Name: Has impossible drawings. Do not buy.
Item: Menseki Genius
Rating: 1
Author: Fred Horein

At least one of the levels is impossible. It's a tic tac toe grid with the numbers 15, 16, and 17 scattered in it, with the goal of finding the size of the center. Based on just the rectangle sizes, one must conclude that the center has 17\*16/15 = 18.133333. But fractions aren't allowed, so we know they messed up already. The problem is that the length of some sides are defined. At first, I just used that to determine that the widths of the outer columns are identical, as were the heights of the outer rows (this let me assign areas to all of the non-center rectangles). But we could use also those numbers to determine the actual widths and heights of the rows. Well, we could, IF THEY WERE ACCURATE. The are not. You can calculate different values for the widths and heights depending on which rectangles you start with in those calculations. The game claimed the actual answer was 24, which should have raised red flags given how large it was compared to every other rectangle in the grid (all of which were either 15, 16, or 17). Somehow, it did not. This is the most disappointing puzzle game I have ever bought.

<p>At least one of the levels is impossible.  It's a tic tac toe grid with the numbers 15, 16, and 17 scattered in it, with the goal of finding the size of the center.  Based on just the rectangle sizes, one must conclude that the center has 17*16/15 = 18.133333.  But fractions aren't allowed, so we know they messed up already.  The problem is that the length of some sides are defined.  At first, I just used that to determine that the widths of the outer columns are identical, as were the heights of the outer rows (this let me assign areas to all of the non-center rectangles).  But we could use also those numbers to determine the actual widths and heights of the rows.  Well, we could, IF THEY WERE ACCURATE.  The are not.  You can calculate different values for the widths and heights depending on which rectangles you start with in those calculations.  The game claimed the actual answer was 24, which should have raised red flags given how large it was compared to every other rectangle in the grid (all of which were either 15, 16, or 17).  Somehow, it did not.  This is the most disappointing puzzle game I have ever bought.</p>

Menseki Genius

Has impossible drawings. Do not buy.

Player Score

Fred Horein