Mario Ruiz Sánchez · Senior Software Engineer in Reykjavík
Games that stayed with me since I was a kid, simulators, and other experiments I make for play. The engineering work stays on the home page.
A population simulator. Pick a start year and load an official estimate for the world or a country. Choose a projection algorithm and add demographic shocks. The run is not an official forecast.
At university I fell in love with statistics and probability.
A coast simulator. Each visit draws hills, shore, rivers, and forest. The year plate shows the people in the drawing; later years bring roads, taller buildings, and services.
A simulator. Two squares, same people. A few start ill. The other square has people already safe. Age shows as size. The wave crosses both.
Join two points. Whoever closes a triangle in their own color loses.
Falling blocks. Clear a row. High scores stay in this browser. You can also play online with someone else.
It was the first global technological game. We all played it on arcade machines.
A brick game. The first screen is a plain wall. Later screens change shape; some bricks take more hits, and a few never break. Arrow keys on a computer; on a phone the paddle follows your finger. Best scores stay in this browser.
A short crawling game. Arrow keys on a laptop; swipe or on-screen buttons on a phone.
We all played it on a Nokia. It was the first game that really hooked people on a phone.
A mancala for one or two players. Sow into your store for another turn, or face a friend on the same keyboard. You can also play online with someone else.
I had it on a Nokia and spent the 45 minutes on the metro, on the way to work in Madrid, playing.
A Dragon-era village ledger. Land, grain, ferrets, and another year.
The Dragon was my first computer. As a child the whole family played Viking from cassette; for me it was the start of everything.
The 1984 sequel. Same year loop, with ships, markets, armories, temples, and the hall.
A maze game. Eat the dots. Six or more big dots flip the hunt. Four chasers hunt you. Later screens add a coin, a cherry, a pineapple, bombs, and oil. Arrow keys on a laptop; on a phone, the on-screen arrows or swipe. Best twenty stay in this browser, with time and screen.
Another classic I played from when I was very young.
