I am Patrick van de Wal, the software developer and technical brain of the team, a big fan of puzzles and not afraid of a bit of chaos.
I build and maintain the smart software that powers our puzzle events. From real-time leaderboards to digital challenges: I make sure the code runs flawlessly through Puzzled, our own software. Our events with a twist also get their own place in Puzzled. And honestly? It often feels like assembling a complex puzzle: you start with a pile of loose pieces, with no overview, and then slowly structure emerges. I love that phase where everything is still a bit messy; that is where it happens. Just like with puzzles, where chaos is the key to the result.
In my free time I love diving into round puzzles with birds and gradients. The more colours in the puzzle and the less clear the edges, the bigger the challenge. I also help Danique with the big puzzles (3000 pieces or more). But as with software: sometimes everything goes to plan, and sometimes it ends in a failed pick-up challenge: you lift the puzzle, and within a second everything is in pieces on the floor.
That is exactly what puzzles and software have in common: just when you think everything works, something unexpected happens. A bug, a crash, a puzzle half on the floor. It is all about staying calm and starting again.
