TAG
#retro
0 篇评论 · 62 篇随笔
相关随笔
《学校里发生的恐怖故事》(1995) — 作者一直强调「这不是校园怪谈」的那一作
连载「今天是发售日」第21期，是万普(Banpresto)于1995年8月4日为超级任天堂推出的音响小说《学校里发生的恐怖故事》。报社部的主角要从六位讲述者口中一话一话地听怪谈——先听谁、听到第几话，剧情就会跟着变，含隐藏篇在内总数超过五十篇。它以把真人摄影素材不只用于背景、也用在登场人物身上而闻名。《Fami通》交叉评论是8・6・6・5共25分(满40分)，《Fami通Magazine》的读者评分为22.3分(满30分)。销量本身并不亮眼，可同一年里相关书籍出了好几本，隔年的PlayStation版《S》在数字版开始配信之前，二手价一直居高不下。到今天正好31年。
Masyu (2000) — The Loop of Black and White Pearls Born from a Misreading
In April 1999, Puzzle Communication Nikoli issue #84 published a puzzle format called "Pearl Necklace," using nothing but white circles. In 2000, issue #90 added black circles and renamed it "White Pearl, Black Pearl," completing the logical skeleton Masyu still uses today. The official name "Masyu" wasn't settled until 2003 — the result of Nikoli's president misreading a kanji, an accident that simply stuck. With sources, we trace how a grid using no numbers or letters survived 26 years across an NP-completeness proof, official console ports, and an open-source implementation.
《真·三国无双》(2000) — 从首批出货不足十万开始的「一骑当千」
连载「今天是发售日」第20期，是光荣于2000年8月3日为PlayStation 2推出的《真·三国无双》。海外标题是《Dynasty Warriors 2》——编号从2开始，是因为前作《三国无双》原本是一款1对1的对战格斗游戏。从格斗转向动作的理由，也在于开发方看过PlayStation 2的规格书后想到：说不定能把「战场本身」重现出来。可它并没有什么发售前的声势，首批出货甚至不到十万，还被同公司的首发作品《决战》挡在了后头。之后它靠口碑一点点走远——本期就把这段经过，连同Fami通31分、Metacritic 75分的当年评价，配上实际影像一起回顾。到今天正好26年。
Soma Cube (1933) — Twenty-Seven Fragments Born in a Quantum Mechanics Lecture
In 1933, half-listening to a lecture on quantum mechanics in Copenhagen, Piet Hein enumerated every non-convex fragment that could be made by joining four or fewer unit cubes by their faces, and produced the seven-piece, 27-cube Soma cube. Popularized worldwide by Martin Gardner's 1958 column and commercialized by Parker Brothers in 1969, its 240 solutions were later hand-solved by John Conway and Michael Guy, and its debt is acknowledged by none other than Rubik's Cube inventor Erno Rubik. This piece traces ninety years of a solid-dissection puzzle lineage.
《托巴No.1》(1996) — 史克威尔放上PlayStation的第一张碟
连载「今天是发售日」第19期，是史克威尔于1996年8月2日为PlayStation推出的3D对战格斗《トバルNo.1》(托巴No.1)。它是该公司进军PlayStation的第一弹，开发方是由《VR战士》《铁拳》主要班底组建的Dream Factory，角色设计则请来了鸟山明。系统的根基，是把攻击从「拳」「脚」抽象成上段/中段/下段三个属性的三键制，以及像柔道组手一样的「擒抱」。首发版随碟附赠了次年才发售的《最终幻想VII》体验版光盘「SQUARE'S PREVIEW」，当年的话题反倒集中在那一边。连同类Rogue的「任务模式」在内，本篇的评价是被后来的人一再重提的。到今天正好30年。
《洛克人X4》(1997) — 让「零」成为可选主角的那一天
连载「今天是发售日」第18期，是卡普空于1997年8月1日同时为PlayStation与世嘉土星发售的《ロックマンX4》(洛克人X4)。它是洛克人X系列第四作，也是「洛克人」十周年纪念作品的第三弹；由超级任天堂转向32位机之后，游戏里加入了动画过场(由XEBEC制作，即后来的Production I.G)与角色配音。最大的改动是「双主角制」——开始时在艾克斯与零之间二选一，之后便无法更改。零的主武装从巴斯特枪改为近身的Z-Saber，这份手感强烈影响了之后的系列。同样在1997年8月1日，演唱片头曲的仲间由纪惠第4张单曲也一并发售。29年后的今天，本作已收录进《洛克人X 周年纪念合集》，2025年10月更宣布了艾莉丝的模型商品化。
Get Off the Earth (1896) — The Patent Sam Loyd Took Out on a Miscount
In 1896, puzzle columnist Sam Loyd patented a rotating vanishing puzzle called Get Off the Earth. This piece traces the real mechanism behind its disappearing figure, its 1880 predecessor The Magic Egg Puzzle, its roots in Loyd's 1858 Trick Mules, and the trail this rearrangement trick has left in optical-illusion puzzles today.
