Planarity

January 6, 2006 11:54 AM

Planarity - for some Friday Flash Fun. Arrange the vertices so that none of the lines overlap. Easy at first, then you hit level 3...
posted by mkultra (27 comments total)

dopio
posted by kosem at 11:56 AM on January 6, 2006

Well, it's still fun...
posted by gambit at 11:57 AM on January 6, 2006

Double--sorry!
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 11:57 AM on January 6, 2006

but a kickass game nonetheless
posted by kosem at 11:57 AM on January 6, 2006

Y'all are too fast. I knew this was a double because last summer I wasted hours of my life on it. I want them back now.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:02 PM on January 6, 2006

Yeah... I remember playing this for hours the last time it was an FPP. btw, Level 3 is nothing, I did it in 29 seconds. Wait till you get up to 7 or 8.
posted by krash2fast at 12:06 PM on January 6, 2006

I knew this was a double because, I, you know, searched for the word "planarity".
posted by Plutor at 12:08 PM on January 6, 2006

This is interesting in it's simplicity. It's just an unwrapping game. By the time I got to level 6 I had the felt the same frustration I get when trying to unwrap the earbud cords on my ipod.
posted by quadog at 12:18 PM on January 6, 2006

Still addicting...
posted by superfem at 12:19 PM on January 6, 2006

Cool... at Level 12 you get to design the route map for American Airlines.
posted by rolypolyman at 12:21 PM on January 6, 2006

I've wasted many hours of my time on this! I get stuck on Level 5.
posted by SisterHavana at 12:47 PM on January 6, 2006

Argh, sorry folks. The URL changed, so it wasn't caught.
posted by mkultra at 12:49 PM on January 6, 2006

this would be an obnoxious task in real life. why "play" it as a game?
posted by rxrfrx at 12:49 PM on January 6, 2006

You can now skip ahead to different levels. Type in level 50. Wow.
posted by BigVACub at 12:50 PM on January 6, 2006

This game nearly ruined my mouse hand the first time.
posted by Mr T at 12:59 PM on January 6, 2006

I did level 5, but I really can't be bothered with it. I don't find it too hard, just a little tedious. Good for 5 mins though!
posted by Acey at 1:18 PM on January 6, 2006

why "play" it as a game?

It's surprisingly relaxing, at least before about level 10, and it's not any more obnoxious than your typical solitaire game.
posted by advil at 1:25 PM on January 6, 2006

Why "play" it as a game?

Because it is a virtual simulation of everyone's favorite non-virtual activity - namely, untying gigantic fucking knots! Duh!
posted by damnthesehumanhands at 1:38 PM on January 6, 2006

It's surprisingly relaxing

If by "relaxing" you mean "makes me grind my teeth into nubs," then yes.

I saw this posted before on another forum, and I don't recall getting past level three before wanting to sail my laptop across the room like a frisbee.

Though some of my more patient-minded and determined friends got to levels in the upper 20's, as I recall.
posted by Meredith at 2:00 PM on January 6, 2006

Couldn't you just search MeFi for "planarity?"
posted by bshort at 2:01 PM on January 6, 2006

What what?
posted by delmoi at 2:45 PM on January 6, 2006

lower density nodes go outside the higher density nodes
posted by eustatic at 2:50 PM on January 6, 2006

Seems to be pretty easy if you move the pieces closer together.
posted by banished at 3:02 PM on January 6, 2006

You say that now. Keep going...
posted by Mars Saxman at 3:40 PM on January 6, 2006

On Level 10 all the blue circles are touching in the initial circle.
posted by JParker at 4:08 PM on January 6, 2006

Level 10 took me 24 minutes.
posted by JParker at 4:35 PM on January 6, 2006

In order to do any of the higher levels, you have to pack the nodes together as tight as possible. This observation produces a winning strategy - 1) pick any node and place it directly in the center. 2) move connected nodes inside the circle, along with some nodes connected to them 3) re arrange these nodes until you can tightly pack nodes onto the central mass. 4) move more nodes inside the circle and repeat. (If you want to move nodes out of the way, move them outside of the circle in a promising direction)

Below is shown this technique for the low level of 13. Note the fully packed central mass and the halo of nodes that could be packed into it.

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posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 4:49 PM on January 6, 2006