The donkey puzzle is over 100 years old (apparently). It is called donkey because, in the original puzzle, the donkey was trapped in the large square enclosure and your task was to move the enclosure to the bottom middle so that the donkey could get out.

This computerised version of the puzzle has been designed to make playing the puzzle more enjoyable in that it remembers all your moves so you can play them back later. If you find a solution then you can prove it to everybody!! See if you can find a solution in fewer moves than anyone else. This version allows a maximum of 600 moves but a solution is possible in less than 100 moves.

The pieces are numbered so that you can refer to them in the move history.

The move history shows the step number, move number, piece moved, the direction it moved in and the location it moved to.

Moves can be undone and redone by moving the pieces or by clicking on the move history. You can use the mouse to click on any move in the move history to go straight to that position or you can click and drag the moves to animate the moves you have done. The further you move the mouse pointer above and below the move history (while pressing the left button) the faster the animation runs. Sometimes a piece can move one or two steps in one go. If it is moved two steps, then that is counted as two steps but one move.

This latest version stores all your undo and redo moves in addition to the moves you see on the screen so that your thought processes can be analysed later -- big brother is watching you! If you can give a brief account (see below) of your thoughts while playing the puzzle, it will help the analysis.

Please save your progress regularly while using 'donkey'. Moves are saved using the button just below the reset button. When it asks you for a file name, please use your own name followed by a number e.g. FredBloggs01.txt. If you want to save again, you can either overwrite the file that is already there or add 1 to the number following your name e.g. FredBloggs02.txt.

A previously saved game can be loaded by using the button immediately under the save button. If you can not see the file you saved then try selecting 'All files' rather than 'Text files'.

The questionnaire is on the next page. Please complete as much of it as you can (some of the questions you can complete after playing the puzzle for a while).

Thank you for taking the time to complete the questionnaire.

John Schooling.

e-mail: John@Schoolings.freeserve.co.uk

Please enter the following details about yourself (if you really don't want to give your age then leave it blank).

When you first save this questionnaire file, please use 'Save As' and use your name as the file name. When you complete the questionnaire (after playing the puzzle, or while playing) just choose 'File/Save' as you would normally.

Name :

Sex (M/F) :

Age :

Occupation

If in full-time education:

In which order would you put yourself in the following categories -- give a number from 1 - 4 (1 is most like, 4 is least like):

Artistic :

Logical :

Athletic :

Musical :

Is there another category you would put yourself in?

What is/was your favourite subject at school/college?

What subject are/were you best at (this may not necessarily be your favourite subject)?

What hobbies to you have?

Have you played puzzles of this type before? If so, which ones?

What was your initial impression of the puzzle?

Did you like it? If not, why?

Did you find it easy to use? If not, how could it be improved?

Was it frustrating? If so, in what way?

Having played the puzzle, would you like to play it again?

Do you think that playing the puzzle had helped you in any way to solve other logical puzzles? If so, how?

Please make any other comments you like about the puzzle e.g. how useful you think it could be in assessing aptitude, learning ability/deficiency.

Do you know of any research already done on computerised puzzles for learning, aptitude or brain damage assessment?