Acyclic Constraint Logic and Games

Abstract: Non-deterministic Constraint Logic is a family of graph games introduced by Demaine and Hearn that facilitates the construction of complexity proofs. It is convenient for the analysis of games, providing a uniform view. We focus on the acyclic version, apply this to Klondike, Mahjong Solitaire and Nonogram (that requires planarity), and discuss the more complicated game of Dou Shou Qi. While for the first three games we reobtain known characterizations in a simple and uniform manner, the result for Dou Shou Qi is new.