Talks Scott Kim takes apart the art of puzzles

譯者: Marie Wu 審譯者: Terry Lin

For the last 20 years I've been designing puzzles.

過去這二十年來，我一直在設計益智遊戲，

And I'm here today to give you

今天我打算讓各位瞭解一下這整個過程，

a little tour, starting from the very first puzzle I designed,

從我設計的第一個益智遊戲

through what I'm doing now.

到現在我正在開發的遊戲。

I've designed puzzles for books, printed things.

我曾為書籍設計益智遊戲，也有一些印刷類的東西。

I'm the puzzle columnist for Discover Magazine.

我是探索雜誌的益智遊戲專欄作家，

I've been doing that for about 10 years.

我做了有十年之久；

I have a monthly puzzle calendar.

我還設計了一個益智遊戲月曆，

I do toys. The bulk of my work is in computer games.

也設計一些玩具。我大部分的工作是在設計電腦遊戲，

I did puzzles for "Bejeweled."

我設計了方塊寶石(Bejeweled)，

(Applause)

(掌聲)

I didn't invent "Bejeweled." I can't take credit for that.

方塊寶石不是我發明的，我不敢居功。

So, very first puzzle,

我設計的第一個益智遊戲，

sixth grade, my teacher said,

是在六年級的時候，老師說：

"Oh, let's see, that guy, he likes to make stuff.

「噢，我們來看看，這傢伙喜歡製作東西，

I'll have him cut out letters out of construction paper

我來叫他把紙板上的字母

for the board."

剪下來。」

I thought this was a great assignment.

我覺得這個作業很棒，

And so here is what I came up with. I start fiddling with it.

所以我想到了這個。我開始擺弄這些字母，

I came up with this letter. This is a letter of the alphabet

我選了其中一個字母，這是一個

that's been folded just once.

只被摺疊一次的英文字母，

The question is, which letter is it if I unfold it?

你們猜猜這是哪一個字母？

One hint: It's not "L."

提示一下：不是“L”。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

It could be an "L," of course.

當然有可能是“L”，

So, what else could it be?

還有其他的可能嗎？

Yeah, a lot of you got it.

是的，你們有人猜到了。

Oh yeah. So, clever thing.

噢，很聰明吧？

Now, that was my first puzzle. I got hooked.

這是我設計的第一個益智遊戲，我從此迷上了益智遊戲。

I created something new, I was very excited

我創造出新的益智遊戲，我很高興，

because, you know, I'd made crossword puzzles,

因為我曾經做過字謎，

but that's sort of like filling in somebody else's matrix.

但那就像是陷在別人的框架裡一樣。

This was something really original. I got hooked.

我做的是原創性的東西，我著迷了。

I read Martin Gardner's columns in Scientific American.

我讀了美國科學雜誌上Martin Gardner的專欄，

Went on, and eventually decided to devote myself, full time, to that.

所以我決定要投入我所有的時間，去設計益智遊戲。

Now, I should pause and say, what do I mean by puzzle?

現在先停下來解釋一下我所謂的益智遊戲，

A puzzle is a problem that is fun to solve

益智遊戲是一種很有趣的問題，

and has a right answer.

而且有一個標準答案。

"Fun to solve," as opposed to everyday problems,

「很有趣的問題」和一般日常生活所遇到的問題不同，

which, frankly, are not very well-designed puzzles.

也就是說日常的問題並不是設計精良的益智遊戲。

You know, they might have a solution.

你知道，這些日常問題可能有答案，

It might take a long time. Nobody wrote down the rules clearly.

但可能要花上很多時間解答，沒有人把規則清楚地寫下來。

Who designed this?

那是誰設計這些日常問題的呢？

It's like, you know, life is not a very well-written story

嗯，人生並不沒有那麼簡單，

so we have to hire writers to make movies.

所以我們還得請編劇來寫電影劇本。

Well, I take everyday problems, and I make puzzles out of them.

嗯，我每天也會面對日常生活的問題，而我從中創造出益智遊戲。

And "right answer," of course there might be more than one right answer;

再說「標準答案」，可能不只一個標準答案，

many puzzles have more than one.

很多益智遊戲的答案都不只一個。

But as opposed to a couple other forms of play,

但是相較於其他形式的遊戲，

toys and games --

像是玩具或是電玩，

by toy I mean, something you play with that doesn't have a particular goal.

你在玩玩具的時候並不會想到要達到什麼特定的目的，

You can create one out of Legos.

你可以用樂高創造一個東西出來，

You know, you can do anything you want.

