Since the author seems interested in the maximum number of moves required to solve the puzzle, a similar puzzle called Subway Shuffle far outdoes Rush Hour. For example, puzzle 100 involves 9 pieces on a 10-spot grid, but requires (as far as is known, maybe the solution isn't optimal?) 589 steps to solve. https://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~storer/JimPuzzles/ZPAGES/zzzSub...

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pavel_lishin 3 days ago | parent [-]

Does anyone know if a version of this is available for Android? I've had no luck searching.

It also seems like something that would be great as part of Simon Tatham's puzzle collection: https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/ / https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=name.boyle.chr...

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gcanyon 2 days ago | parent [-]

I had the app installed way back when, and it was fun. I reached my limit around 60-90 step solutions. The numbers are a little deceiving: in many cases there are sequences of moves 3, 4, or 5 (or more?) long where only one move is possible, and therefore in a sense they qualify as only one decision as a unit, even if they are multiple moves. I think this same aspect is sometimes true of Rush Hour, but less so.

As far as I know it was iOS-only. I think the author created the puzzle as a phd paper, and once I found the paper itself online. It was interesting reading.

It should be possible today to vibe code the mechanics as a web app, right?

	▲	pavel_lishin 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		> It should be possible today to vibe code the mechanics as a web app, right? Probably, but I ain't got the interest to.