Many people play games on their phones nowadays. Most of the time it is individualized games, but there are also interactive games that you can play with friends even though they’re not presently with you.

In an old world meets new world example I came across an offline collective gaming platform this summer. It’s called the puzzle. The jigsaw puzzle were created in 1760 by a British map maker who painted an image on a wooden block and then cut it up using a jigsaw, hence the name.  

 

For years, puzzles have been used individually or collectively as a means of passing the time with family and friends. They also stimulate the part of your brain used for problem solving.  In fact, I have a friend who cannot work on puzzles within two hours of her bedtime lest she try to go to sleep while her brain is in puzzle solving mode.

 

The first time I came across this collective offline game was on a ferry trip from Port Angeles, Washington to Victoria, Canada. Like most people, I spent the initial part of the trip outside on the deck photographing the strait of Juan de Fuca that connects the Salish sea with the Pacific Ocean, and thus Seattle with the rest of the world.

 

In a short time, it became too cold and windy to spend my time outside so I headed below deck to warm myself with some coffee. I found an empty table by the window and continued to watch the scenery. A little later, I noticed a table across from me that had a semi finished puzzle on it. The border was completed, but the insides had yet to be done.

 

Because I hadn’t seen anyone at the table since I sat down, I decided to switch seats and work on the puzzle. Time passed quickly, and it wasn’t before long that I had to disembark the ferry, leaving the puzzle still unfinished. It occured to me then that it was likely someone returning on the ferry I was getting off would continue where I had left off.

 

I took a few more ferries on this trip, and each of them had a puzzle table. In fact some had two puzzle tables, one with a more advanced and one with a simple puzzle. It appeared that different people would take turns piecing the puzzles together during their leg of the trip, possibly never seeing the finished product or satisfactorily laying the final piece. I was humored that in this age of modern gaming, I had found a simple interactive offline game, the puzzle collective.