after watching the 15 puzzle video (which is linked in this post) i no longer fear them appearing in video games
im still a little baffled by their popularity, but when one shows up i will be ready

after watching the 15 puzzle video (which is linked in this post) i no longer fear them appearing in video games
im still a little baffled by their popularity, but when one shows up i will be ready
If I recall correctly, their popularity predates videogames, and are often added to videogames because they're a popular kind of puzzle rather than the other way around. They got popular because someone set up a scam where they sold an impossible version of it and offered a cash reward if anyone could solve it. (If you swap the positions of 14 and 15 in the solved puzzle, it becomes impossible)