To work your way through a sea of squares

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As a year draws to a close, it’s difficult to not reflect on all that was done through the year, and all that remains undone. Resolutions are meant for the resolute.

For the rest, it’s a wish list of disconnected intention fragments, that weren’t quite pieced together! For just Rs 139, Square Off from Thinktank Games had me contemplating nine pieces in square and rectangular shapes that need to form a single square on a base plate, and drawing manufacturer-unintended analogies with life.
Distractedly, I arranged and re-arranged the nicely finished yellow matt pieces on the blue tray, without any sort of plan in mind. You need to decide on a few anchor pieces and build your solution around them. As you find the single square is not falling into place, you need to revisit your anchor pieces. Square Off is a handy reminder about the nebulous validity of assumptions we make. The willingness to start over, even when the last effort you thought was so well thought through and executed, didn’t quite pan out.
The gentle lip around the tray ensures pieces sit well, and when you do finally form that single perfect square, it remains in place for you to marvel at a while, or show off to others, if you are so inclined. Back-of-box instructions dare you to a solution within 15 minutes. Happily I managed it with 10 minutes to spare, and have the picture with this piece to show for it!