How to Solve a Minecraft Puzzle Like a Mathematician
Date:
In which I introduce a puzzle involving the use of Minecraft’s pistons, which can push blocks but not pull them, where the objective is to push a specific block to a specific location, and where the context of the puzzle values a quick and correct solve, rather than a traditionally “optimal” solve, which might involve using the fewest number of moves.
I introduce invariant and monovariant properties to explain a large class of reliable solutions, which I then demonstrated in the game. One lesson learned from this talk: when running a demonstration on a large screen, keep the camera fixed whenever you can! [My apologies to the folks who saw this live, who might have gotten dizzy…]