Rotationary

Rotationary is a single-stash Icehouse puzzle game for one. It is special among puzzle games in that there are no wrong moves; it is possible to solve a puzzle at any state.

Setup

Arrange the pieces of your Icehouse stash in a 4×4 grid (with one empty space) either according to a preset puzzle or randomly, with all the pieces facing in orthogonal directions. Here’s an easy one to start with:

The Object

To have all the pieces pointing in the same direction.

How to Play

Pick one piece, and rotate it one 90° turn either clockwise or counterclockwise. Whatever piece it then points to is rotated 90° in the same direction.

Then, if the original piece is…

• Small: Stop there
• Medium: If the piece you just rotated (the “active piece”) is pointing at another piece, then that piece is rotated 90° in the original direction. Stop there.
• Large: Same as medium, but once more.

If at any point a piece is pointing at nothing (either the blank space on the grid or the edge of the board), the process stops. After you stop, you may make another move. Continue until all pieces are pointing in the same direction after all rotations are done. You win!

Advanced:

The basic game is sadly solvable. To increase the challenge, add this rule: rather than stopping whenever a piece points at nothing, imagine it can “wrap around”, thus allowing a piece to point at the other side of the grid. This enables each piece to carry out all of its rotations. (Be warned, however, that this could leave you with a puzzle that can’t be solved.)

Published in Hypothermia #15.