Logic
A collaborative effort to update an old favorite
The Logic course was one of the oldest yet most popular courses offered by Brilliant.
The writers, illustrators, and interactive designers were tasked with dismantling a cult classic and rebuilding it from the ground up.
Our goals were to:
• Bring the medieval narrative into the 21st century
• Position "Logic" as a jumping off point to other subjects such as computer science or information theory
• Analyze points of user drop-off in the original course, and either cut the content, move it to Logic II, or use illustrations and story to clarify confusing subject matter
• Consider all conditions the content would require from start to finish; what "works" in the first chapter that won't by the last? What might reveal unintended hints? How much story is too much overhead?
• Loosely align the new narrative with a brand-wide character universe that was still being developed
We thought there should be a main character, and that she should be suffering from a...yes, puzzle addiction.
A Claude Shannon hologram almost accompanied the main character as a reliable narrator, but the character/user were left to parse truth from falsehood without his explicit aid.
Multilevel thinking is weird. We made it weirder with animatronic dragons suffering from existential breakdowns.
When the amusement park dragons learn their eye color, they gain an uncomfortable awareness of themselves and must be reset.
If this is vaguely reminiscent of Westworld, you're not wrong. We tapped the hosts for inspiration again when we reimagined "Truth Tellers vs. Liars" as "Humans vs. Androids."
Fortunately or unfortunately, the two types must be visually indistinguishable.
The questions are structured so there are no visual hints, except in this case.
If the questions became redundant, the androids ought to at least be relatable.
That's not all though. There are also "Jokers," the chaos agents who could be either humans or androids.
After all this, the main character/user arrive at a horrible conclusion. Will they make it out alive? They'll need to hack their way out of Logic II to find out.
Though Logic has since been altered, this collaboration was reflected upon fondly by all parties involved.
