A strange little side quest
Put Spot the Difference: The Garden next to the history of puzzles and a few unexpected connections appear. Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris in 1984 after drawing inspiration from pentomino puzzles, then simplified the idea around shapes made from four squares. The surprising part is how quickly the next milestone followed. Reader Rabbit's 1986 arrival was part of a major expansion of educational computer software before the CD-ROM boom of the 1990s. It is a good reminder that simple game mechanics can carry a surprising amount of history.
