October 29, 2023: The "Einstein" Tile - Now A Puzzle/Toy/Thingie!

You probably read about the "einstein" (one stone) tile a few months ago. Mathematician David Smith discovered a single shape – complex but strangely appealing – that could be repeated indefinitely to tile a surface without ever falling into a pattern. This is way cool and, as far as I know, has no practical application at all. Yet. (Okay, maybe bathroom floors, but there are other solutions to that problem.)

But trust me, we all looked at it and said "Somebody is going to make a game out of this!"

Somebody did.

Atlas Games has launched a Kickstarter for InFUNity Tiles in two sizes. They are molded from recycled plastic (yay) and have a good feel in the hand. Right now the application is "freeform puzzle," but they are thinking about practical ways to use it to build a gameboard.

Anyway: Please check out this Kickstarter. Support it if you think it's cool (it is). But help spread the word! This is a math geek's dream toy, and it is not (yet) getting the Kickstarter love that it deserves. So I need for you to post links where math geeks hang out, so they can find out about it, and make the project succeed, and have fun and be happy. That's not a big ask, is it? Math geeks should be happy too. I have supported it, and I'll be happier if I get my einstein toys.

-- Steve Jackson

PS - If you had NOT heard about the "aperiodic monotile" problem and its brilliant solution, you can catch up by reading this beautifully illustrated Scientific American article.