The ‘Pentominoes Puzzle’ is one of the puzzles of the museum.
Description[]
The Pentominoes Puzzle could be a frustrating puzzle, but functions more like a jigsaw puzzle. It is located in a red panel right next to the door to the Myths and Legends room. Once the panel is opened, all the pieces to the puzzle is set around a shape in which they must all be placed.
The Puzzle[]
Under normal circumstances, this puzzle would
Pentominoes puzzle at the beginning.
be set up to use all the pieces, each being made of five squares each, to form a shape that is made-up of a set number of squares, that number being a multiple of fives. The pieces surround the main shape, and can be moved into place, or rotated in the process. Underneath the shape is a red button, which is a reset button. If the person completing the puzzle makes a serious mistake, that button is a blessing.
Under those normal circumstances, the twenty-eight pieces could be configured in any number of ways, yet only one combination will work. While mirror images of these pieces would also make a working pattern, the correct arrangement is defined by the markings on the pieces. A special symbol is on the pieces, and this symbol is in Beth Ann’s address book. While parts if those lines are hard to see, enough is visible to solve the puzzle.
Real Life Examples[]
This type of puzzle has been around for years, but not fully defined until the nineteen fifties. Since then, it has been used in puzzle books, and the inspiration of various games, and computer games. One of the most noteworthy examples of the Pentominoes puzzle is the Gameboy game Daedalian Opus, which consists of various puzzles to solve. It can even be said that Pentominoes played some part in the inspiration of Tetris.
It should also be noted that the Pentaminoes puzzle pieces have a total of twelve unique shapes. The one in Shivers uses eleven of these unique shapes. The only shape not used is one that looks like a V.