你想做什麼都可以。

Or competitive games like chess where,

而像競賽式的遊戲，比如說西洋棋，

well, you're not trying to solve ... You can make a chess puzzle,

你不是要去解決什麼問題，你當然可以製作一個西洋棋的益智遊戲，

but the goal really is to beat another player.

但是目的卻只是要擊敗對手。

I consider that puzzles are an art form.

我認為益智遊戲具有藝術的成份，

They're very ancient. It goes back as long as there is written history.

起源自非常古老以前，可以追溯到有文字記錄以前；

It's a very small form, like a joke,

它的形式是小巧的，像是笑話、

a poem, a magic trick or a song, very compact form.

詩、魔術或是歌曲等，結構很緊實。

At worst, they're throwaways, they're for amusement.

最差的也不過是被丟掉，或是用來娛樂人們；

But at best they can reach for something more

但是最好的益智遊戲卻可以深入人心，

and create a memorable impression.

讓人們留下深刻的記憶。

The progression of my career that you'll see

我的職業生涯就是在追尋

is looking for creating puzzles that have a memorable impact.

讓人留下深刻記憶的益智遊戲。

So, one thing I found early on, when I started doing computer games,

早期我就發現，當我在設計電腦遊戲時，

is that I could create puzzles that will alter your perception.

我可以利用某些益智遊戲來改變人們的看法。

I'll show you how. Here is a famous one.

我會告訴你們怎麼做，這是很有名的一幅圖，

So, it's two profiles in black, or a white vase in the middle.

有二個黑色人影，或是一個白色瓶子在中間，

This is called a figure-ground illusion.

這叫做圖案背景幻像。

The artist M.C. Escher exploited that

知名藝術家M.C. Escher在他幾張很棒的圖片裡

in some of his wonderful prints.

創造了這種幻像技術。

Here we have "Day and Night."

這是白晝和黑夜，

Here is what I did with figure and ground.

這是我做的圖案背景幻像，

So, here we have "figure" in black.

這是黑色的 “FIGURE”，

Here we have "figure" in white.

這是白色的 “FIGURE”，

And it's all part of the same design.

這些都是同一張圖裡的相同設計，

The background to one is the other.

某個字樣的背景就是另一個字樣。

Originally I tried to do the words "figure" and "ground."

我本來想做“FIGURE” (圖案) 和“GROUND”(背景)這二個字，

But I couldn't do that, I realized. I changed the problem.

但我承認我做不到，所以我改變了問題，

It's all "figure."

現在全部都是“FIGURE”了。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

A few other things. Here is my name.

還有其他幾個類似的圖形。這是我的名字，

And that turns into the title of my first book, "Inversions."

但是翻轉過來就成了我第一本書的標題 “Inversions”，

These sorts of designs now go by the word "ambigram."

現在我們稱這種設計為「雙向字」。

I'll show you just a couple others. Here we have

我讓你們再看幾個例子，

the numbers one through 10, the digits zero through nine, actually.

這裡有一到十的數字，其實是零到九的數字，

Each letter here is one of these digits.

每一個字母都是由這些數字組成，

Not strictly an ambigram in the conventional sense.

這並不是傳統的「雙向字」，

I like pushing on what an ambigram can mean.

我想要看看「雙向字」可以怎麼變化。

Here's the word "mirror." No, it's not the same upside-down.

這是 “MIRROR”這個字，這個不是上下顛倒的字，

It's the same this way.

而是翻面相同的字。

And a marvelous fellow from the Media Lab

在Media Lab有一個了不起的傢伙，

who just got appointed head of RISD, is John Maeda.

他剛被指派為RISD的負責人，他是John Maeda，

And so I did this for him. It's sort of a visual canon.

所以我為他做了這個。這有點像視覺上的藝術作品。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

And recently in Magic magazine

最近我在「魔術」雜誌上，

I've done a number of ambigrams on magician's names.

為幾個魔術師的名字設計了雙向字，

So here we have Penn and Teller, same upside-down.

這是Penn and Teller，顛倒過來也是一樣。

This appears in my puzzle calendar.

這在我的益智遊戲月曆上也有，

Okay, let's go back to the slides.

好，讓我們回到投影片，

Thank you very much.

謝謝各位。

Now, those are fun to look at.

那些是看起來很有趣的東西，

Now how would you do it interactively?

該怎麼做成可以互動的遊戲呢？

For a while I was an interface designer.

有一陣子我擔任界面設計師，

And so I think a lot about interaction.

