5 papers · 1 filter
Tetris is Hard with Just One Piece Type
MIT Hardness Group, Josh Brunner, Erik D. Demaine +2
We analyze the computational complexity of Tetris clearing (determining whether the player can clear an initial board using a given sequence of pieces) and survival (determining wh…
The Legend of Zelda: The Complexity of Mechanics
Jeffrey Bosboom, Josh Brunner, Michael Coulombe +4
We analyze some of the many game mechanics available to Link in the classic Legend of Zelda series of video games. In each case, we prove that the generalized game with that mechan…
Arithmetic Expression Construction
Leo Alcock, Sualeh Asif, Jeffrey Bosboom +10
When can given numbers be combined using arithmetic operators from a given subset of to obtain a given target number? We study three variations of this pr…
Complexity of Retrograde and Helpmate Chess Problems: Even Cooperative Chess is Hard
Josh Brunner, Erik D. Demaine, Dylan Hendrickson +1
We prove PSPACE-completeness of two classic types of Chess problems when generalized to n-by-n boards. A "retrograde" problem asks whether it is possible for a position to be reach…
1 x 1 Rush Hour with Fixed Blocks is PSPACE-complete
Josh Brunner, Lily Chung, Erik D. Demaine +4
Consider unit-square blocks in an square board, where each block is labeled as movable horizontally (only), movable vertically (only), or immovable -- a variat…