Cubes and Puzzles

Three Hundred Second Post: Cubes and Puzzles

Recently new interest has been sparked in the Rubix’s Cube. There have been record setting times in solving it. The solution is on the Net if a person wanted to see how it works. I never looked at the solution. It is just by chance I happen to own a Rubix’s Cube. No I can’t solve it either. But think about it has there been a puzzle game that was as widely communicated and attempted by as many people since the Cube? I know there are puzzles and popular math problems with no solutions, but have any reached as many people? A Rubix’s Cube was complex, but so easy to use even a child could attempt it. Perhaps that is why people are rediscovering it. However the fun of working on an unknown solution is gone.

Maybe the video game Tetris was as big as the Cube. Maybe that is the new medium for puzzles. There have been many great puzzle games. With everyone owning a computer it would only make sense that video games are the proper way to distribute puzzles and thinking games. That is another trend with learning and video games.

So do you have the next idea for a puzzle or puzzle game? It just reiterates that play is a serious activity for learning and creativity. I am not going to look up the solution to the Cube yet. I want to do it the hard way, because that is the way to learn. You know part of the interest in the Cube is not just the pattern of realigning the colors, it is the way the individual cubes are connected and turn. That is also a hunch of something to notice when realigning the colors.

But until we can all solve the Rubix’s Cube in 30 seconds... May the Creative Force be with You