So you think you're smart?

March 22, 2007 2:38 PM

The Einstein Puzzle by Flowix Games is based on an old DOS game called Sherlock, which, in turn, was based on Einstein's (Supposed) Puzzle (Previously). No, it's not Friday yet, and no, it's not Flash. It's a really logical game, and it's really damn hard. I've only won once, and that was within the first few times of playing. If you find it hard to figure out what's going on, read THIS... It helped me to figure out EXACTLY what the hell was going on. The authors are Russian, and the help in the game may only serve to confuse you. ;) It's free, and runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. I'm hooked on it, Dammit. :D
posted by Vamier (32 comments total)

Oh thanks! I used to play Sherlock all the time but forgot about it.

Its not hard at all once you've played a few times and have started figuring out what you're doing. Actually, it gets kind of addictive...
posted by vacapinta at 2:42 PM on March 22, 2007

This was mentioned on Debian Package of the Day some time ago. It is indeed an awesome puzzle. Too bad I suck at it -- I always have to guess one or two tiles initially to have a sort of a foothold.
posted by the dief at 2:52 PM on March 22, 2007

I really hate that that puzzle is called Einstein's puzzle and that he supposedly said that only people with an IQ in the 98th percentile could solve it. Yeah, as if Einstein cared about gauging IQ level with a little logic test. Slapping on the words 'Einstein' and 'IQ' betrays a four-year-old's conception of what it means to be smart. I'll bet it was the idea of someone in MENSA.
posted by painquale at 3:08 PM on March 22, 2007 [3 favorites has favorites]

I'd never heard the Einstein bit either. As I mentioned I played it as Sherlock which seemed apt enough.

I associate these types of puzzles with Lewis Carroll and his passion for symbolic logic. I have an early edition too of his book The Game of Logic in which he goes into excruciating but fun detail on how to solve stuff like this.
posted by vacapinta at 3:16 PM on March 22, 2007

Whee, won on my first try! Neat game.

S-M-R-T! S-M-R-T! [dance]
posted by CKmtl at 3:43 PM on March 22, 2007

You might like the Everett Kaser's logic games. He has two variations of this puzzle available, "Sherlock" and "Moriarity."

LINK

They aren't free, but the trial versions are fully featured and will keep you occupied for quite a while.
posted by Jatayu das at 3:52 PM on March 22, 2007

painquale writes "I'll bet it was the idea of someone in MENSA."

Nah, from what I've met of MENSAns, they at least have the sense to know that Einstein didn't go around writing puzzles for bored folks. Maybe the puzzle itself was made by a MENSAn, but the "Einstein" bit was probably some random not-too-bright-but-quite-fond-of-puzzles shmoe.
posted by Bugbread at 3:57 PM on March 22, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

23:14...do I get a cookie? I would like a cookie. :-)

That was fun, though I it looked like there was more than one right answer, is that true?
posted by django_z at 4:03 PM on March 22, 2007

I guess we're all just brilliant. First try here also.

Metafilter: The Top 2% of the World
posted by fusinski at 4:04 PM on March 22, 2007

Takes a while, but fairly easy once you figure out how the clues let you eliminate options.
posted by jeblis at 4:07 PM on March 22, 2007

Is this actually any different (except in scale) from those LSAT logic games that thousands of kids solve every year?
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:13 PM on March 22, 2007

I figured out all the permutations of the game just by looking at the screenshot. I don't feel the need to download it.
posted by delmoi at 4:17 PM on March 22, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Riiiight Delmoi. :P

Glad that it's giving you folks some amusement. :D And Vacapinta, I agree with you about Lewis Carroll... He's got some great stuff, and that book is a good read. :) I find this is a good time-waster. :D
posted by Vamier at 4:36 PM on March 22, 2007

would be a lot easier if you could flag/hide options that you know are no good (there isn't a way to do that, is there?). too lazy to go for the pen & paper.
posted by juv3nal at 4:49 PM on March 22, 2007

just right click on the options or hints you want to hide
posted by django_z at 4:57 PM on March 22, 2007

Um, could more people please play this and not be able to solve it so that I might feel better about myself?

Thanks.
posted by django_z at 4:58 PM on March 22, 2007

ah. i see now. I thought it didn't work because I died right away when trying it on an option because it's not a tentative flag, it means you're eliminating it so if you get it wrong, you lose.
posted by juv3nal at 4:59 PM on March 22, 2007

omg I totally forgot about this game!
posted by DU at 5:03 PM on March 22, 2007

Oh! I could kiss you! I used to be addicted to Sherlock and have been looking for something similar for a while now. Thanks!
posted by LeeJay at 5:04 PM on March 22, 2007

I just have to add to the outpouring of love for having found this. I can't count the hours I sank into the original Sherlock on my old 386. When the Sodoku craze started, I told everyone it couldn't hold a candle to this game. No one had ever heard of it.
I'm going to have to go out and subscribe to a deity, just so I can beseech him/her/it to bless you, Vamier.
posted by Freon at 5:15 PM on March 22, 2007

This is really addictive. Some boards are much easier than others.

What does the Switch button do?
posted by painquale at 7:19 PM on March 22, 2007

Somewhere, in a far off land, it jacks off a horse.
posted by tehloki at 7:44 PM on March 22, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

delmoi also got bored doing the NYT crossword puzzles in pen, so now he types them.
posted by yhbc at 7:52 PM on March 22, 2007

Painquale, the switch button lets you see all of the rules you've hidden with the right mouse button.
posted by kid ichorous at 8:02 PM on March 22, 2007

Wow, I think I actually ran into a bug. Among the vertical rules (which must be in the same same column) were two shapes that were not aligned in the puzzle solution. Anyone else run into this?
posted by kid ichorous at 8:08 PM on March 22, 2007

Fun once, but the methodical crossing-out of possibilities reminds me a bit too much of sudoku. Writing a generator for these would make a decent programming assignment for the right computer science class, though.
posted by grimmelm at 9:30 PM on March 22, 2007

nebulawindphone, it's actually easier (in a way) than the LSAT logic games in that there's actually a single solution, whereas similar LSAT problems tend to have fewer constraints and ask something like "which of the following is a possible solution?" or "how many possible solutions are there?"
posted by Partial Law at 9:49 PM on March 22, 2007

Oooooooh. I like this. I'm better with puzzles on paper, though.

I keep getting eraser marks on the computer screen.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:52 PM on March 22, 2007

I'm not playing it. I don't want to find out how stupid I am.
posted by Deathalicious at 1:30 AM on March 23, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Cheers vamier, I'm about to take this on a train journey with me...
posted by algreer at 9:57 AM on March 23, 2007

:) You know, I first played this when I was realllly tired... And I promptly forgot how to play it correctly for the next two days, and got really frustrated with it... I forgot that all the clues (except for left) meant that they were in neighboring columns... *sigh* I couldn't figure out why I couldn't figure any puzzles out anymore! :D
posted by Vamier at 1:23 PM on March 26, 2007

some are definitely easier than others. some I cannot see a way to proceed without guessing, others I can manage in an avg of about 7:30.
posted by juv3nal at 5:07 PM on March 26, 2007