Mathematician David Strutt from EPFL in Lausanne (Switzerland) developed the game on the basis of engine Minecraft to teach children mathematical ideas, which are usually not taught in school. He took the “Euler cycle” – a classical puzzle, which implies the most important for electronics graph theory. Only here, instead of boring calculations to be fun to run the trails until the ground underfoot became “lava”.
In its simplest form an Euler cycle can be described as the task to draw a complex figure without lifting the pencil from the paper and without crossing the previously drawn lines. The game “snake” on the old mobile phones uses a similar idea, we can also add the “traveling salesman problem”, the passage of mazes and other puzzles. In Matheminecraft gameplay is built on the journey between several castles, and the player chooses the way.
Since the game was created for children, the conditions are very simple and clear – the track behind the player immediately falls in the crack with lava. It is impossible to return, impossible to cross already passed the point, only to start again. Strutt promises that after this puzzle adapts to the specifics of Minecraft some more, in the shortest possible time. While children are forced to sit on vacation, they need to train the brain – so why not combine it with a good entertainment?
Source — EPFL