WIT, WISDOM, and STUPIDITY
(because everything in this world is one or the other.)
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If you know me, then you may have seen me play the 15 game before. It's the greatest game ever. Simple, yet challenging and rewarding. So many combinations that it never gets old. A shiny multicolored surface. But I digress. The 15 game is a fun and inexpensive way to pass the time, and I'm here to show you how! Soon you will able to play the 15 game like a pro. This column today is dedicated to Kenneth, who will soon be the world's greatest at this game, I'm sure.
First of all, there is no set object of the game. Most people think that once you can put them in order from 1 to 15 that the fun is over. However, this is not true! There are over 1 million combinations of numbers in the 15 puzzle, and while many of them make no sense whatsoever, there are still probably 500 or so that make sense and have some sort of pattern. So. First off, I'm going to tell you the universal secret of the 15 game. You always work from top to bottom. Although this is blatently obvious when going from 1 to 15, some other combinations may lead you to believe that you have to go in some order or around in a spiral or something. That is not the case. Always work from the top row to the bottom row, unless you're extremely lucky and can do whatever the crap you want and still win the game consistantly. Well, I say win, but you really can't. You just experience temporary joy.
So, let's start, shall we? The 15 game is fun to learn, so if you don't want me to tell you how to do it, just close this page now and seek mental help, because for some reason you clicked on the link to the page that tells you how to play the 15 game when you don't even want me to tell you. That just strikes me as odd.
Now then, since we've picked out the eligable people, let's begin. If you don't have a copy of the 15 game, you need to buy one. I'm working on a c++ version of it, so you can play it (however crappily, I don't know any real c++ graphics yet) on your home computer. Next, if you do have one, I'm guessing that it's a hopeless mess of numbers and colors.
If not, mix it up now.
Good! Now, let's just start by doing the standard 1 to 15. You should be able to put 1, 2, and 3 in the right spots. Please start with 1, 2, and 3, because you have to work from top to bottom and the rest of the tutorial won't make sense if you don't listen to all of my directions.
The point you have just gotten to is probably one of the most frustrating in the game. It's quite humorous to watch other people try to get the 4 in position by rotating it, the 3, and another number around in a circle for about 5 minutes before they realize that it's not going to work. You, however, know the secret! Once you know it you never forget it, I think. The secret is to move the 1, 2, and 3 DOWN! Yes, that's right, move them out of their spots! This sounds crazy, but it works! Move the 1 2 and 3 down so that the 2 is where the 1 should be, the 3 is where the 2 should be, and the 1 is where the 5 should be. Now, you should be able to move the 4 into the spot where the 3 should be. After you have done this, move the 4, 3, and 2 over and shift the 1 up. You have just completed the first row!
I must congratulate you, but you are not done! You still have 3 rows left. Now that you know the first secret, you should be able to complete rows 2 and 3 without a major problem. Each row becomes harder and harder as you go down because you have less real estate to flip the blocks in. If you get stuck, I'm going to put pictures up here of some tricky situations and how to get out of them. Just remeber that once you complete a row (except row 3), you should never move any of those blocks again. Always work downward to complete the puzzle.
Okay, so you've somehow gotten the first 3 rows. If your 4th row happens to be correctly aligned, you only got lucky and should pay attention anyways. The bottom row is the most frustrating part for most people, and it causes them to give up. Don't just randomly flip the blocks! This takes a much longer time, and people will think you don't know what you're doing, which you probably don't. The secret is to make room for the bottom row to move around. But wait, how can the bottom row move without messing up the 3rd row? It's very easy.
So you've got, say, 9, 10, 11, and 12, and then you've got 15, 13, 14. You seem to be stuck, but it's not so! Move the entire 3rd row over and down as if you were trying to fit another block after the 12. Now, you have two choices depending on your style. You can either move the 9 to the right again and follow with all the other 3rd row, or you can move the 11 down and the 12 left. Either way, you should end up with the 3rd row in a tiny square in the bottom left and the 4th row in a tiny square in the bottom right. However, the 4th row can now be rotated! Simply rotate the 4th row numbers around until you think they are in the right order. They, depending on your choices earlier, move the 3rd row back onto the third row. If the 4th row works, then you win!
Now, you've got pretty much everything you need to solve almost any problem. However, you've got one trick left to learn. What would happen if you were doing a problem where the hole is supposed to be in the middle at the end instead of at the bottom? How can you rotate any blocks if the hole needs to stay back in the third row? Well, the answer is to move the hole to the 4th row. How? Well, look at the problem that you are trying to make, either in a book or write it on a piece of paper. Imaging if you moved some blocks up so that the hole is on the bottom row. Well, there's your answer! Solve the puzzle as if the hole is on the bottom, and then when you are done just shift those blocks back down! It's that easy.
Finally, before you can be a total champion, you need to know what kind of problems are impossible problems. You will eventually come across some problems where the 4th row will not get in the right order. You've flipped them 500 times, but it just doesn't work. Well, look at the order. Remember how in the example the order was 15-13-14? In this case, the 15 can be moved to the other side of the 14. But what if the order was 13-15-14? Well, in order to solve this one the 15 and 14 need to be switched. That means that this problem is IMPOSSIBLE! If you have to switch two adjacent blocks to make the last row work, it's impossible. This can be extremely frustrating when you are trying to make your own puzzle. If you come across this problem, it's easy to solve. Just switch two other adjacent blocks from anywhere else in the problem! This fulfills some sort of ceremony to appease the math gods and they will allow your puzzle to work. Seriously, it's just one of those physical improbabitly things.
Well, now you should have everything you need to become a master! Now all you need is practice. Go have countless hours of fun playing your game!
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