空葉堂(KUYODO)

こんにちは！ 空葉堂(KUYODO)と申します。

ふだんは東京都新宿区で空葉堂書店という本屋さん運営等をしております。ゲームマーケット2025春では『黙談-Silentalk-』を、販売させていただきます。協力ゲームで、コミュニケーション制限系で、150以上のパズルミッションが楽しめます。出展は5/17(土)のみ、ブース番号は【土-Ｐ１０】です。皆さまとお会いできますことを楽しみにしております☺️

What Is a Polyomino? —The Building Blocks Behind Our Cooperative Puzzle Game—
2025/5/12 21:47
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A polyomino is a shape formed by joining together identical squares edge-to-edge — just like the pieces from Tetris.
*日本語での記事

『黙談 -Silentalk-』パズルボードの一部
(This image shows part of the puzzle board from “Silentalk.”)

The prefix poly- comes from Greek, meaning “many” — as in polyrhythm, polyethylene, or polyarchy. The “-omino” part is believed to come from the word domino, with the “d” interpreted as a reference to the number two. What remains, omino, came to refer to a square unit. In 1953, American mathematician Solomon Golomb coined the term polyomino to describe these composite shapes of multiple (poly-) squares (-omino).

When the number of connected squares is fixed, we replace poly- with numerical prefixes. For example, a shape made of three squares is called a tromino. The name Tetris famously combines tetromino (four-square polyomino) with tennis.

Polyominoes are widely used in board games — titles like Ubongo, Blokus, Project L, and A Feast for Odin all come to mind. The field of polyominoes deals with how geometric shapes can be combined, but according to Golomb himself, this area of study is often undervalued in mathematics. Why? Because there’s no universal method for solving or designing such puzzles — they often rely not on logical deduction alone, but on insight and flashes of intuition. [Golomb 1994] While that may be a source of frustration for researchers, it’s exactly what makes polyomino mechanics so perfect for analog games!

In our board game Silentalk, which we’ll be selling at Tokyo Game Market 2025 Spring, we combine polyomino-based puzzles with a mission-based difficulty curve and team-based cooperative gameplay. You can learn more about the game here:
👉 What Is Silentalk?

We're already receiving many pre-orders — thank you so much!
📝 Reserve Your Copy
(Available until Thursday, May 15)

Reference:
Golomb, Solomon W. (1994). Polyominoes. Princeton University Press.
(Japanese translation: Solomon Golomb, trans. by Haruyuki Kawabe (2014). ポリオミノの宇宙. Nihon Hyoronsha.)

 

　More about Silentalk:　

🔗Silentalk Official Website
🔗The ‘Look Here!’ Spots in the Rulebook 👀
🔗Silentalk: A Board Game That Turns the Alpha Player Problem Into Play 😊
🔗Silentalk | BoardGameGeek

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