Doug Engel's iphone circle puzzle app: review

My good friend Doug Engel is the most under-appreciated puzzle designer today. He produced these 3 circle puzzles in the mid 80's. This app duplicates them just fine.

However, I thought I knew everything there was - mathematically - to these puzzles & could solve them easily. Then Doug decided to expand his circle puzzles to demonstrate how truly complicated they could get.

For example

This puzzle: first align the colors, then make sure arrows point to 12 o'clock. It completely changed my entire analysis of these circle puzzles upside down.

Doug now calls these Battle Gear Puzzles and has added more pieces to some variations. Good God man!

Download the app!

Even better, go to Doug's site http://www.puzzleatomic.com/FLATLAND%20GEARS.htm and buy the physical puzzles & the variations. Tell him I sent you & he might give you a discount if you order a lot.

New Puzzle book announcement

Glenn Iba has a new puzzle book: "Round TripPuzzles" (PuzzleWright/Sterling Publishing) officially available Jan.4, 2011. Look for an announcement on his web page: http://glenniba.com/

From Glenn: "Also available there (on-line only) is a "long book introduction" that was cut by the publisher. It goes into detailed analysis of solving strategies I've discovered for Round Trip puzzles. I think it might be of interest to some of you, especially if you tackle the more advanced puzzles. Very briefly, these puzzles (for those not familiar) involve finding Hamiltonian Cycles in a graph, where the cycle must include certain specified edges. Informally, you are asked to find a closed path(returning on itself) that visits every grid dot exactly once, and include all the specified links that define the puzzle. The required links are sufficient to guarantee that the solution is unique. My web site includes samples of these Round Trip puzzles, though they are named Grand Tour puzzles there ("Round Trip" is the original name -- I changed the name due to concern that the name might be"owned" by Dell Magazines where the puzzles first appeared). On my site, you can solve the sample puzzles interactively via java applets[NOTE: the puzzles in the book are all new -- they are different from the puzzles on my site]. I would appreciate hearing your reactions to the book, and would love hearing of any new strategies you discover (beyond or in addition to what I discuss in the "long intro" .pdf on my web site). You cane-mail me directly at: "giba@alum.mit.edu". Thank you and happy puzzling!Glenn

Please don't Jailbreak your ipod/iphone.

First of all I object to the term ‘jailbreak’ in this situation. The term ‘jailbreak’ should bring to mind images of prison tunnels, a riot, guards being held hostage, tear gas, and mayhem. Now consider the iphone owner who ‘jailbreaks’ his iphone. Let’s move on.

A few days ago I was comparing favorite iphone apps with 2 guys. They instantly recommended that I ‘jailbreak my ipod touch and download everything for free.
I’m know those 2 guys would not recommend walking into a deli and stealing a candy bar. Yet, it’s okay to steal intellectual property if the owner never discovers it?
As a citizen of the US, or any nation, do people get to choose which laws to follow and which to ignore?

If you’re laughing these arguments off, consider this: very few iphone app programmers are making any money. The vast majority of iphone apps make peanuts or even lose money. As it is now, you can sample the ‘Lite’ version of an app, and then pay the .99 for the full version. This will encourage programmers to make more apps.

Don't be a cheapskate, pay for the program. If you choose to 'jailbreak' your iphone please don't boast that you're breaking the law; such actions and proclamations encourage others.

Blaxx Puzzle: iphone puzzle app review

Last month, this Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent received some 100 emails queries. Most often asked: can you solve every level of every puzzle? No, I cannot! Right now I'm stuck on level 62 out of 100 on a terrific puzzle, which I will review at a future date.

Which brings me to Blaxx. Stefan Ritter has produced a nice variation and combination of Sokoban and Lunar Lockout. In the first image above the white arrow points to your man. You must bump into the rainbow yin-yang balls to hit the red x's. The second photo shows an arrow that may switch directions. Another element, not shown, is the wormhole square - not on all levels. Free to download 5 sample puzzles. A level pack of 40 - I solved them all in about an hour and a half. I feel smart again! Note to Stefan: we look forward to level packs 2 & 3.

