Huarong Dao: The Puzzle Game Inspired by Three Kingdoms History

The Huarong Dao is a famous historical story originating from the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," involving the characters Cao Cao, Guan Yu, Sun Quan, and Zhuge Liang. In this story, the Huarong Dao refers to the route Cao Cao took to escape to the Eastern Wu region after the Battle of Red Cliffs, where Zhuge Liang arranged for Guan Yu to lay ambushes. Due to Cao Cao's previous favors to Guan Yu, Guan Yu let Cao Cao go, thus altering the course of history at that time. Therefore, this story is often used to describe the behavior of repaying kindness with gratitude.

The game board of Huarong Dao typically consists of a square wooden or plastic board with grids carved on it. Various shaped wooden blocks are placed within the grids. The objective of the game is to move a specific wooden block (often representing Cao Cao) to the exit of the board, while the other wooden blocks act as obstacles that require clever pushing and rotating to clear a path. With the advancement of technology, Huarong Dao not only exists on traditional physical game boards but has also entered electronic games and mobile applications. Virtual versions of Huarong Dao not only offer a wider selection of puzzles but also add more fun through graphical interfaces and diverse scene designs. This also enables more people to easily enjoy this ancient intellectual game anytime.