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Hashi


Hashi is a game typically described as containing small nodes or communities.  Each node has bridges connecting it to other nodes or communities.  Each bridge runs north/south or east/west, there are no bridges that go at an angle.  Along with that, each community has no more than two (2) bridges connecting it to another community.
Thus, any community must have from 1-8 bridges.

Other specifics include that bridges cannot intersect or cross one another.  In the screenshot at the left, there are a total of 9 communities and 17 bridges.  Notice that no community (or set of communities) is unreachable. You can start at any community and traverse the bridges to reach any other community.

To play the game, one would hide the bridges (known as connections) and then build each bridge. Ideally, the player would not even see the solution prior to constructing the bridges.

This application was originally created in order to construct Hashi puzzles, which can be used to promote critical thinking, logical reasoning, and other problem solving skills.  I created this for me to use in the classroom as a way of easily creating these puzzles. 

It is important to note that this was used as a programming exercise with my 8th grade students both for critical thinking and to learn some basic programming skills.  

The creation process using a form of recursion. In a standard recursive algorithm, each node or community would be traversed exhausting each direction that a bridge could be built. The algorithm would unwind when no more bridges were allowed.  Instead, there is some mild fuzzy logic in the algorithm. Not only are the bridge directions as well as number of bridges per node chosen randomly, whether the bridge will be traversed to the next node is also done randomly.  This allows a greater deal of freedom and allows levels to be constructed more easily.

To play
  1. Download and install the APK file
  2. When the application begins you will see a series of communities.  Clicking on a community identifies that community as the source of the bridge. 
  3. Click on a second community to complete your connection.  
  4. Each community-to-community connection can have two bridges.  Building a third bridge will delete all bridges linking the two communities.
  5. Select the source and destination carefully. You are allowed to attempt to build a connection between nodes that are illegal moves; however, this cannot be undone.
  6. After you have built the number of connections requested, you will be told if you have won or lost.  Click anyplace on the screen to reset the puzzle.
  7. To see the solution, click on the bottom 1/3 of the screen.  If you are viewing the solution, you may click on the top portion of the screen to create a new puzzle.
  8. Note: All puzzles can be solved, however, there may be multiple solutions...you must select the correct solution in order to win.
(NOTE: If you cannot download the APK by clicking the name, you can download it by clicking on the download link on the right-hand side)
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hashi.apk
(277k)
Dave Chamberlain,
Apr 15, 2012, 5:37 PM
v.4
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