A Smartphone Game That Tests Your Ability To Think In 3-D:
Good old spatial reasoning with a touch of interactivity--and a time limit.
Typically, matching games are based on memory. You flip over two cards at a time, gradually building a mental map of what lies where until you can match pony with pony or parakeet with parakeet.
Rotal, a simple game for Android smartphones, takes the same basic setup--a grid of objects, each with one mate--and presents a different sort of cognitive challenge. Instead of keeping them hidden, all the objects are out in the open, but figuring out which is identical to which is complicated by one thing: You’re dealing with 3-D objects on a 2-D screen.
If that description is already making your brain a little bit sore, well, it’s supposed to. In fact, it’s likely that you’ve encountered a similar exercise at some point before. These types of mental rotation puzzles are commonly found on IQ tests, designed to gauge individuals’ spatial reasoning abilities. The main challenge for the game’s developers--a four-person, Budapest-based tech and design collective called
Binura--was trying to come up with a way to tip the scale from frustrating to fun.
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