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Who am I?

  • David Thomsen
  • @lotographia on Twitter
  • Studied CompSci at Vic Uni 2015-2016
  • Currently employed at Spotlight Reporting in Petone
  • General lover of puzzles and puzzle games
  • Creator of a website called Lotographia

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1980s Whanganui Kid Starter Pack

“I want to make games!”

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Mid-90s Transition

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Then in mid to late 2010s...

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My original idea...

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My idea slowly evolving...

?

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Inspiration from Puzzled Pint!

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Inspiration from Puzzled Pint!

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Inspiration from Cracking The Cryptic

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Inspiration from Cracking The Cryptic

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Tovelund Puzzles

(Faux-Scandinavian name combining the name “Tove” and the town “Billund”)

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Pros/Cons compare with Sudoku & Sudoku variants

  • Filling in all 81 squares can be a chore sometimes
  • Can create ‘stories’ behind the rules
  • Graphics!
  • Combine constraint types in creative ways
  • Space constraint, difficult even to make an 81 square puzzle
  • Difficult to validate that there’s only one solution
  • Does not (currently) support mathematical logic
  • Puzzles take longer to design than classic Sudoku and variants, even with an improved puzzle creation tool

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Tovelund Puzzles Puzzle Designer 😅

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How a traditional Sudoku would be designed

  • Create a collection of numbers: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

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How a traditional Sudoku would be designed

  • Create a collection of numbers: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
  • Create a 9x9 grid where each�square uses this collection

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How a traditional Sudoku would be designed

  • Create a collection of numbers: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
  • Create a 9x9 grid where each�square uses this collection
  • Create a Group of each row,�column and 3x3 box

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How a traditional Sudoku would be designed

  • Create a collection of numbers: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
  • Create a 9x9 grid where each�square uses this collection
  • Create a Group of each row,�column and 3x3 box
  • Create a constraint where each�Group either:
    • Contains one of each number
    • Each square contains a unique number

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How a traditional Sudoku would be designed

  • Create a collection of numbers: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
  • Create a 9x9 grid where each�square uses this collection
  • Create a Group of each row,�column and 3x3 box
  • Create a constraint where each�Group either:
    • Contains one of each number
    • Each square contains a unique number
  • Put in some starting numbers

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Skyscraper Variation Concept

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Future goals

  • Fix puzzle design for desktop
  • Improve the puzzle designer
    • Design
    • Add drag & drop
  • Improve the code base 😅
  • Allow other people to design and share puzzles
  • Add new features & options (for example D&D rather than Cities)
    • (Add ‘story mode’ collections of puzzles???)
  • Promote somehow?