A strange little side quest
Even a quick game like Coffee Sort Puzzle sits on top of decades — and sometimes centuries — of ideas. Arthur Wynne published a diamond-shaped 'Word-Cross' in the New York World on December 21, 1913; the name later shifted to 'Cross-Word' and then 'crossword'. Another piece of context lands nicely beside it: Computer Space reached arcades in 1971 and became one of the earliest commercial electronic arcade games, even though its controls proved demanding for many players. It is a good reminder that simple game mechanics can carry a surprising amount of history.