所以我思考了很多有關於互動的問題。

Well, let's first of all simplify the vases illusion,

嗯，我們先來簡化剛才那個瓶子的幻像，

make the thing on the right.

把它做成右邊的樣子。

Now, if you could pick up the black vase,

現在，如果你能挑起黑色的瓶子，

it would look like the figure on top.

就好像把圖案放到上面一層來，

If you could pick up the white area,

若你把白色區塊挑起來，

it would look like the figure on the bottom.

就好像圖案跑到下一層了。

Well, you can't do that physically,

你當然不可能實際上這樣做，

but on a computer you can do it. Let's switch over to the P.C.

但是在電腦上卻可以做到。讓我們看一下電腦。

And here it is, figure-ground.

就是這個，圖案和背景遊戲。

The goal here is to take the pieces on the left

這個遊戲是要讓人從左邊的方塊裡挑選色塊，

and make them so they look like the shape on the right.

並且移動色塊，好變成和右邊方塊一樣的形狀。

And this follows the rules I just said:

這符合我剛才說的定義，

any black area that is surrounded by white can be picked up.

白色區塊裡的黑色區塊是可以被挑起來的，

But that is also true of any white area.

黑色區塊裡的白色區塊也可以被挑起來。

So, here we got the white area in the middle,

所以這中間有白色區塊，

and you can pick it up.

你就可以把它挑起來。

I'll just go one step further.

我要再進到下一關，

So, here is --

就是這裡，

here is a couple pieces. Move them together,

有好幾個區塊，移動這些區塊，

and now this is an active piece.

這個區塊是可以移動的。

You can really get inside somebody's perception

你真的可以直入人心，

and have them experience something.

讓他們體驗一些事情，

It's like the old maxim of

就像有一句諺語說的：

"you can tell somebody something

「坐而言，

and show them, but if they do it they really learn it."

不如起而行。」

Here is another thing you can do.

你還可以嚐試一個遊戲，

There is a game called Rush Hour.

這個遊戲叫做尖峰時刻，

This is one of the true masterpieces in puzzle design

這個遊戲是真正的大師級作品，

besides Rubik's cube.

就像魔術方塊一樣經典。

So, here we have a crowded parking lot

這是一個擁擠的停車場，

with cars all over the place.

車子停得很滿，

The goal is to get the red car out. It's a sliding block puzzle.

你的任務是要把紅色的車子開出去，這是移動區塊的益智遊戲，

It's made by the company Think Fun.

是Think Fun公司的產品。

It's done very well. I love this puzzle.

真的很好玩，我很愛這個遊戲。

Well, let's play one. Here. So, here is a very simple puzzle.

讓我們來玩一下看看，這是最簡單的初級遊戲，

Well, that's too simple, let's add another piece.

嗯，這個太簡單了，加上其他的方塊吧，

Okay, so how would you solve this one?

好，你要怎麼把紅車開出去？

Well, move the blue one out of the way.

嗯，先把藍車移開。

Here, let's make it a little harder. Still pretty easy.

我們再試難一點的，還是很簡單吧？

Now we'll make it harder, a little harder.

再難一點，只要再難一點就好。

Now, this one is a little bit trickier.

好，這個看起來有點難度了吧？

You know? What do you do here?

現在該怎麼辦？

The first move is going to be what?

要先移動哪一輛車？

You're going to move the blue one up in order to get the lavender one to the right.

你得先把藍車移上去，好讓紫車可以移到右邊。

And you can make puzzles like this one that aren't solvable at all.

你也可以把難度提昇到像這樣，完全無法解答。

Those four are locked in a pinwheel; you can't get them apart.

這四輛車互相串接，無法分開。

I wanted to make a sequel.

我想接下去做出類似的東西，

I didn't come up with the original idea. But this is another way

原始的創意當然不是我的，但我的工作

I work as an inventor is to create a sequel.

有一部分就是要做出類似的東西，

I came up with this. This is Railroad Rush Hour.

所以我做了這個。這是火車版的尖峰時刻，

It's the same basic game except I introduced a new piece,

基本上和前面的遊戲一樣，我只加了一個新的方塊，

a square piece that can move both horizontally and vertically.

可以上下左右移動。

In the other game the cars can only move forward and back.

在原來的遊戲裡，汽車只能前後移動，

Created a whole bunch of levels for it.

這個方塊把遊戲的難度整個拉高了。

Now I'm making it available to schools.

我現在想要把這個遊戲推廣到學校去，

And it includes exercises that show you

裡面附有習題，讓你不只學會

not just how to solve these puzzles,

如何解答每一個停車問題，

but how to extract the principles that will let you solve

還讓你知道背後的原理，

mathematical puzzles or problems in science, other areas.

