Soviet Puzzle 15

Classic puzzle games never seem to lose their appeal, as most people can grasp the basic concept fairly easily, making them well suited for young children.

If you are tired of the ultra-realistic shooters kids are playing nowadays, and want to relive the glory days of the Motherland, Soviet Puzzle 15 may just be the game for you.

The 15-puzzle is a sliding puzzle game that, at first glance, appears to be very straightforward. It consists of a frame and a total of fifteen tiles that cover all but one of the spaces on the board. Your goal is to place all of them in the right order by moving one piece at a time, in as few moves as possible.

While it may sound simple, this game requires a lot of patience, as well as careful planning. Even if you get most of the tiles in the right place, the last few pieces will probably prove to be the most problematic, as you may have to undo some of your hard work just to move a single tile to the right position.

There is no wonder the 15-puzzle game was particularly popular in the Eastern Bloc, as the lack of distractions meant people had a lot of time to spare, and a game such as this could be mass-produced easily.

Soviet Puzzle 15 provides you with three different puzzles to choose from, and they all have a decidedly Soviet-era vibe. The red color theme should not surprise anyone, and you can even commemorate the infamous 1980 Summer Olympics by arranging tiles to form an illustration of the Moscow-based event.

Of course, having a lot of time to spare is no excuse for being inefficient, something any decent party leader would have been happy to confirm. You should try to complete the puzzle in as few moves as possible, lest you disappoint your local glorious leader.

Your score cannot be saved, however, so you will just have to trust that the ever-watchful eyes of the state security are keeping tabs on your progress and will let you know if you have done well.

If you are confident that you can make your country proud, we recommend that you give Soviet Puzzle 15 a try, if only to get a better understanding of what life and gaming were like in the good old days.