《节奏天国 黄金版》(2008) — 让人把Nintendo DS竖过来拿的「律动感游戏♪」
连载「今天是发售日」第17期，是任天堂于2008年7月31日为Nintendo DS发售的《リズム天国ゴールド》(节奏天国 黄金版)。官方标注的类型不是「音乐游戏」，而是「律动感游戏♪」。要把DS主机由横改为竖着拿，用触控笔点、弹、擦画面——操作就这么多，却要走过全10关×各4种、合计40种节奏小游戏。前作是Game Boy Advance用的《リズム天国》(2006年8月3日)，本作同样由夏烂Q的つんく♂制作乐曲。《周刊Fami通》的交叉评论将其列为黄金殿堂入选作品。而在2009年1月，它刷新了1996年《啪拉啪拉啦》保持了12年的音乐游戏销量纪录，日本国内销量达到190万份规模。至于18年后的今天：系列最新作《リズム天国 ミラクルスターズ》已于2026年7月2日在Nintendo Switch上发售，首周39万份登上榜首。
数字连线（1897）——从报纸解谜专栏，到 Flow Free 与 Zip 的时代
1897年，解谜作家 Sam Loyd 在《布鲁克林每日鹰报》刊登了《困惑的邻居们》。1917年，Henry Ernest Dudeney 在自己的著作中将其打磨成一款驾车者谜题；1980年代，Nikoli 将其引入日本，命名为 Arukone 与 Numberlink（数字连线）。2012年，Big Duck Games 的《Flow Free》把它变成彩色圆点与管道，下载量突破一亿；到2025年，这一脉系谱延伸至领英（LinkedIn）的每日谜题《Zip》。本文追溯这条已有120余年历史的规则——不交叉地画出一条线——是如何存活至今的。
五格骨牌（1965）——Solomon W. Golomb 命名的五方块图形，如何演变为 Tetris
1965年，美国数学家 Solomon W. Golomb 在其著作《Polyominoes》中，将由五个正方形连接而成的十二种图形「五格骨牌（pentomino）」的理论整理成书。这一命名可追溯到1953年哈佛大学的一次演讲，1957年经由 Martin Gardner 的专栏传到普通读者手中，1975年又发行了俄语译本。到了1984年，莫斯科的青年 Alexey Pajitnov 凭借童年时对五格骨牌的记忆，在一台实验用计算机上移动图形，Tetris 由此诞生。本文追溯这一五方块图形耗时三十余年环游世界的历程。
《海行者 ～禁断的宠物～》(1999) — 一条嘴很坏的人面鱼，成为Dreamcast最畅销软件的那一天
连载「今天是发售日」第16期，是世嘉为Dreamcast发售的养成模拟游戏《シーマン ～禁断のペット～》(Seaman，禁断的宠物)。发售日为1999年7月29日，开发商是Vivarium，售价6,800日元。在手柄上插入麦克风装置，对着鱼缸里的人面鱼说话，把它养上一个月左右。叫它就会过来，会记住你的年龄和职业，然后用极其无礼的口气跟你讲话。Fami通交叉评论给出9・7・7・6共29分，一边称赞孵化瞬间的冲击力，一边写下「某种意义上的踏绘」「问题作」，认定这是一款好恶分明的作品。即便如此，销量仍达到40万份上下，成为Dreamcast最畅销的软件。第3回文化厅媒体艺术祭优秀奖、第1届Game Developers Choice Awards角色大奖等奖项也接连而来。
Yajilin (1999) — A Board Where Two Rule-Systems Were Grafted Together
In July 1999, Puzzle Communication Nikoli issue #86 introduced Yajilin, a hybrid pencil puzzle that grafted the "draw exactly one loop" grammar established by 1989's Slitherlink onto a black-cell-counting rule. It reused the arrow-and-number cell from a puzzle published just before it, Yajisan-Kazusan, and by 2005 had already been adopted, as "Arrow Ring," into the US qualifying round of the World Puzzle Championship. From official Xbox and PS Vita ports to a dedicated 2025 mobile app called Loopr, we trace, with sources, 26 years of this grid's survival.
《押忍！闘え！応援団》(2005) — 一款卖得不好的音游，靠水货走向世界的那一天
连载「今天是发售日」第15期，是任天堂为Nintendo DS发售的节奏动作游戏《押忍！闘え！応援団》(应援团)。发售日为2005年7月28日，开发商是iNiS。当陷入困境的人喊出「应援团——！」，一身学生服的应援团便赶到现场；玩家用触控笔敲、划、转下屏的标记，为他们送去气势。上屏推进着漫画分镜式的故事，应援打得如何，中途经过与结局都会随之改变，全15关。伴着J-POP翻唱曲，从重考生到在电车上腹痛的小提琴家，一路应援到被巨大陨石盯上的地球。发售之初销量苦战，但口碑逐渐扩散，海外竟出现了不惜进口日文版来玩的玩家；2006年推出了面向海外的《Elite Beat Agents》，2007年推出了续作。受本作启发的PC节奏游戏《osu!》也在2007年登场。
Boulder Dash (1984) — Two Men Who Turned a Falling Rock Into a Rule
In March 1984, First Star Software released Boulder Dash for Atari 8-bit computers: an action puzzle in which Rockford tunnels through cave dirt to collect diamonds while gravity itself turns against him. Remove the dirt beneath a boulder and it falls; drop a rock on a butterfly and it turns to diamonds. This simple physics rule carried a lineage through Emerald Mine (1987), Supaplex (1991), and Rocks'n'Diamonds (1995), and it has survived more than forty years. This article traces the history behind a board written in six months by two Canadian developers.
马力欧医生(1990) — 马力欧穿上白大褂、同日登陆FC与Game Boy的那一天
连载「今天是发售日」第14期，是任天堂的落下型益智游戏《马力欧医生》(Dr. Mario)。FC版与Game Boy版同日发售，是1990年7月27日。马力欧扮成医生，用两粒一组的胶囊消灭瓶中繁殖的三色病毒。纵向或横向凑齐4个同色即可消除，规则简单，另有3档速度×21级关卡的调节幅度，以及FEVER与CHILL两首BGM。在Fami通交叉评测中，两个版本均以31分(满分40)进入白银殿堂，日本国内出货FC与GB合计约361万份。杂志专题与电视节目中的对战转播推波助澜，让它的人气在当时罕见地扩展到了主妇层。FC版自2018年起、GB版自2024年起在Nintendo Switch Online配信，如今仍可原样游玩。
刺猬索尼克(1991) — 世嘉为挑战马力欧而放出的、音速蓝色刺猬
连载「今天是发售日」第13期，是世嘉企业(现·世嘉)开发并发售的Mega Drive动作游戏《刺猬索尼克》(Sonic the Hedgehog)。它的Mega Drive版在日本上架，是1991年7月26日。这款游戏源自「要一个能与任天堂马力欧抗衡的新吉祥物」的社内征选，开发始于1990年。全7个区域(除最终区域外各3幕)，以冲下斜坡的爽快感与描绘环形轨道的高速动作一路疾驰。海外(Genesis)更早于1991年6月23日随主机同捆发售，在北美与欧洲爆红。全球销量逾1500万份，索尼克成了与马力欧并肩的世嘉「门面」。日本发售直后的反响虽不及海外，但此后系列长盛不衰。2018年以Nintendo Switch的「SEGA AGES」、2022年以《索尼克起源》复刻，如今仍可游玩。
卡库罗（1966）——从 Cross Sums 到加算 Cross，六十年不曾移动的加法格子
卡库罗，英语圈称为 Cross Sums，1966年诞生于美国戴尔公司的一款拼图杂志企划。1980年代，Nikoli 将其引入日本，命名为“加算 Cross”，2005年又经由《卫报》以近乎逆向输出的方式传遍世界。本文将追溯这个既非填字游戏也非数独、专攻加法的格子，为何在六十年间不断更换媒介却始终未曾改变规则，行文将同时参照当年的纸面报道与如今的 Steam 商店页面。
拳皇'95(1995) — 八神庵登场、「队伍编辑」诞生的那一天
连载「今天是发售日」第12期，是SNK开发并发售的Neo Geo(街机/MVS)对战格斗游戏《拳皇'95》(The King of Fighters '95)。1995年7月25日在街机上开始运营。它承接了前一年《KOF'94》开启的「不同作品的主角们3对3对战」的盛宴，并在本作首次搭载了可自由挑选三人组队的「队伍编辑」。同时，主角草薙京的宿敌八神庵在此初登场。它与前作一同缔造了系列最初的黄金期，八神庵的人气更是超出了作品本身。1995年内移植到家用Neo Geo，1996年又登陆PlayStation与Sega Saturn。2022年由Hamster以ACA NEOGEO之名复刻于各机种。
You Have to Burn the Rope (2008) — The Three-Minute Metagame Whose Title Was Also the Walkthrough
In April 2008, Swedish student Kian Bashiri released You Have to Burn the Rope on the Flash portals under the moniker "Mazapan." Its title was, quite literally, the solution, and that too-honest confession sparked enormous internet buzz, carrying the game to an Innovation Award finalist slot at the 2009 Independent Games Festival. This essay reads that under-three-minute joke alongside the Flash portal culture of its era, asking why it still left a real mark on the design history of thinking games.
雷霆力量IV(1992) — Mega Drive炫示16位极限的那一天
连载「今天是发售日」第11期，是Technosoft开发并发售的Mega Drive横版射击《雷霆力量IV》。1992年7月24日发售，系列第4作，也是Mega Drive平台上的最后一作。以精细的多重卷轴、巨大精灵图，以及用FM音源做出的失真电吉他BGM，被誉为「炫示了16位的极限」，发售之初便跻身「Mega Drive最强射击」之列。海外于翌年1993年以《Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar》之名发售。2018年作为SEGA AGES复刻于Nintendo Switch。
Slitherlink (1989) — Loop-Closing Logic Born From a Two-Player Paper Game
In June 1989, barely half a year into the Heisei era, Puzzle Communication Nikoli #26 introduced a new puzzle format. Adapted from a two-player paper game called Slither into a single-player pencil puzzle, Slitherlink offers a paradoxical solving pleasure — proving where lines cannot go rather than where they can — and carries a nearly 38-year lineage running through NP-completeness proofs to Steam storefronts in the 2020s. We trace, with sources, the loop-logic Nikoli founder Maki Kaji once called "the son of Sudoku."
第3次超级机器人大战(1993) — 被杂志与口碑从系列终结危机中救回的夏天
连载「今天是发售日」第10期是《第3次超级机器人大战》。1993年7月23日，万普为超级任天堂发售的模拟RPG(Winkysoft开发，9800日元)。驾驶员能力值与机体改造在本作首次引入，换乘系统也首次实装——日后延续30多年的系列地基，由这一作打下。另一方面，据传发售初期销量不佳，一度被提出终结系列，扭转局面的是游戏杂志倾注热情的报道与口碑。从初期出货约10万到最终出货25万、二手价一度高于定价——本期挖掘这场逆转剧。
English Country Tune (2011) — Where an Egg Falls Changes Every Time It Moves
On November 25, 2011, Stephen Lavelle (increpare) — a developer who had already released over 500 free games — put a price on one for the first time: English Country Tune. Its Sokoban-like opening, pushing eggs into incubators, quickly collapses into a rule where gravity itself rewrites with every move. Nominated for Design Excellence at IGF 2012, it precedes the free PuzzleScript engine (2013), 2016's Stephen's Sausage Roll, and — by the creator's own account — Baba Is You. We trace, with sources, the origin of Lavelle's uncompromising design philosophy.
脉冲人(1994) — 制作宝可梦的前夜，Game Freak放出的电气少年
连载「今天是发售日」第9期是Game Freak开发、世嘉发售的《脉冲人》。1994年7月22日发售的Mega Drive动作游戏，导演是杉森建与田尻智，音乐由增田顺一操刀——是日后制作宝可梦的班底汇聚的一作。蓄电弹跳的独特动作与Mega Drive顶尖的美丽画面是其特色。仅在日本国内发售(海外要到翌年才通过Sega Channel配信)，当时是安静的存在，后经Wii虚拟主机(2007/2009)与Nintendo Classics(2023)获得再评价。必杀技「Volteccer」，后来作为皮卡丘的招式名被继承下来。
Hitman GO (2014) — The Year an Assassin Became a Board-Game Piece
In 2014, after its console Hitman project collapsed, Square Enix Montreal shipped Hitman GO, a turn-based puzzle played across a board of nodes and lines. Born from paper prototypes, this "distilling" design method spawned Lara Croft GO (2015) and Deus Ex GO (2016), and eventually reached Steam. This piece traces the lineage of a method that turned a AAA brand into a board-game piece.
马力欧网球64(2000) — 瓦路易吉首次登上游戏史的那一天
连载「今天是发售日」第8期是任天堂的《马力欧网球64》。2000年7月21日发售的NINTENDO64网球游戏，由《马力欧高尔夫64》的Camelot开发，也是作为瓦力欧双打搭档新造的「瓦路易吉」首次登场的作品。Metacritic上获91分好评，日本国内发售两周卖出20万份以上，在GameSpot年度最佳N64游戏评选中仅次于《完美黑暗》。如今仍可在Nintendo Switch Online上游玩。
PuzzleScript(2013)——一行规则，量产了全世界的「推箱子游戏」
2013年10月，Stephen Lavelle(increpare)免费公开了浏览器解谜引擎 PuzzleScript。这个只需一行规则就能做出仓库番类谜题的工具，经由 Alan Hazelden 的早期作品，孕育出《A Good Snowman Is Hard to Build》，又经过 Hempuli 本人所说的“推箱子谜题复兴”，一路连到了《Baba Is You》的土壤。本文核实这条系谱。
希特勒复活 TOP SECRET(1988) — 抛弃跳跃的动作游戏诞生之日
连载「今天是发售日」第7期是Capcom的《希特勒复活 TOP SECRET》。这款1988年7月20日发售的FC动作游戏中，主角不能跳跃，只能靠手臂伸出的钢索越过悬崖、荡过天花板。FamicomTsushin交叉评测26分、国内销量平平；但同年12月在海外发售的NES版《Bionic Commando》登上《Nintendo Power》封面，日后成为名作榜单常客。一盘在国内外拥有两副面孔的卡带。
花山 Cast Puzzle（1983）——Nob Yoshigahara 连结金属拼图与数字密室游戏的谱系
1983年，日本玩具制造商花山（Hanayama）推出了金属分解拼图系列「Cast Puzzle」。负责监修的拼图设计师 Nob Yoshigahara（1936-2004）之手，无意间将这段无文字的金属拼图经验，与1996年的滑块拼图《Rush Hour》，以及2012年问世、后登陆Steam的密室拼图《The Room》连接了起来。本文追溯这条历经40年仍未完全解开的谱系。
最终幻想IV(1991) — 战斗中开始流动「时间」的那一天
连载「今天是发售日」第6期是Square的《最终幻想IV》。1991年7月19日作为系列首款超级任天堂软件发售，首次搭载了选指令时敌人也会行动的「即时战斗系统(ATB)」。在Fami通交叉评论中进入白金殿堂；而「太难了」的声音，则以3个月后发售《Easy Type》的形式留在了记录里。到今天正好35年——10年后的同一个7月19日，FFX也发售了。对这个系列而言，这是个特别的日期。
The Legend of Zelda (1986) — The Grammar of Exploration Set by Treasure and Labyrinth
Released 21 February 1986 as the launch title for the Family Computer Disk System, The Legend of Zelda was built by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka around a one-directional chain: obtain a treasure, and a path opens. Forty years later, that structure stands as an ancestor of today's exploration-based puzzle games. I reread this design, born from the era's disk-capacity constraints, through a historian's eyes.
我们的太阳(2003) — 把真正的太阳装进卡带的夏天
连载「今天是发售日」第5期是Konami的《我们的太阳》(Boktai)。2003年7月17日，这款GBA「太阳动作RPG」在卡带中内置太阳传感器，把真实的阳光变成了武器的能量。监督兼制作人是小岛秀夫。这部把玩家带到户外的异色之作，却偏偏发售在创纪录的冷夏之年。到今天正好23年。
Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection (2004) — 40 Puzzles, Freshly Generated for 22 Years
In 2004, British engineer Simon Tatham — also known as the author of PuTTY — released a free collection of single-player logic puzzles. From Sudoku and Minesweeper to the loop-drawing Loopy and the bridge-building Bridges, all 40 puzzles are freshly generated by computer on every run. Written purely to solve a portability annoyance, this hobby project became, twenty years later, the foundation of an AI algorithmic-reasoning benchmark.
HECTOR'87(1987) — 为夏日大赛而生的射击游戏
连载「今天是发售日」第4期是Hudson的《HECTOR'87》。1987年7月16日，作为暑假巡回全国的游戏大赛「第3届TDK全国FC Caravan」官方指定软件而生的纵横交替卷轴射击游戏。搭载生命值制与和大赛同规格的2分钟/5分钟模式，杂志评价为FC通信Cross Review 29分。发售日本身正是从夏日大赛倒推而定。今天正好39年。
Auditorium (2008) — The Birth of a Puzzle That Paints With Sound, in a Browser
In April 2008, Philadelphia studio Cipher Prime released the music puzzle Auditorium as a browser Flash game. Players redirect streams of light particles through control points to fill color-matched audio containers, completing a soundtrack as they solve. This article traces its detour through iOS, PS3, and PSP before it finally reached Steam in 2012.
This is the Only Level (2009) — A Mischievous Loop on a Single Screen, from the Flash Era
On 8 August 2009, John Cooney (jmtb02) released This is the Only Level on Armor Games: a meta puzzle-platformer that replays the same single screen across 30 stages, rewriting only its rules each time. This article traces its rare path of preservation, surviving Flash's technical extinction to return, by the creator's own hand, as part of The Elephant Collection on Steam in 2023.
Mario Paint（1992）——鼠标来到电视画面的那一天
连载“今天是发售日”第2回，介绍超级任天堂用游戏『Mario Paint』。1992年7月14日，作为超级任天堂首款鼠标专用软件，随鼠标同捆发售。可以画画、作曲、做动画、还能玩打苍蝇。在《Fami通》Cross Review 中获得35分，入选白金殿堂。而在2025年7月，它又保留着鼠标操作方式回归 Nintendo Classics。
迷你地铁(2013)——始于48小时Game Jam的路线图
2013年4月，为参加Ludum Dare 26，新西兰的Curry兄弟在一个周末做出的试作《Mind the Gap》。追溯这款诞生于『不会画画』『不会作曲』等制约之下的极简路线图解谜游戏，如何在经历2014年Steam抢先体验后，于2015年完成为正式版《Mini Metro》。
Tangram (Qi Qiao Ban) — Around 1810, Seven Pieces of Lies and Truth
Seven shapes, five triangles, one square, one parallelogram, enough to form countless silhouettes. The tangram's origin lies in late-18th-century China, but its history was long distorted by a fabricated chronicle puzzle maker Sam Loyd wrote in 1903. I dig up both the toy's true voyage and the fiction that obscured it.
《Puyo Puyo》(1991)——发明"连锁"这一新动词
1991年10月25日,《Puyo Puyo》在 MSX2 与红白机磁盘系统上同日发售。由米光一成构思、Compile 制作,次年1992年与世嘉合作推出的街机版催生了"连锁"(rensa)这一新动词。即便开发商已于2003年消失,这套设计仍延续到了2014年的《Puyo Puyo Tetris》,乃至2018年的 Steam 版本。我想把这一款重新解读为对战型解谜这项竞技的起点。
Monument Valley（2014）— 行走于不可能的建筑，移动游戏黄金期的一章
2014年4月3日在iOS上开始发行的『Monument Valley』，是从伦敦一家设计事务所分拆出来的六人团队，把埃舍尔的不可能图形做成可以行走的建筑的作品。在免费增值模式笼罩App Store的时代，本作以付费、短时长、高密度这一逆向打法卖出数百万份，我将它重新解读为视角系解谜游戏的一环，也是移动游戏黄金期的一份记录。
Henry Dudeney (1907) — Four Hinged Pieces That Turn a Triangle Into a Square
In 1907, English puzzle maker Henry Dudeney published, within The Canterbury Puzzles, the Haberdasher's Puzzle: cutting an equilateral triangle into just four pieces that reform into a square. Hinged together, the pieces could transform with a single fold, and the dissection drew attention in its day -- yet the proof that four pieces were truly minimal remained unresolved for a surprisingly long time, settled only by a 2024 computational-geometry paper. Tracing Dudeney's rivalry with Sam Loyd and his rediscovery through Martin Gardner, this piece rereads how a paper puzzle took 117 years to reach computer science.
The Birth of the Jigsaw Puzzle (1760s) — The Man Who Cut Up Maps, and a Verb Unchanged for 260 Years
In 1760s London, the map engraver John Spilsbury mounted printed maps on wood and cut them apart along national borders, selling them as 'Dissected Maps' — the commercial starting point of what would later be called the jigsaw puzzle. This essay revisits the context in which the format was born as a tool for teaching geography, the structural insight that where you cut is itself the design, and the lineage that runs from Depression-era die-cut cardboard to the 2021 VR title Puzzling Places — a format that survived 260 years without ever changing its verb.
