Question 1

What is Kalliope: The Shattered Fresco?

Accepted Answer

It is a free browser jigsaw puzzle built on Greek myth. One look from Medusa brought the mosaic hall of the Muses down in plaster, and Kalliope, the eldest of the nine, turned to stone mid-song. You play her last apprentice: every chapter is one shattered fresco to rebuild, and every panel you finish gives her song somewhere to return to. Thirty chapters across four acts, plus an endless table.

Question 2

How do you play it?

Accepted Answer

Drag pieces from the table onto the board. Drop a piece near its true place and it sinks into the plaster with a snap; drop it anywhere else and it stays where it lands. A ghost preview shows the finished picture through the board whenever you need it. Finish every piece and the fresco comes alive. There is no way to lose a jigsaw — the clock only decides your stars.

Question 3

What do the boosters do?

Accepted Answer

Ghost toggles the see-through preview of the finished picture on and off — it is free and always available. Hint (three per chapter, H on keyboard) seats the one unlocked piece closest to its home. Edges (two per chapter, E) makes the border pieces pulse gold for five seconds, which is the fastest way to build a frame. Each hint adds twelve seconds to the clock for star purposes.

Question 4

Why are some pieces turned the wrong way round?

Accepted Answer

From Act III the curse deepens: new shards arrive rotated, the way dice are shaken. Tap a piece without dragging it and it turns a quarter way round; four taps brings it home. A piece will refuse to sink into the plaster until it lies true. In the endless table the later rounds also turn the pieces.

Question 5

How are the stars awarded?

Accepted Answer

One star for finishing the fresco. Two stars if your time is within one point seven of par. Three stars for par or better. Par is not a designer's guess: it is measured from the real scatter geometry of the chapter — the actual drag distance of every piece, plus handling and the cost of the curse's turning. Hints add twelve seconds each, so three stars means working clean.

Question 6

Is there an endless mode?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Endless Table builds a fresh panel every round from a fixed seed: new scene, new cut, larger as you go, and from round three the pieces start arriving turned. Rounds never get harder than the ghost preview can carry you through, and your deepest round and current streak are kept in your browser.

Question 7

Does it work on phones and does it save progress?

Accepted Answer

It runs in any modern browser on desktop, tablet or phone, in portrait or landscape, with touch or mouse. Restored panels, stars and your endless record are stored locally under kal.fresco.v1. Nothing is uploaded, because the game has no server and loads no third-party script.

Kalliope

Thirty panels

Hands, plaster, patience

Chapter 1 · The First Plaster

Chapter complete

Paused

The Endless Table