About the workshop
Why Unique Strip Lab exists
Unique Strip Lab turns a static colored-grid task into a complete, accessible browser puzzle. Players draw boundaries along internal cell edges until every connected region is a straight strip of one, two, or three cells. A live inspector separates invalid shapes from repeated color signatures, and a full loop covers level choice, play, completion, next level, and replay.
The name and query boundary
Discovery evidence used the query “decrease and conquer puzzles,” while the historical page exposing the grid task was titled “Divide and Conquer Puzzles.” Both phrases can also describe algorithm families. This project states that ambiguity rather than pretending the game teaches algorithm design. Unique Strip Lab serves the exact colored-strip partition task and sends algorithms learners to an appropriate reference instead.
Original clean-room implementation
The project uses only the abstract rule. It does not reproduce Erich Friedman’s GIFs, level layouts, answer images, explanations, title treatment, or source material. The three published grids were independently generated. The React controls, region flood-fill, normalized signature checker, exact-cover enumerator, layered hints, paper-workshop art, brand, writing, and completion flow were created for this project.
What “unique solution” means
For each grid, the included solver lists every in-bounds straight placement of length one to three, treats reversal-equivalent color sequences as one signature, and searches exact covers without signature reuse. A grid ships only when enumeration finds exactly one cover under those rules. Unit tests repeat the check. This claim is technical and rule-specific; it is not a claim of exclusive ownership over the underlying mathematical idea.
Scope and support
The site is casual logic practice, not a grade, certification, or promised learning outcome. It stores only completed level identifiers and a hint count in the current browser. Report a reproducible puzzle, accessibility, privacy, or licensing issue through the operator’s public GitHub profile. Never include passwords, private student data, payment details, or other sensitive information in a public report.