讓你可以應用到數學、科學或其他領域上。

So, I'm really interested in you learning how to make your own puzzles

我希望你們都能像我一樣創造出

as well as just me creating them.

屬於自己的益智遊戲，

Garry Trudeau calls himself an investigative cartoonist.

Gary Trudeau把自己稱為具有偵探性格的卡通畫家，

You know, he does a lot of research before he writes a cartoon.

因為他在畫任何卡通之前，都會做許多研究。

In Discover Magazine, I'm an investigative puzzle maker.

在探索雜誌裡，我就是具有偵探性格的益智遊戲創作者。

I got interested in gene sequencing.

我對基因的排序很有興趣，

And I said, "Well, how on Earth can you come up with a sequence

所以我說：「你們到底是怎麼把DNA

of the base pairs in DNA?"

成對排序出來的啊？」

Cut up the DNA, you sequence individual pieces,

剪斷DNA，再把每一個獨立的DNA排好，

and then you look for overlaps,

找看看有沒有重疊的地方，

and you basically match them at the edges. And I said,

你會發現在邊緣的地方可以互相重疊。於是我說：

"This is kind of like a jigsaw puzzle, except the pieces overlap."

「這有點像拼圖，只是有些圖形是重疊的。」

So, here is what I created for Discover Magazine.

所以我為探索雜誌製作了這個，

And it has to be solvable in a magazine.

剛好可以在雜誌上進行解答。

You know, you can't cut out the pieces and move them around.

你無法把這些圖形剪下來，然後任意移動。

So, here is the nine pieces. And you're supposed to put them into this grid.

所以總共有九個圖形，你要把這九個圖形放進這個方塊裡，

And you have to choose pieces that overlap on the edge.

你要挑選邊緣可以重疊的圖形放進去，

There is only one solution. It's not that hard.

只有一個解答，不是很難，

But it takes some persistence.

但要有點耐心。

And when you're done, it makes this design,

當你完成之後，會出現一個圖形，

which, if you squint, is the word "helix."

你如果瞇著眼睛看，就會看到 “HELIX”這個字。

So, that's the form of the puzzle coming out of the content,

所以這是一種從內容發想出來的益智遊戲，

rather than the other way around.

而不是顛倒過來的作法。

Here is a couple more. Here is a physics-based puzzle.

還有其他的例子。這是一個物理學的益智遊戲，

Which way will these fall?

這組積木會從什麼方向倒下來？

One of these weighs 50 pounds, 30 pounds and 10 pounds.

這些積木各有50磅、30磅及10磅重，

And depending on which one weighs which amount,

每一個積木的重量就可以決定

they'll fall different directions.

倒下來的方向。

And here is a puzzle based on color mixing.

而這個則是調色的益智遊戲，

I separated this image into cyan, magenta, yellow, black,

我把圖片製作成青、赤、黃、黑等

the basic printing colors, and then mixed up the separations,

基本印刷原色，然後把不同的色塊混合在一起，

and you get these peculiar pictures.

就會得出這張獨特的照片。

Which separations were mixed up to make those pictures?

要用哪一個色塊才能混合出這張照片呢？

Gets you thinking about color.

讓你好好想想顏色的問題。

Finally, what I'm doing now. So, ShuffleBrain.com,

最後，我來說說我現在正在做的事。我有一個網站ShuffleBrain.com，

website you can go visit, I joined up with my wife, Amy-Jo Kim.

你們可以上去看看，是我和我太太Amy-Jo Kim一起架設的。

She could easily be up here giving a talk about her work.

如果她到台上來，也可以分享許多她的工作內容。

So, we're making smart games for social media.

我們在為社交媒體製作電玩遊戲，

I'll explain what that means. We're looking at three trends.

我待會兒會解釋這個部分。我們現在關心的有三個趨勢，

This is what's going on in the games industry right now.

這是現在電玩產業的趨勢。

First of all, you know, for a long time

首先，長久以來

computer games meant things like "Doom,"

大家都認為電玩就是像世界末日(Doom)這種遊戲，

where you're going around shooting things, very violent games, very fast,

你會跑來跑去，開槍射來射去，很暴力的遊戲、講究速度，

aimed at teenage boys. Right? That's who plays computer games.

目標族群是青少年男生。對不對？小男生就愛玩這種電玩。

Well, guess what? That's changing.

