The Connection Game is loosely based on the six degrees of separation concept – an idea that was first expressed by Hungarian author Frigyes Karinthy. Karinthy's theory is that there is a series of connections linking every person to every other person. In addition, each of us is connected to each other individual by a chain of five (or fewer) acquaintances. This idea was brought into popular consciousness by John Guare's play Six Degrees of Separation and gained notoriety due to the pop culture game it inspired: The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
In The Connection Game, you’ll make connections between a wider variety of subjects, not just people and actors, but places, music, books, games, and historical events, as well as TV shows and movies. These subjects are referred to as nodes. While providing a brief description of each, The Connection Game does not focus on the nodes themselves, but on the commonalities between them.
Personally, I have found that creating and playing The Connection Game has caused me to learn a lot more than I thought there was to know about my own interests. I am frequently surprised by how subjects are interrelated, and I hope you find it as intriguing as I do.
Bruce A. Smith
Is there always a path through the grid?
Yes. The maze algorithm guarantees this.
Why are there duplicate subjects on the grid?
Subjects get repeated on the grid for several reasons. The main reason is that the whole point of the game is to find connections between nodes, while demonstrating how many of these subjects are related in tightly woven little webs. As a result, nodes show up over and over again so that the player can see how they are connected to other nodes. The secondary reason for this repetition is simply because of how the nodes are connected. Sometimes the only way to get to a node that has a lot of branches is to go through the one that doesn't. Lastly, the grid is random, so repetition is inevitable.
The game shows that two nodes aren't connected, but I know of a way that they are.
There are numerous connections that I haven't managed to catalog, so the key message that you should pay attention to is the one that says "No connection found in database."
Speaking of that, can I suggest additional subjects/nodes?
No.
How did you program this?
The database was created using MySQL Workbench. The underlying layout for the hexagonal grid and the maze were created in PHP, which also handles all the database queries. JavaScript is used to display the grid and the maze client-side (on your browser), while JQuery and AJAX are used for the Node Information screen. If you would like to see the code or use it to create your own connection game, it is available at https://github.com/Atrus158/hex_connect.git. (This link will open a new window.)