Rate a number-grid puzzle by the hardest step it needs, not by how many cells are empty

Two grids with the same number of empty cells can be a pleasant stroll and a brick wall. This entry shows what to measure when a solver walks through the puzzle, and how to put puzzles in a fair order using it.

Why this works

A player is stopped by the hardest thing they must work out, not by how many easy things surround it. Rating a puzzle by its toughest needed technique, using the simplest way at every step, matches what actually blocks a person.

When not to use it

It fits only puzzles where each step follows from reasoning. In puzzles of speed, memory or luck, the toughest technique means nothing. There, measure time, mistakes or where players give up, and rank by what they actually experience.

In the full entry

• What to build, step by step
• Starting values and the reason for each
• 3 common mistakes and the fix
• 23 lines of example code with 4 checks that pass
• How your AI shows you that it works

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Use the Spielerando entry "Rate a number-grid puzzle by the hardest step it needs, not by how many cells are empty" (read_entry puzzle-hardest-step-not-blank-count) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.

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