A strange little side quest
Spot the Difference: Wild West may feel immediate, but the ideas around puzzles have been evolving for a very long time. Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris in 1984 after drawing inspiration from pentomino puzzles, then simplified the idea around shapes made from four squares. The timeline takes another interesting turn: 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.
