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Show HN: Compass and Ruler construction problems as puzzle game

125 pointsby sdkgamesover 2 years ago
Ecocoru is a puzzle game where you have to solve compass and ruler construction problems. The game mimics compass and ruler and let you draw straight lines/segments and circles/arcs. You can also view and explore a solution for each problem. A basic knowledge of well-known results of Euclidean geometry is needed to play the game. The game has over 70 problems.The game is designed for full-screen mode and the use of the mouse.

11 comments

jstriebover 2 years ago
This looks very fun! It reminds me of a game called Euclidea that I played and enjoyed a while back, though the interface for this looks pretty different.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.euclidea.xyz&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.euclidea.xyz&#x2F;</a><p>Congrats on the release!
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yayachikenover 2 years ago
The detection of solutions seems a bit buggy.<p>In the fourth task &quot;Add the angles BAC and EDF on the given line GH&quot;, I drew the circles DF and EF in, then connected E and F with a line segment, and it told me that I solved the problem without touching the points GH at all...<p>Edit: In fact, simply drawing the line from E to F is already enough.<p>Edit 2: Similar when doing the &quot;Perpendicular to line in a point not on a line&quot;: Drawing <i>any</i> perpendicular is enough, even if it is not going through that point.
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mnorrisover 2 years ago
Thanks for sharing this!<p>This is a cool game concept and I feel like it compressed a lot of geometry intuition into a short period of time. I have a math degree but managed to never take a geometry class in college or high school, so this was the first time I&#x27;ve had my (non-existent) knowledge of geometry &quot;graded.&quot;<p>I hope more games like this can be incorporated into the formal educational process in the future; I feel like my childhood video game addiction could have been exploited by the education system just as much as the gaming companies, but with a better outcome.<p>Maybe the same type of game could be made for other subjects, too.<p>I&#x27;d like to see the concept extended in 3d with augmented reality with a limited set of construction tools. Maybe I&#x27;ll try to do that if I get the time.<p>Also, I just realized that I only played the tutorial! There goes my morning.
blakesleyover 2 years ago
Nice! I was having fun with it, but then I got to &quot;divide the segment in half&quot;. It&#x27;s super easy, but it&#x27;s too zoomed in for me to click on the snaps I want, and I can&#x27;t find a way to zoom out. Clicking &quot;full screen&quot; gives the same level of zoom. What am I missing?<p>Edit: I just now tried Euclidea for the 1st time, and even tho its UX is a lot more polished, it starts off with lots of lines &amp; midpoints. I appreciate that Ecocoru starts off with more circle-oriented problems, so that we can get a taste of using a compass. The 1st hexagon problem, though easy, was a joy to discover!
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kapildevover 2 years ago
How does the game check whether the solution has been made? Genuinely curious.<p>Also, I had found some bugs. Like when we are asked to create a perpendicular, any line that starts properly and is almost done but isn&#x27;t done fully is treated as solution. Also, when it asks to create a triangle, but the solution is complete, it still passes. Although one could argue that the solution would be reached either way, in future cases where a person is nowhere near the full solution might be confused when the game marks the puzzle as solved.
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vintermannover 2 years ago
There was a nice educational game for mobile devices called Dragonbox Elements that also did this, in a very kid-friendly way. But I always thought Dragonbox&#x27;s interfaces (they had an algebra game too) were almost too nice for kids&#x27; games, I wanted something more useful as a proof assistant. So very happy someone is exploring this space further!<p>logitext.mit.edu&#x2F;tutorial was also something similar, an interactive, puzzle-game like interface for proving statements in the sequent calculus. Maybe that can be an inspiration too?
gilleainover 2 years ago
Very nice. A small suggestion would be to have a list of the steps shown on screen - like 1) draw circle centered on A, 2) extend line A-B (or whatever).
kentbrewover 2 years ago
The thing where Escape is supposed to get you out of the arc tool but instead drops you out of full-screen mode is super annoying.
quyleanhover 2 years ago
I can see the students could take the advantages of this game to geometry lecture. Not only fun but also educational. Thank you.
brianjacobsover 2 years ago
On Firefox ESR 102 on Debian testing, I could not complete part 3 of the tutorial where I had to make arcs of a circle. I even eventually filled in the circle entirely, but it won&#x27;t recognize it as completed.
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FunnyBadgerover 2 years ago
Very cool.<p>If you do machining, carpentry, construction, etc. you find this kind of stuff is surprisingly central to everyday work - you&#x27;ll use either geometry constructions or the concepts behind them CONSTANTLY. Very useful to peak your skills at doing drills like this.<p>Bravo!