"A perfect example of combinatorial explosion."
July 29, 2018 9:11 AM   Subscribe

How I created a database of all interesting Rush Hour configurationsRush Hour is a 6x6 sliding block puzzle invented by Nob Yoshigahara in the 1970s. It was first sold in the United States in 1996 ... Ultimately I ended up with a complete database of every "interesting" starting position. It was quite challenging (and exciting!) and that's what I want to talk about in this article. My code is open source with a permissive license and the resulting database is available for download. And happiest of all, you can play the puzzles in an excellent browser-based implementation.
posted by Wolfdog (10 comments total) 34 users marked this as a favorite
 
My Sunday is sorted.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:41 AM on July 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Loved that puzzle!
posted by Peach at 10:04 AM on July 29, 2018


This is a cool exercise. I think I always preferred Lunar Landing, owing in part to a lengthy train ride in which it was one of few available diversions, but Rush Hour is probably more iconic and it's neat to see things inspiring this much thought and effort.
posted by one for the books at 10:15 AM on July 29, 2018


My first post was about Rush Hour, but the online version I linked to isn't there any more, and I've been looking for another one that was as good. (I have found some annoying ones)
I don't understand the black boxes in this version.
posted by MtDewd at 11:29 AM on July 29, 2018


... I mean, I get that they are non-movable barriers, but why put that in a game that is already complex enough?
posted by MtDewd at 11:41 AM on July 29, 2018


Rush hour is a great puzzle. One of the teenagers I taught (who had severe behaviour and mental health issues) found it fascinating and could focus on it like nothing else.
posted by 92_elements at 11:56 AM on July 29, 2018


...this game is relevant to my interests.
posted by combinatorial explosion at 6:23 PM on July 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


This is really neat.

I wonder how this code would do unleashed on existing implementations of Rush Hour. Are the 40 puzzles included in the ThinkFun box the best starting positions for those puzzles? Could we use this to compare puzzle generators for puzzle apps? (I'd imagine most apps are garbage because the incentive is to crank something out that enough people don't realise are bad puzzles for long enough that you get ad revenue to make up for it.)
posted by Merus at 6:37 PM on July 29, 2018


I had this and the expansions when I was a kid and it was really satisfying to physically move the pieces around in a way that online versions can't quite replicate.

I particularly loved the variant cars you got from the expansions.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:38 PM on July 30, 2018


That there isn't a "solution" button is a strange cruelty. I'm absolutely stumped on the first one I opened.
posted by lucidium at 8:20 AM on August 2, 2018


« Older Men of Steel   |   A literal and metaphorical autumn suddenly arrives... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments