In the opening of Star Trek IV, a freshly-minted Spock is training with the Vulcan equivalent of Trivial Pursuit, answering a series of computer-posited questions on philosophy and physics and whatnot, but mostly Star Trek physics like how to rearrange a dilithium crystal so that antiprotons can pass and antineutrons cannot. This made a deep impression on the young LabKitty, I think because I had no idea what those were and Gene Roddenberry probably didn't either.
These days Star Trek doesn't have physics, it just has lens flares and explosions. Hollywood doesn't dare remind the viewer there's things out there they don't understand but might with a little effort. Like Spock returning from the grave with his fancy lernin' gizmo substituting for the formal education one might presume necessary, which now that I think about it is the same thing that happened to Uhura after Nomad fried her noggin. Blu-ee? Hilarious!
The point being, people hate school but people love games. Which is odd, considering that many games are just math in disguise. A Rubik's cube is an exercise in group transformation. Card games like Poker and Blackjack are nothing more than applied probability theory. Tic-tac-toe and checkers and Peg have a mathematical structure and formal solutions (less true for chess and Go). And of course there is Sudoku, which created an entire culture of number obsessives who otherwise don't much care for numbers.
Thus inspired, LabKitty gives you: Mage. Mage is also math in disguise, but I shant tell you what kind. That would spoil the mystery, for the same reasons the coded innuendo of Billie Holiday is sublime art and the crass explicitness of hip hop is talentless piffle. But I digress.
Instructions: The rules are simple. You are given three grids of colored squares, which for the sake of discussion I shall call source (S), current (C) and target (T). Your job is to make the source look like the target. You do so by applying the right combination of the four buttons underneath the current, which for the sake of discussion I shall call jub-jub, gronk, blippy, and clyde. Your score is the total number of button presses it took to find the solution (fewer = better, like golf). You may choose your preferred difficulty by selecting a 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, or 4x4 puzzle. (Pro-tip: 1x1 is easy, 2x2 is challenging, 3x3 is hard, and 4x4 is probably impossible*. Start with a 1x1.) Other buttons include "previous" which undoes your most recent button press (the minimap shows the previous puzzle state) and "show solution" which shows the solution (cheater!). Note there might be more than one way to solve a puzzle -- if you beat Mage's score, you get a congratulatory message.
* not only do 4x4 puzzles have more entries, they also tend to generate more maximum red entries. Maximum red entries act like wild cards -- they don't have a unique meaning. Diabolical!
If the colors stop changing when you press buttons, it (probably) means you are going in the wrong direction. Start over (click clyde; this also resets the count), or try a new puzzle. You can start over as many times as you like. Unlike life, in which you cannot. Mage!
Footnote: To play you must have Javascript turned on and be using a browser that supports canvas objects, which should be about all of them these days unless you're Amish or something. Phone play works best in landscape. As usual, if you find any bugs please let me know about them. Mage!
These days Star Trek doesn't have physics, it just has lens flares and explosions. Hollywood doesn't dare remind the viewer there's things out there they don't understand but might with a little effort. Like Spock returning from the grave with his fancy lernin' gizmo substituting for the formal education one might presume necessary, which now that I think about it is the same thing that happened to Uhura after Nomad fried her noggin. Blu-ee? Hilarious!
The point being, people hate school but people love games. Which is odd, considering that many games are just math in disguise. A Rubik's cube is an exercise in group transformation. Card games like Poker and Blackjack are nothing more than applied probability theory. Tic-tac-toe and checkers and Peg have a mathematical structure and formal solutions (less true for chess and Go). And of course there is Sudoku, which created an entire culture of number obsessives who otherwise don't much care for numbers.
Thus inspired, LabKitty gives you: Mage. Mage is also math in disguise, but I shant tell you what kind. That would spoil the mystery, for the same reasons the coded innuendo of Billie Holiday is sublime art and the crass explicitness of hip hop is talentless piffle. But I digress.
Instructions: The rules are simple. You are given three grids of colored squares, which for the sake of discussion I shall call source (S), current (C) and target (T). Your job is to make the source look like the target. You do so by applying the right combination of the four buttons underneath the current, which for the sake of discussion I shall call jub-jub, gronk, blippy, and clyde. Your score is the total number of button presses it took to find the solution (fewer = better, like golf). You may choose your preferred difficulty by selecting a 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, or 4x4 puzzle. (Pro-tip: 1x1 is easy, 2x2 is challenging, 3x3 is hard, and 4x4 is probably impossible*. Start with a 1x1.) Other buttons include "previous" which undoes your most recent button press (the minimap shows the previous puzzle state) and "show solution" which shows the solution (cheater!). Note there might be more than one way to solve a puzzle -- if you beat Mage's score, you get a congratulatory message.
* not only do 4x4 puzzles have more entries, they also tend to generate more maximum red entries. Maximum red entries act like wild cards -- they don't have a unique meaning. Diabolical!
If the colors stop changing when you press buttons, it (probably) means you are going in the wrong direction. Start over (click clyde; this also resets the count), or try a new puzzle. You can start over as many times as you like. Unlike life, in which you cannot. Mage!
Footnote: To play you must have Javascript turned on and be using a browser that supports canvas objects, which should be about all of them these days unless you're Amish or something. Phone play works best in landscape. As usual, if you find any bugs please let me know about them. Mage!
Mage -- The Matrix Game
Select a size and click "new game"
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