A puzzle is a unique gaming genre that tests the player’s problem-solving abilities through patterns, a combination of numbers and letters, sequencing, and anything complicated that involves fun. Initially, puzzles were curved on boards, and players were given clues on how to find a solution through questions.
However, as the codding era developed, the puzzle is now available in gaming apps. Players can download them and enjoy gaming. You will also find timed and untimed, paid, and free to download and offline and online puzzles depending on where you choose from. With lots of fun associated with the game, have you ever thought of where the game came from?
The Era of Traditional Puzzles
The history of puzzles travels back in time to the age of philosophers, aristocrats, and artists in medieval Europe. The earliest form of puzzles is said to be riddles. In Greek history, puzzles were produced by mythical creatures as a form of communication to the general population.
Other than that, in the Middle Ages, ancient Greek philosophers also produced riddles as puzzles, and some of them are still in use even today.
Digital puzzles
Riddles laid the foundation of digital puzzles. In 1977, the first modern puzzle by Atari was released. The game summed up modern features, and it was compressed into one of its kind gaming consoles. In preceding years, Atari continued to develop mind teasers such as Flag Capture, which is the modern day’s Minesweeper predecessor.
In 1982, the legendary game developer Hiroyuki Imabayashi released Sokoban. Sokoban was an iconic puzzle for PC-8801. But what made the game stand out was its mode of operation. The game packs an ingenious ancient puzzle mechanic, which gaming experts say is still in use today in other games.
Still, in 1982, Atari was at the peak of developing its newest puzzle games. The company released Shark Hunt. This game was specifically made for Atari 8-Bit.
A blend of Action and Puzzles
To spice up gamers’ experience, developers introduced a blend of games that are composed of action and puzzles. The first action-puzzle game was released by Konami in 1982. The game’s name was Loco-Motion. This game quickly rose to the limelight and became puzzlers’ sweetheart, and today, some traditional gamers still enjoy it.
In 1984, Atari released Puzzle Panic and Boulder Dash for Atari 8-bit. This game featured the tough journey of mining diamonds. Players had to avoid sharp rocks and virtually maneuver their way through the terrible terrain to the diamond fields. Though Boulder dash was great for those times, it inspired a whole new generation of sensational games that are often referred to as rock and diamond games.
Similar to Tetris, Uncle Henry’s Nuclear Waste Dump came with an uncertain feature. But, still, it offered the same satisfaction as other puzzle games.
Final Word
Puzzle has an indeed wonderful history trickling down from Greek mythologies to riddles to gaming consoles and finally to apps. We have just covered the tip of the iceberg. In the future, we are going to take you through the Great Tetris, one of the most famous puzzles in the 21st century, and how it rose to dominance.