What is the term for solving more complex problems by building off of simpler problems?
A few years ago, I watched a video about learning through intuitive leaps by learning simple rules first.
The part I remember was talking about Mario Galaxy. When Mario entered a new land, he would be presented with a very simple puzzle to continue forward. As an unreal example, the first puzzle showed that jumping on a certain box would make some squares on a checkerboard solid and others ghosted. So you jump on the box to make a path across. The next puzzle took it a step further; there are multiple boxes and each one worked specific squares so you learned which boxes worked what squares. Next puzzle, you would have to turn on certain squares and turn off others. Then the final puzzle it added a 3rd dimension; not only a flat checker board, but some squares became walls you needed to turn off to pass through.
All of this is done by learning simple rules first and then applying them to increasingly harder puzzles.
Other examples of this concept would be "The Witness" and "Lemmings" video games.
In the video I saw, this concept had a clear, single word name. But I cannot remember that name. So I'm hoping that someone here knows that concept.
It is entirely possible that, since this was talking about Mario and its design, the word wasn't English. However I'm fairly certain it is.
Solution 1:
I believe the word that you are looking for is cumulative
Cumulative:
Increasing by successive additions
Or more specifically the concept of 'cumulative learning' which refers to an accumulation of knowledge and abilities over time which leads to a better understanding of how to complete certain tasks.
Edit to add more references as requested in comments -
More Clearly
Cumulative learning consolidates the knowledge one has obtained through experiences, allowing it to be reproduced and exploited for subsequent learning situations through cumulative interaction between prior knowledge and new information.
Taken from - Lee, JungMi (1 January 2012). "Cumulative Learning". In Seel, Prof Dr Norbert M. (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer US. pp. 887–893. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_1660. ISBN 978-1-4419-1427-9.