Pengu Push: iphone puzzle app review

Very similar to BoxWorld and other sokoban puzzle sets. Cool penguin though!

Boxworld: iphone puzzle app review

In 1995, this Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent spent $5 for Boxworld. It's sokoban. 100 levels. Took maybe 20 hours to solve. That comes to .25/hour. Compare that with a new film: $10 for 2 hours = $5/hour.

Level 26, see image below, solved after maybe 20 attempts!

Now it's available at the itunes store for your iphone/ipod/ipad for only $1.99. Guess I overpaid 15 years ago!

Jeng-Long Jiang produced the original Boxworld. Dat Pham Van produced the iphone version with the same exact levels. Let's hope they're friends!

Mad Triad

Mad Triad was invented by Heng-Chun Ku. It is becoming very rare. But it at

http://www.biffleys.com/playroom-games/mad-triad.htm
or download the iphone puzzle app version. (See below.)

Note: the physical version of Mad Triad and Handy Mad Triad are a bit fragile. Don't let small children play with it because the twisting knobs will break.

Tessellate: iphone puzzle app review

Arseniy Banayev created this interesting app. He calls it a 2D version of Rubik's Cube. His version has over 4,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 permutations.

Zealot Cube: iphone puzzle app review

Do you aspire to learn how to solve Rubik's Cube? Li Zhijian has produced a new iphone puzzle app to teach you! Very nice job!

Cube Wizard: iphone puzzle app review

There are innumerable Rubik's Cube app games on the itunes store. Recently Ingo Eichenseher, from Germany, produced this gem. Open the application with your unscrambled cube nearby. Transpose your real life physical cube's sticker colors to the virtual one. Press solve and the app will not only solve it, but it will do it super slowly so that you can restore your real-life physical cube to perfection.

Bravo! And it's free!

Intersection: iphone puzzle app review

Bobby Nakanelua has created an interesting version of the 8 Queens puzzle. The original 8 Queens puzzle: place 8 queens on a chess board so that they do not attack one another. In this version, the same rules apply but if a space is marked with an X, a piece cannot be placed on that spot.

50 levels for .99

Dots & Lines: iphone puzzle app review

Object: move the dots around and make the lines not cross any more. There is an online version called planarity.

Overall - good fun from Rosen Genchev

Super Flood: iphone puzzle app review

The object of the puzzle is to flood the board just 1 color. The top left corner is the starting point. If the neighboring polygons are blue, tap the blue icon and now that polygon has now been absorbed into the family. Like the Borg in Star Trek

One of the most popular free puzzle apps: Flood It. It's terrific. Now comes Super Flood by Yongkai Lee. Super Flood is a nice improvement with the addition of hexagonal and triangular playing boards.

Get Me Out: iphone puzzle review

Get Me Out is similar to dozens of 'Rush Hour' apps that are available. This version has a sleek interface. The 'Lite' version has 20 levels while the full version has 99 levels. See image above. The puzzles are not new. Of course, some are very challenging. $2.99 will net you about 4 hours of entertainment.

NY Times Crossword Puzzle Editor Will Shortz

Will Shortz is interviewed, yet again, this time by his own employer.

http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/shortz/

Binary Sudoku Puzzle iphone puzzle app

Sudoku has become a phenomenon. Dozens of variations have been produced. Michiel Allessie has produce an appealing new version called Binary Sudoku. Only 0's & 1's are used. Each row & column must have an equal number of 0's & 1's. A number can never be used consecutively more than twice. So, if a row contains 0, blank, 0, then the blank must be 1.

The puzzles come in 3 grid sizes: 8x8, 10x10 & 12x12. On the ipod, the 8x8 is a manageable size. 10x10 & 12 x 12 would be better for the ipad.

Keep your brain sharp! Spend .99 & play this game while listening to music.

Dedalo: iphone puzzle app Youtube demo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNXOVNN5EaQ

Very sleek graphics!

Game Magazine article

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~rh5k-isn/Puzzle/

The February issue of Games Magazine is now on the newsstands. This Senior Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent has reported on the Mother Lode of Puzzle Designs.

Chess Puzzles

The Huffington Post has expanded their menu. Yes it is pro-democrat & anti-republican.

