TeamColorBlind, a two-man indie game development team from Phoenix, Ariz., exposed how imperfect we are compared to our future robot overlords. The team programmed a robot to play Threes perfectly and they are streaming their creation’s exploits on their Twitch channel.
Threes is a ridiculously addictive numerical puzzle game that’s been out for iPhones and iPads since February 2014. You play the game by shifting numbered tiles around on a 4 x 4 grid, stacking identical tiles on top of each other to create higher and higher numbers that are all divisible by three. The game ends when the board fills up and there are no moves left. It’s much easier to grasp when you actually play it
The robot consists of two mechanical appendages that swipe in four directions: up, down, left, and right. It looks like something out of a car factory, but it’s programmed with the perfect strategy for playing Threes. It’s to the point that some Twitch commenters have taken to calling the robot – not inaccurately – Threesus.
