History, mathematics and curiosity
TETRIS
Tetris is a game of logic and reasoning created by Alexey Pažitnov while working for the Russian Academy of Sciences of Moscow. On 6 June 1984 Pažitnov completed the first playable version. The following year was made a version for IBM by Vadim Gerasimov and 1988 Tetris became the best-selling American computer game.
The Tetris name derives from the Greek word "tetra" which means "four" because the "bricks" that make up the game are formed at most by four pieces. These, combined with other bricks (with at least one side entire joint) make seven possible figures each of which takes its name from the following letters of the alphabet: I, J, L, O, S, T, Z, which looks like form.
The game consists in rotating and moving these figures so that you fit them, without spaces, in order to achieve a whole line of blocks. Each completed new line is immediately deleted to make room for other figures, so that the bricks don’t pile up. When you accumulate incomplete lines, the game becomes more difficult.
Adding to this difficulty the time factor, the Tetris success was world-wide.
Today Tetris, thanks to the creation of versions for mobile phones and smartphones, maintains its popularity.
From a mathematical point of view the Tetris was object of studies through which it could demonstrate that the game concludes in some way with the defeat of the player, because in the random alternating figures certainly occur, sooner or later, the sequential appearance of S and T figures that will lead to the inevitable defeat.
Tic-Tac-Toe
Tic-Tac-Toe is a popular and simple game dating from the times of the ancient Romans.
You play on a grid square of 3 x 3 boxes. In turn, each player selects a blank box and there draws its symbol, which can be "X" or "O" (obviously if a player chooses the "X", to the other remains the circle). The player who manages to have three of its symbols in horizontal, vertical or diagonal line WINS; if both players fail in this effort, then the game ends in equality.
Being the game very simple it has a "perfect strategy". Since the number of situations is very small, you can write a program that plays perfectly to Tic-Tac-Toe without losing never, in fact, Tic-Tac-Toe in 1952 was the first game in history to be played by a computer.
SNAKE
The first version of this game appeared in 1976, and in 1978 he was made the microcomputer version called Worm.
Since the game was adapted to all devices, including mobile phones, and countless are made variants.
It is very easy to play: the snake increases its length as that collects objects in its path, but never can touch the walls or itself.
When all disks are moved, recreating a Tower on another needle, then comes the end of the world.
Often, in internet this legend is considered incorrectly real, taking away the merits from the mathematician Édouard Lucas.
I remembered it only as a curiosity.
The computer game consists of three needles, but only on one of them are threaded some disks of different sizes (down the largest and at the top the smallest).
The game has only two rules:
1) to move only the disk located on the top of a Tower
2) never put a larger disk on another smaller
The aim of the game is to place (by moving them) all disks on other needle so that they are always located in the same order.
Mathematically it appens that: If the disks are n then the minimum number of moves to complete the game consists of 2n - 1.
Theoretically the game could be done with a larger number of disks, but the player should have a long free time; if to move "only" 32 disks are needed 232 - 1 moves, that is 9.223.372.036.854.775.807 moves and imagining perform a move to the second... I leave you to calculate how many years are necessary to complete this super game.
1) The succession or numerical sequence takes its name from Leonardo Fibonacci the Pisan mathematician of the 13th century.
2) Benares, today named Varanasi, is considered cultural capital of India and the holy city of Hindus; it is located on the Ganges banks and has the characteristic of being the oldest living city in the world with its 3000 years of history.
PONG
In 1972 Allan Alcorn created for the Atari Pong, one of the first coin-op games of the history.
The idea of the game was to electronically simulate the game of ping-pong.
It could be played against the computer or against a second player (not for this version in JavaScript).
Initially the task was assigned to Allan Alcorn by Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari) only for the training exercise, but the quality achieved by Alcorn persuaded Nolan Bushnell to put the game on the market.
BREAKOUT
In 1976 appeared for the first time the game Breakout developed by Atari and designed by Nolan Bushnell and Steve Bristow. Influenced by its predecessor Pong of 1972, in a few years became a success.
It was adapted to all systems and countless are its variants appeared over the years.
The basic principle is simple: hit the bouncing ball and break down a wall of bricks.
Certainly many people remember the version called Arkanoid.
TOWER OF HANOI
In 1883 the french mathematician Édouard Lucas, the number theory scholar who became famous for "the analysis on the Fibonacci sequence"(1) and creator of countless games and puzzles, invented the Tower of Hanoi game. To draw more attention to this game he invented the ancient Indian legend of the Tower of Hanoi.
The legend tells that in the Temple of Brahma in Benares(2), under a dome that represents the center of the world, is located a brass plate on which are placed 64 golden disk threaded on a needle. Monks move one at a time disks on another needle according to the rule that a large disk can never be put on a smaller disk.
Édouard Lucas (1842-1891)
