This document explains how puzzles from classic riddle collections can rapidly be solved. For this, it introduces fundamental algorithms from graph theory and how they can be implemented with code. In the end, it presents two problems that were presented in the “Professor Layton” video game – it would make me very happy if at least one person would be able to solve them after reading this paper. This document was written for a seminar with Prof. Dr. Oliver Junge during my mathematics studies at the TUM. Available here

Introduction

The following document is a revision of the third chapter in the book “Algorithms from THE BOOK”, written by Kenneth Lange [1]. It was composed for the seminar of the same name held by Prof. Dr. Oliver Junge at the Technichal University of Munich in the summer semester 2022. It will shortly refresh some basic definitions of graph theory and will then explain the algorithms presented in the book through an intuitive approach. The reader should be advised to have studied graph theory before reading the following. The definitions aren’t of the upmost mathematical precision, but much rather serve as a reminder. Further, some programming knowledge is recommended. The used programming language will be Julia.