flat and browser-shaped, not a cosy 3D room.

Side by side

Jigsaw ExplorerJigsaw PlanetJigsaw Puzzle DreamsPieceware
Play the same board togetherYes, via game linkNot foundYes, via Steam or room codeYes, via room link
Players at once20–Not stated on its store page50
Account to play togetherNo, a nickname–Steam accountNo, a display name
Runs inBrowserBrowserSteam (Windows; Steam Deck: Playable)Browser
CostFree, ad-supported (custom puzzles ad-free)Free, ad-supportedFree to play, paid packsFree, no ads
Unfinished shared game kept30 days of inactivity–Not stated on its store page12 hours after the last player leaves
Size of the picture libraryThousandsMillions, user-made27 free, more in packs60, plus uploads

Questions

Does Jigsaw Explorer have multiplayer?

Yes. Any of its puzzles, including custom ones, can be switched to multiplayer: you enter a nickname, get a game link and send it round. Up to 20 people can be in a game at once, and an unfinished game is kept for 30 days of inactivity.

Does Jigsaw Planet have multiplayer?

Not that we could find. Its game help and FAQ, checked in September 2026, describe solving a puzzle on your own and do not mention a shared or multiplayer mode.

Is Jigsaw Puzzle Dreams multiplayer free?

The game is free to play on Steam and multiplayer is part of it; paid packs add pictures and unlock custom puzzles. Friends join through Steam or a room code, so everyone needs the game on Steam (a Windows PC, or a Steam Deck, where Steam rates it Playable).

Which one should I use to play with friends?

If you already love a site's pictures, use its multiplayer where it has one. If you want nothing to install and no account for anyone, a Pieceware lobby takes up to 50 people in a browser tab.

Sources

All checked on 25 September 2026. Pieceware is not affiliated with Jigsaw Explorer, Jigsaw Planet or Jigsaw Puzzle Dreams; the names belong to their owners.