現在呢？電玩在改變哦，

"Bejeweled" is a big hit. It was the game that really broke open

方塊寶石很受歡迎，這個遊戲顛覆了

what's called casual games.

一般人對休閒遊戲的概念，

And the main players are over 35, and are female.

主要是三十五歲以上的女性在玩。

Then recently "Rock Band" has been a big hit.

最近則是搖滾樂團(Rock Band)最受歡迎，

And it's a game you play with other people.

你可以和其他人一起玩這個遊戲，

It's very physical. It looks nothing like a traditional game.

很有真實感，一點也不像傳統的遊戲，

This is what's becoming the dominant form of electronic gaming.

這逐漸變成電子遊戲的主流。

Now, within that there is some interesting things happening.

電玩界還有一些有趣的事情正在發生，

There is also a trend towards games that are good for you.

目前正在興起一股健康的潮流，

Why? Well, we aging Boomers,

為什麼？我們這一代嬰兒潮出生的人，

Baby Boomers, we're eating our healthy food,

吃都是健康食品，

we're exercising. What about our minds?

也注重運動，那我們的心智呢？

Oh no, our parents are getting Alzheimer's. We better do something.

噢，不好，我們的父母都深受阿茲海默症的威脅，我們得做些什麼，

Turns out doing crossword puzzles can stave off some of the effects of Alzheimer's.

我們發現做字謎遊戲可以減輕一些阿茲海默症的症狀。

So, we got games like "Brain Age" coming out for the Nintendo DS, huge hit.

所以任天堂DS推出了頭腦年齡(Brain Age)這個遊戲，而且大受歡迎。

A lot of people do Sudoku. In fact some doctors prescribe it.

很多人也做數獨，還有醫師指定病人要做。

And then there is social media, and what's happening on the Internet.

然後又產生了社交媒體，也就是現在網路上最流行的東西。

Everybody now considers themselves a creator,

每個人現在都可以是創作者，

and not just a viewer.

而不只是單純的閱讀者。

And what does this add up to?

這所有的事情代表什麼？

Here is what we see coming.

我們可以看到未來的潮流，

It's games that fit into a healthy lifestyle.

也就是電玩要能融入健康的生活型態，

They're part of your life. They're not necessarily a separate thing.

他們是你生活的一部分，不一定要與你的生活脫鈎；

And they are both, something that is good for you, and they're fun.

電玩可以對你的健康有幫助，同時又很好玩。

I'm a puzzle guy. My wife is an expert in social media.

我是創作益智遊戲的人，我的太太是社交媒體的專家，

And we decided to combine our skills.

所以我們決定將二者結合。

Our first game is called "Photo Grab." The game takes about a minute and 20 seconds.

我們的第一個遊戲是找照片(Photo Grab)，這個遊戲大約有一分20秒，

This is your first time playing my game. Okay.

讓你們先玩玩這個遊戲。

Let's see how well we can do. There are three images.

我們來看看自己有多會玩這個。有三張照片，

And we have 24 seconds each.

每一張有24秒的時間，

Where is that?

這個圖片在哪裡？

I'll play as fast as I can.

我會儘量快一點找到，

But if you can see it, shout out the answer.

但是如果你先看到了，就喊出來告訴我。

You get more -- Down, okay, yeah where is that?

你會有更多...結束了，好，在哪裡？

Oh, yeah. There, okay. J-O and --

噢，太好了，那裡，好。J..O..

I guess that's that part. We got the bow. That bow helps.

我猜是那裡...小提琴的弓，這個提示不錯，

That's his hair. You get a lot of figure-ground problems.

那是他的頭髮，你會看到很多圖案背景幻像，

Yeah, that one is easy. Okay. So, ahhh! Okay on to the next one.

噢，這個簡單多了。好，現在，啊...好吧，我們到下一個，

Okay, so that's the lens.

這是鏡頭，

Anybody?

有誰可以幫忙嗎？

Looks like a black shape. So, where is that?

看起來是黑色的圖案，到底在哪裡？

That's the corner of the whole thing.

這是照片的角落...

Yeah, I've played this image before,

對，我以前就玩過這張照片了，

but even when I make up my own puzzles --

但即使我是這個遊戲的創作者...

and you can put your own images in here.

你可以把自己的照片放上來，

And we have people all over the world doing that now.

現在全世界已經有許多人開始這樣做了。

There we are. Visit ShuffleBrain.com

這就是我們的遊戲。如果你想自己試試，

if you want to try it yourself. Thank you.

就上ShuffleBrain.com來看看吧，謝謝各位。

(Applause)

(掌聲)