Loading a dishwasher can often feel like a game of Tetris. You need to slot everything in just right, or there will be a spare plate and three leftover cups sitting around until the next time you run the machine.
Bosch knows doing dishes is a chore, but in an effort to bring a little fun to the process, they’ve come up with an online game that’s like Tetris for dishes. Glasses, pots, and plates float down in some of the familiar shapes, and you have to manipulate them so there’s no wasted space. Unfortunately, the dishes don’t disappear when you fill up an entire row, so you have to live with your mistakes. Don’t take any loading tips from the game, though. It’s probably not a good idea to put fragile wine glasses on the bottom rack next to a pot.
Apparently that’s contentious advice, though. Thirty-four percent of people in a Bosch survey only put cups on the top rack and plates on the bottom rack but have a significant other who likes to mix it up. Of the 2,000 people surveyed, 40 percent said they fight about loading the dishwasher with their partner.
Appliance makers are focusing on ways to turn dishwashing into a less-contentious household duty. “We want to put an end to dishwashing dramas by endeavouring to make the process of loading the dishwasher as hassle free as possible,’ Valerie Posner, a home appliance manager at Bosch, told the Sunday Times. Meanwhile, GE thinks there are different personality types based on how people load the dishwasher, like “Protectors,” who put all utensils handles up to keep germs from spreading to the tines of forks, and “Organizers,” who load based on efficiency to get the job over with.
Bosch’s game is a cute idea, but we don’t expect it to become the next Candy Crush or anything. For one thing, it would probably drive “Curators” crazy: They like to keep all the dish types together, and would never intermingle bowls and plates.