About

Switcheroo and Hop-Over are versions of the classic Leaping Frogs puzzle, or Frogs and Toads puzzle. There is a row of 9 holes, and at the start four holes on the left are filled with marbles of one colour, and the four holes on the right with marbles of another colour, which leaves only the centre hole empty. The aim is to swap the two colours using only forward moves (moving a marble forwards by one hole) and jumps (jumping one marble over another so that it goes forwards a distance of two holes). Versions of this puzzle exist with a different number of pieces, and it can be solved using any number of each colour. In the classic puzzle literature there are usually 3 of each in the shape of frogs. It was described in "Puzzles Old and New" by Professor Hoffmann in 1893, where it goes by the name "Right and Left Puzzle". Other names are "Jumping Frog Puzzle" and "Jeu des Grenouilles". 'Switch' is a puzzle by Mag-Nif. It has a board with tracks that connect nine peg locations. There are 8 pegs (four red, four green) that can slide along the tracks. The nine locations are arranged as a row of five, with a row of four underneath it. Each row is connected by a horizontal track, and each location on the bottom row is connected by diagonal tracks to the two nearest locations on the top row. The game starts with the colours separated and the space in the middle. The aim is to swap the colours in as few moves as possible. It may not be immediately obvious how similar it is to the leaping frogs puzzle. Consider the diagonal sections of the track together as forming one long path. The pieces can slide forwards or backwards along that path. Moving a piece along a horizontal section is equivalent to going forwards or backwards two places in the path. This makes the puzzle equivalent to the frog jumping puzzle but without the restrictions of only moving/jumping forwards. If your browser supports JavaScript, then you can play Switcheroo / the Leaping Frog Puzzle by clicking the link below: