Solving puzzles in “The Heist”


The Heist is a beautifully designed collection of different puzzles for iOS . It contains four puzzle types, most consisting of sliding pieces. The structure of the puzzles will be familiar to many users because they borrow elements from other games, such as ThinkFun's Rush Hour and square sliding tile toys. But the game is rendered so beautifully that it brings it all to a higher visual level, making it satisfying both to the mind and the eye. As you proceed in the game the puzzles get more challenging, but you may jump from different types whenever you'd like. Ultimately you need to solve a full set of puzzles to unlock the "vault", opening up yet another set of exercises for your brain. Available for iPhone and iPad.

BAARROOOMMM!

Boy recreates the launch of "Imagination I" from EJ Keats "Regards to the Man in the Moon".

Regards to the Man in the Moon read aloud: I'm creating a "Find the Differences" game for the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation and have been using photos of the original art with no text. I just found this video of a couple of children in a library reading the book. It's been funny for me hearing the way kids read it because I've been so focused on the visuals while making the game, rather than the text of the book itself. "Find the Differences" games lend themselves to that because they are purely visual. The children in the video do a great job of both reading the text and describing the visuals.

EJ Keats: Kitten for a Day Dot to Dot

kitten for day, keats, connect dots
I recently created an interactive dot to dot game for the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. It's based on the book "Kitten for a Day" and there are 9 different connect the dots puzzles. A hidden drawing is revealed step by step and the player is rewarded with a short animation upon completion of each puzzle. This engaging game is perfect for learning numbers, counting and task completion. Play "Kitten for a Day" Dot to Dot now. See all the games I've created for Ezra Jack Keats. More books by Ezra Jack Keats

EJ Keats: Pet Show Shuffle


The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation recently released an online game I designed. Working from the book "Pet Show!" we created a colorful sliding tile puzzle. The story features Archie, a young boy looking for his cat to enter the pet show. The game showcases many of the animals in the contest as sliding tiles, and the objective is to move the cat off the board by shuffling the other pets around. Play the game on the EJ Keats Foundation website. The book was released in 1972 and it was fun using Keats artwork to build the game. There's a distinctly retro color cast to the imagery, with rich ochres and deep browns. The mustache and turtleneck of one judge and the afro and mini skirt of the other give the book a nostalgic feel. Play all my games for the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.

Board Game Design Success

For the past 6 Fridays I've been running an art and design program at HOLA Charter School in Hoboken. I taught a 3-week board game design class to grades k-3. I've written about the curriculum in April and last November. Each child received an 11"x 17" piece of card stock with a pre-printed grid on it. The grids varied by grade; kindergarten drew on large squares while 3rd grade used small hexagons. More →