Crimson Room (2004) — The Day a Red Room Made 'Escape' a World Word
On March 4, 2004, Japanese developer Toshimitsu Takagi released a small free Flash game. You wake in a crimson-walled room, gather keys and tools, and leave through a locked door — nothing more. Yet Crimson Room spread the 'escape the room' genre worldwide, gave Asia the genre name 'Takagism' after its author, and by its instigator's own testimony triggered the world's first real escape game in Kyoto, 2007. I read this red room as a rare junction where digital play flowed back into physical space.
Pipe Mania (1989) — Betting the Route Before the Flow Arrives
In June 1989, Britain's The Assembly Line released Pipe Mania for the Amiga. In North America Lucasfilm Games distributed it as Pipe Dream, and in Japan Video System's arcade version was carried by Namco. Lay the pipe before the green flooz starts to flow - this single verb cast the template of the real-time spatial-connection puzzle.
Mole Mania (1996) — What a Two-Layer Board of Surface and Underground Taught Us
On July 21, 1996, Nintendo released Mole Mania for the Game Boy, developed by Nintendo EAD and Pax Softnica and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto. With four verbs — push, pull, throw, dig — you carry an iron ball to each screen's gate, across a board that exists in two layers: surface and underground. I dig up this forgotten work as an ancestor of the spatial reasoning found in today's multi-layer puzzles.
Cursor*10 (2008) — Ten of Me Climb One Tower: The Origin of Self Co-op
In January 2008, Yoshio Ishii of Nekogames posted a single Flash game on his site: Cursor*10. You control the mouse cursor itself; when one life runs out, its recorded actions replay in the next, and you climb a sixteen-floor tower in cooperation with your past selves. I read this small work, built over a single Japanese New Year's holiday, as an origin point of the 'self co-op' grammar in modern puzzle design.
Nikoli (1980) — The Reader-Grown Puzzle Magazine, and the Road Sudoku Took Around the World
Puzzle Communication Nikoli, launched in 1980, was Japan's first magazine devoted to puzzles. Its name came from a racehorse; the prototype of Sudoku came from America. This essay traces forty years in which Nikoli's mode of production—reader submissions and handmade problems—gave birth to Slitherlink (1989) and Nurikabe (1991), and sent Sudoku around the world via Hong Kong judge Wayne Gould's generator program, rereading the source of a question at the heart of modern puzzle design: who should make a good problem?
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (2007) - A Vessel That Carried 1966's Riddles onto a Handheld
On February 15, 2007, Level-5 released Professor Layton and the Curious Village for the Nintendo DS. Its bundle of riddles derives directly from Akira Tago's Atama no Taisou (Kobunsha, 1966), the puzzle books producer Akihiro Hino adored as a child. This essay traces, from a historian's view, how Layton's stance of sinking a paper puzzle collection into a narrative vessel connects a forty-year-old book to a handheld, and onward to today's deduction puzzles.
纵横字谜（1913）—— 从阿瑟·温的菱形开始的格子谱系
1913年12月21日，阿瑟·温的"Word-Cross"印刷于《纽约世界报》娱乐副刊。这一游戏因排版误植而被称为"纵横字谜"，1924年西蒙与舒斯特出版社的书籍令其广泛传播，1930年《泰晤士报》、1942年《纽约时报》使之走向全球。本文追溯格子、交叉与线索这三项发明，如何作为思考型解谜的设计语汇，从纸上方格延续至尼科利的铅笔谜题与现代数字作品。
河内塔（1883）—— 留下递归遗产、永无终结的64枚圆盘
1883年，法国数学家Édouard Lucas以「N. Claus (de Siam)」为笔名推出了一款木制玩具。三根柱子，大小各异的圆盘，仅有两条规则。然而其朴素外表之下，蕴含着移动n枚圆盘至少需要2ⁿ−1步的递归数学。本文从历史视角重新审视这款玩具的真正起源、贝纳勒斯关于64枚圆盘完成时世界将终结的虚构传说，以及「递归」与「状态空间」的思想为后世计算机科学与现代谜题所留下的遗产。
echochrome (2008) — A Puzzle Where Perspective Becomes the World's Physics
Released for the PSP on March 19, 2008, echochrome translated the 'OLE Coordinate System' — an illusion principle researched by Jun Fujiki at Kyushu University — directly into play. The physics of the world a wooden mannequin walks through is rewritten by the angle you view it from. I re-read this work, which turned the impossible objects of Escher and Reutersvard into a rotating puzzle, within the lineage of perspective puzzles.
The Lost Vikings (1993) — A Classic of Cooperative Puzzling, Three Bodies Moved One at a Time
Released in 1993 by Silicon & Synapse (later Blizzard Entertainment) through Interplay, The Lost Vikings is a cooperative puzzle in which the player controls three differently-skilled vikings one at a time and must lead all of them to the exit. In Japan it was distributed by T&E Soft under the title Viking no Daimeiwaku. This essay re-reads its era, the quality of thought its three-way cooperation produced, and the lineage that runs from Lemmings and Gobliiins to today's cooperative puzzles.
Threes! (2014) — One Last Board That Grows by Three
Threes! arrived on the iPhone in 2014. Prototyped in a single night and polished over fourteen months, it lived through a strange reversal when, a month later, the 2048 craze left the original accused of being the copy. We trace the origin of the merge-slide puzzle through the developers' own testimony.
魔方（1974）——43京种配置的迷宫，与唯一一个解
1974年，布达佩斯的建筑师厄尔诺·鲁比克为教学目的削出了一个小小的立方体，这个物体最终将拥有43京种配置、唯一一个完成形的"状态空间"握于掌心。本文通过一次和二次文献，追溯这一玩具的确切出处——1974年的发明、1980年的全球登场，以及2010年证明的"神之数=20"——并作为历史重新解读：这个没有显示屏、没有电源的物体，是如何在半世纪前便以实物体现了现代解谜设计者口中的"可逆性""唯一解""待探索的空间"等语汇的。
Submachine (2005) — A Door into the Subnet, and the Lineage of Flash Escape Puzzles
On 15 September 2005 the Polish cartoonist Mateusz Skutnik posted a single Flash game on his own website. It was simply called Submachine. Later renamed Submachine 1: The Basement, it became the seed of a ten-part escape-puzzle lineage. I read this hand-drawn browser work, one that never sat on Steam at the time, as a chapter in the history of escape puzzles.
Adventures of Lolo（1989）——翡翠方框，解的唯一性
1989年，HAL研究所在NES上推出的《Adventures of Lolo》。其母体是1985年MSX上的《Eggerland Mystery》。在11×11的棋盘上，将可推动的方框和移动的敌人组合，收束到唯一的正确答案——这款承袭仓库番血统的单屏逻辑谜题率先确立的东西，我将作为谱系来解读。
Lemmings (1991) — The Source of Indirect-Control Puzzling, Where You Move the World and Never the Creature
On 14 February 1991, DMA Design of Scotland released Lemmings and, with it, established 'indirect control': the player never steers a character directly but assigns roles and shapes the world to guide a crowd to safety. This essay re-reads its era, the quality of thought its eight skills produced, and its lineage toward RTS and modern puzzle design.
15数字推盘（1880） — 萨姆·劳埃德骗倒世界的那一步无解棋局
1880年初，「15数字推盘」的狂潮席卷美国与欧洲。然而被世人奉为发明者的萨姆·劳埃德，实为在狂潮消退十六年后才冒领功劳的冒充者。本文追溯这个木盒的真实来源，以及劳埃德以悬赏为名的「14与15对调的盘面」在数学上绝对无解的1879年证明，并从历史角度重读滑块拼图留给现代数字谜题设计的遗产：「可解性的保证」。
The Incredible Machine(1993)— 让鲁布·戈德堡机械变成游戏的工具箱
1993年,由Dynamix与Sierra推出的《The Incredible Machine》将齿轮、皮球、风扇与猫摆在同一块屏幕上,让玩家搭建鲁布·戈德堡机械。这只以九个月、三万六千美元组装而成的工具箱,连同它的自由创作模式,成为当代物理与装置谜题的源头之一。本文追溯直到2014年其原班作者将《Contraption Maker》搬上Steam的二十一年。
马里奥的画线方块(1995) — 1987 年诞生的逻辑
1995 年 3 月 14 日在 Game Boy 上发售的《马里奥的画线方块(Mario's Picross)》,把八年前由两位日本发明者各自独立发明出的「お絵かきロジック」翻译成了玩法。从报纸谜题到游戏,再到当代 Steam 上的 Nonogram。一种逻辑谜题以近乎不变的形态存续半个世纪——本文追溯这条谱系。
仓库番(1982) — 元谜题 44 年前的原型
1982 年,Thinking Rabbit 的今林宏行发布了仓库番。仅靠「走」与「推」两个动词成立的这部作品,为何会成为 44 年后 Baba Is You 与 Patrick's Parabox 的祖先——从时代脉络重读。
