Truchet Tiles Screensaver
Truchet tiles are square tiles, each holding a quarter-circle arc, that can be placed in one of two random real orientations. Laid out across a grid with no coordination between tiles, the arcs still always line up edge to edge — producing a continuous, ever-shifting maze-like weave purely from independent random choices.
How the Truchet Tiles screensaver works
Each square tile carries one real quarter-circle arc, drawn corner to corner across the square.
Every tile independently and randomly picks one of two mirrored orientations for its arc — there is no coordination between neighboring tiles at all.
Because every tile's arc always touches the midpoint of each of its four edges, any two neighboring tiles' arcs always connect smoothly, regardless of their independent random choices.
The result is a continuous, snake-like maze of curves that emerges purely from independent per-tile randomness, slowly reshuffling as new tiles are laid.
A worked example
Watch a fresh wave of tiles sweep across the grid, each one independently rolling its own orientation — yet the curves it draws always connect smoothly into its neighbors, weaving a continuous path with no gaps or mismatches anywhere.
Settings & tips
- Line color recolours the drawn arcs.
- Tile size trades finer detail for a bolder, chunkier weave.
- The grid reshuffles with a fresh random layout every so often.
Frequently asked questions
- Why do the arcs always connect even though each tile is random?
- Every tile's arc, in either orientation, always touches the midpoint of all four of its edges — so any two neighbors are geometrically guaranteed to connect.
- Is a key needed?
- No — it's a pure local computation.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, in your browser.
- Where do Truchet tiles come from?
- They're named after Sébastien Truchet, a 17th-century French mathematician who first studied the patterns made by tiles like these.