Spatial Navigation
Slide across the ice to the goal
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What is the Spatial Navigation?
Spatial navigation is the ability to work out and follow a route through an environment. Researchers study it with mazes, maps and virtual worlds, looking at how people plan paths, remember layouts and choose between possible routes. Route-planning puzzles are useful because the best path cannot be found by moving blindly: you have to think about where each move will leave you before making it.
Spatial Navigation on Neuroptimize is an ice-slide maze. You push a puck across a frozen grid, and it keeps sliding until it hits a wall or the edge. The aim is to stop exactly on the goal square in as few moves as possible. As you level up, the grid grows from 5 by 5 to 8 by 8, walls get denser and routes need more moves.
How to play the Spatial Navigation
- A grid appears with a puck, some wall blocks and a goal square marked with a flag. The pills above show the par (the fewest moves that reach the goal) and your move count.
- Swipe on the board or tap the arrow buttons to push the puck up, down, left or right. On a keyboard you can also use the arrow keys or W, A, S and D.
- The puck slides until it hits a wall block or the edge of the board. It can only stop where something blocks it, so it will slide straight past the goal if nothing stops it there.
- Pushing towards a wall that is right next to the puck does nothing and does not count as a move. Reaching the goal within par plus 1 move counts as solved, and reaching it at par earns a bonus.
- The reset button returns the puck to the start, but moves already made still count. If you go over par plus 1, a Skip board button appears, and skipping counts as a miss.
- A session has 6 boards with no time limit. The grid is 5 by 5 at first, then 6 by 6 from level 6, 7 by 7 from level 13 and 8 by 8 from level 21, while par rises from 2 moves to 9.
Strategies and tips
Find what stops at the goal
The puck can only rest on the goal if a wall or edge sits just beyond it. Check which directions have a blocker behind the goal: those are the only directions your final move can come from.
Work backwards from the goal
Once you know the final direction, trace backwards along that line to find the squares where the puck could start its last slide. Then ask how to reach one of those squares, and repeat until you connect to the start.
Map the resting points
The puck only ever stops next to walls or edges. Before moving, note the few squares it can actually stop on from the start, and treat the board as a small network of these stops.
Count your plan against par
The par tells you exactly how long the shortest route is. If your planned route is longer, keep looking before you move, because there is a quicker path and only one extra move is allowed.
Use edges as brakes
The board edge stops the puck just like a wall. On boards with few walls near the goal, a route that runs along an edge is often the only way to line up the final slide.
The science behind the Spatial Navigation
Spatial navigation is the ability to determine and follow a route through an environment. Planning a route in advance draws on spatial working memory and on the ability to evaluate several possible moves before choosing one.
Frequently asked questions
What is spatial navigation?
It is the ability to work out where you are, where you want to go and how to get there. Psychologists study it with tasks such as mazes, map reading and route planning in real or virtual spaces.
How do ice sliding puzzles work?
In an ice sliding puzzle, a piece moves in a straight line until something stops it, like a puck on ice. You cannot stop halfway, so you have to use walls and edges as brakes to land on the target square.
Can I play Spatial Navigation with a keyboard?
Yes. Alongside swiping and the on-screen arrows, you can use the arrow keys or the W, A, S and D keys to push the puck.
Is Spatial Navigation free?
Spatial Navigation is a Pro game in Neuroptimize, and Pro starts with a 7-day free trial. Free players can also get it as the Pro game of the day in their daily workout.