Related papers: LaserTank is NP-complete
We prove that the classic 1994 Taito video game, known as Puzzle Bobble or Bust-a-Move, is NP-complete. Our proof applies to the perfect-information version where the bubble sequence is known in advance, and it uses just three bubble…
We study three problems related to the computational complexity of the popular game Minesweeper. The first is consistency: given a set of clues, is there any arrangement of mines that satisfies it? This problem has been known to be…
Pencil puzzles are puzzles that can be solved by writing down solutions on a paper, using only logical reasoning. In this paper, we utilize the "T-metacell" framework developed by Tang and the MIT Hardness Group to prove the NP-completeness…
We are going to show that some variants of a puzzle called Pull in which the boxes have handles (i.e. we can only pull the boxes in certain directions) are NP-hard
We analyze the computational complexity of the video game "CELESTE" and prove that solving a generalized level in it is NP-Complete. Further, we also show how, upon introducing a small change in the game mechanics (adding a new game…
We study a popular puzzle game known variously as Clickomania and Same Game. Basically, a rectangular grid of blocks is initially colored with some number of colors, and the player repeatedly removes a chosen connected monochromatic group…
In the popular computer game of Tetris, the player is given a sequence of tetromino pieces and must pack them into a rectangular gameboard initially occupied by a given configuration of filled squares; any completely filled row of the…
We investigate the complexity of a puzzle that turns out to be NL-complete.
In this paper, we prove that optimally solving an $n \times n \times n$ Rubik's Cube is NP-complete by reducing from the Hamiltonian Cycle problem in square grid graphs. This improves the previous result that optimally solving an $n \times…
Matrix completion is a classical problem in data science wherein one attempts to reconstruct a low-rank matrix while only observing some subset of the entries. Previous authors have phrased this problem as a nuclear norm minimization…
Wataridori is a pencil puzzle that involves drawing paths in a rectangular grid to connect circles into pairs while satisfying several constraints. In this paper, we prove that deciding whether a given Wataridori puzzle has a solution is…
Satisfiability checking for monotone modal logic is known to be (only) NP-complete. We show that this remains true when the logic is extended with aconjunctive and alternation-free fixpoint operators as well as the universal modality; the…
We prove that a particular pushing-blocks puzzle is intractable in 3D. The puzzle, inspired by the game PushPush, consists of unit square blocks on an integer lattice. An agent may push blocks (but never pull them) in attempting to move…
The generalised Sudoku problem with $N$ symbols is known to be NP-complete, and hence is equivalent to any other NP-complete problem, even for the standard restricted version where $N$ is a perfect square. In particular, generalised Sudoku…
Evolomino is a pencil-and-paper logic puzzle popularized by the Japanese publisher Nikoli (like Sudoku, Kakuro, Slitherlink, Masyu, and Fillomino). The puzzle's name reflects its core mechanic: the shapes of polyomino-like blocks that…
To generalize complementarities for games, we introduce some conditions weaker than quasisupermodularity and the single crossing property. We prove that the Nash equilibria of a game satisfying these conditions form a nonempty complete…
Monotone 3-Sat-4 is a variant of the satisfiability problem for boolean formulae in conjunctive normal form. In this variant, each clause contains exactly three literals---either all or none of them are positive, i.e., no clause contains…
We show that the minimization of visibly pushdown automata is NP-complete. This result is obtained by introducing immersions, that recognize multiple languages (over a usual, non-visible alphabet) using a common deterministic transition…
In the Nikoli pencil-and-paper game Tatamibari, a puzzle consists of an $m \times n$ grid of cells, where each cell possibly contains a clue among +, -, |. The goal is to partition the grid into disjoint rectangles, where every rectangle…
The New York Times (NYT) games have found widespread popularity in recent years and reportedly account for an increasing fraction of the newspaper's readership. In this paper, we bring the computational lens to the study of New York Times…