More importantly, Ariana is educating/entertaining readers with these chess puzzles.
Click here.

Puzzling way to mulitiply & divide

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/16/ancient-egypt-math-computer_n_797806.html

Rave Review of Lab Mice Puzzles

http://www.parentsconnect.com/product-review/toys/lab-mice.html

Blockoban: iphone puzzle app

Blockoban is an outstanding puzzle app that belongs on every serious puzzler's iphone/ipod/ipad. The object is to move the colored squares or open circles onto their matching targets. Think of it as a combination of Sokoban and Lunar Lockout.

But there's so much more. On some puzzles, squares will have a notch in the upper left hand corner. This means that they travel together. If one of them gets moved, they all move in the same direction.

Like Lunar Lockout, moved objects will travel until they hit a wall or another object. However, some puzzles have sticky squares.

If a square hits another square, it will stop in that position. However, if a square hits a circle, the square will stop normally, but the circle will absorb the momentum and keep traveling until it hits a wall.

Jean-Philipe Sarda is the brain child. You can create your own levels and then send them in.

720 easy levels
880 medium levels
420 hard levels
160 big map levels.
$2.99
One of the best bargains in town.

Dedalo: iphone puzzle app

Mama Mia! The Dedalo iphone app is red-hot in Italy right now. And the reviews are steller!

Dedalo is the Italian version of Lab Mice Puzzles

Try Cube Iphone Puzzle App

http://dexetra.com/apps.php?id=42

Try Cube is a cross between MonoSpace (another great puzzle app) and Rubik's Cube.
Object: turn the layers to line up the blue cubes to match the pattern on the right.

96 levels in all

NY Times Science Section

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/science/07memory.html?_r=1&ref=science

The entire section of the NY Times Science section is devoted to puzzles. This story could come from the pages of an Oliver Sachs book. Dr. Sachs is a neurobiologist and has written about his unusual patients. Do read The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat! There's an incredible story about twin autistic savants with a penchant for prime numbers.

Stone Flood Iphone Puzzle App

Andreas Katzian has produced a nice, fun series of puzzles. 54 levels. The object is to make all the stones 1 color. The bottom left corner stone represents the starting stone. If the adjacent stone is blue, tap blue and your the stone becomes blue and it absorbs the neighboring stone. Like the Borg of Star Trek. 10 seconds to learn. Stone Flood is almost identical to Flood It - another iphone app.

Good Puzzle Collector's Web Page

Gisela Wittingen, from the Netherlands, has a nice section in her puzzle web page of photographs. Check 'em out!

http://wittingen-puzzels.jimdo.com/puzzels/schuifpuzzels/

Rubik's Slide: iphone puzzle app

Last month I met with the publicity staff of Rubik's Slide. They reported: while on QVC, they sold 40,000 copies in the first 10 minutes.

You have a choice: buy the actual electronic gadget puzzle for $15 or buy the iphone app for $2.99. Both?

Michelle Nataniel Yugie, Rubik’s Cube Champ

Seems like 99% of the time, Rubik's Cube Fanatics are male. This young lady is an inspiration!

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/myjakarta/my-jakarta-michelle-nataniel-yugie-rubiks-cube-champ/406345

Hex Slide 10,000 Iphone puzzle App

This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent completed all 625 Expert levels of Rush Hour. Relieved and sad that there were no more challenges.

And now, Michael Katz & Nick Hodapp have created 10,000 levels of a new version which they name: Hex Slide 10,000. Of these, 4000 are at the Advanced Level.

.99 C'mon, don't be a cheapskate. Buy it! This is the perfect bargain for people serving long sentences.

Puzzle for Pets?

Oskar van Deventer found this Stewart Coffin puzzle sold in his local pet food store. If your dog, cat or rabbit can't dismantle it and restore it - they can chew on it!

Monospace - Iphone Puzzle app

Daniel Lutz created Colorbind - one of the top 10 intelligent puzzle apps. Monospace is his encore. 60 levels. Impossible to describe. Just download it & watch the demonstration. This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent has solved 59 levels and hopes to one day complete that last level.