2013 Puzzle Design Competition

Entries

The Design Competition Guide (photos, instructions, and relevant notes) is available here.

The following is a summary of the 58 entries in the 2013 competition (click on images for larger photos). All designs are copyrighted and are the intellectual property of the designer. All rights are reserved.

10 Cutter Blades

Designer: Mitsuhiro Odawara
Goal: Fit all 10 pieces into the rectangle tray.

Materials: Acrylic
Classification: Put-together

Purchase: Available at PUZZLE of MINE * WEB-SHOP.

10 Cutter Blades

4Hex

Designer: Hiroaki Hamanaka
Goal: Assemble the seven pieces to satisfy the following:

  • First form a shape that is made of four regular hexagons and all eight dots are visible
  • Form the same overall shape as in part 1, but with only seven dots visible.

Materials: Acrylic
Classification: Put-together

Purchase: Available at PUZZLE of MINE * WEB-SHOP.

4Hex

4x4x3 Rhombo Box

Designer: Albert Gübeli
Goal: Put the four pieces back into the box.

Materials: 3D printed, hand-colored
Classification: ASS-POLY

Purchase: Available at albinegri; price: $60.

4x4x3 Rhombo Box

Albis Ball

Designer: Albert Gübeli
Goal: Put-together, take apart

Materials: hand-colored plastic
Classification: INT-Sphere

Purchase: Contact the designer by ; price: $60.

Albis Ball

Alexandria's Diamond

Designer: Albert Gübeli
Goal: Assemble the two pieces by folding into a convex solid without holes.

Materials: 10 Rhombic bars MDF, 32 magnets and adhesive tape
Classification: ASS-POLY / FOL-HSEP

Purchase: Five puzzles (red, blue, yellow, green and brown) available at albinegri; price: $600.

Alexandria's Diamond

Ball In Cylinder No 1

Designer: Jerry Loo
Goal: Remove the hidden ball bearing from the aluminium cylinder.

Materials: Aluminium and steel
Classification: Sequential movement, dexterity

Purchase: Puzzle available from Jerry's Small Puzzle Collection; price: £30, plus shipping and handling.

Ball In Cylinder No 1

Ball Snake Pyramid

Designer: George Bell and Joe Becker
Goal: Select a challenge card (30 are included in 5 difficulty levels), and snap the pieces together in the order specified by the color sequence. Then assemble the ball snake(s) into the target shape(s), with the aid of the appropriate base plate.

Materials: 3D printed nylon and laser-cut acrylic
Classification: 3D assembly

Purchase: Contact the designer by .

Ball Snake Pyramid

Binary Bud

Designer: Namick Salakhov
Goal:

  • Rotate each of the "leaves" from the open postion to the close (blocking) position. And then vice-versa.
  • Find the shortest solution with the minimum number of moves.

Materials: Acrylic, vinyl, hardware
Classification: Sequential movement

Notes: The top piece can block and be blocked by the leaves; and the leaves can block each other.

Purchase: Contact the designer by .

Binary Bud

Books/T.V. ?

Designer: Sam Cornwell
Goal:

  • Orientate the four blocks like books, then like a TV screen.
  • Orientate books in 1234 order.
  • Orientate books in 4321 order.

Materials: Oak and pine
Classification: 5.3. 3D sliding

Books/T.V. ?

Bucolic Cube

Designer: Yasuhiro Hashimoto
Goal: Assemble the three identical pieces into a 3×3×3 cube.

Materials: Wood (ebony)
Classification: Put-together

Notes: This is similar to Best 12 (Bram Cohen, 2010).

Bucolic Cube

Capsule Construction

Designer: Bill Cutler
Goal: Take apart and put together

Materials: Cherry wood
Classification: INT-CART

Purchase: Visit Bill Cutler Puzzles.

Capsule Construction

Clair de Lune

Designer: Yasuhiro Hashimoto
Goal: Take out the "moon", then put it back into the cage.

Materials: Wood
Classification: Interlocking

Clair de Lune

Convergent Evolution: D'Artagnan

Designer: Bram Cohen and Wei-Hwa Huang
Goal: Use all four pieces to make two identical shapes.

Materials: Wenge
Classification: 1.2 Three Dimensional assembly puzzle

Notes: Shapes that are mirror-images of each other are not considered identical.

Purchase: For a copy of the puzzle, contact Andy Manvell by . If you are interested in using the idea for mass-market purposes, please contact Wei-Hwa Huang by .

Convergent Evolution: D'Artagnan

Cuboctahelix

Designer: Bram Cohen and Jason Smith
Goal: Assemble eight triangular pyramids and six square pyramids into the shape of a cuboctahedron.

Materials: 3D-printed nylon
Classification: Interlocking solid

Purchase: The Cuboctahelix (a.k.a. Helical Burr) can be purchased at Puzzle Forge Shapeways Store.

Cuboctahelix

Dancing Shoes

Designer: Goh Pit Khiam
Goal: Pack the five pieces flat into the box.

Materials: Tulipwood, kingwood, and maple
Classification: Put-together

Purchase: Contact Tom Lensch by for purchasing information.

Dancing Shoes

Dispersed GC Lock

Designer: Namick Salakhov
Goal: Move the switches from one compartment to another, so that the sliding panel can be locked or unlocked. Then move all the switches back to the original compartment.

Materials: Vinyl, acrilic, screws
Classification: Sequential movement

Purchase: Contact the designer by .

Dispersed GC Lock

Drop Slider

Designer: Lucie Pauwels
Goal: Place the blocks on the board (in one of 36 different start positions), then put a ball in each hole. Slide the blocks over the board until all the balls have dropped into the central hole.

Materials: Lasercut MDF - Steel
Classification: Sliding Blocks - Route Finding

Notes: Bonus puzzle: get the balls back out through the side hole!

Drop Slider

Eight Wrestlers

Designer: Yoshiyuki Kotani
Goal: Make an object out of the 8 pieces so that each notch is paired with another.

Materials: Acrylic
Classification: Put-together

Purchase: Contact the designer by ; price: ¥2000.

Eight Wrestlers

Elevator Puzzle

Designer: Sam Cornwell
Goal: Move the square panel out of the tube.

Materials: MDF, oak, and metal pins
Classification: 3D maze and route

Notes: The square can move with gentle pushes with finger access at both ends of tube. The square has four pins in the sides.Two pins act like hinges so the square can "flip" one way, then other pins take over so the square can flip the another way. ("Flip" means a quarter rotation like a door opening.)

Elevator Puzzle

Elle

Designer: Frederic Boucher
Goal: Disasemble and reasemble the two sets of three identical pieces.

Materials: Wood
Classification: Interlocking

Purchase: Available only in Japan at www.puzzlein.com; price: ¥3000.

Elle

Escape from Alcatraz

Designer: Robrecht Louage
Goal: Remove the coin.

Materials: Fiberboard, steel balls, magnet
Classification: Secret opening box

Purchase: Contact the designer by .

Escape from Alcatraz

Eyes, Nose and Mouth Puzzle

Designer: Sam Cornwell
Goal: Disassemble the "cube" into five pieces, then put back together.

Materials: Oak
Classification: 3.2. Interlocking Geometric Cube

Eyes, Nose and Mouth Puzzle

Galaxy

Designer: Bram Cohen
Goal: Take-apart the four identical pieces, and put back together.

Materials: Nylon SLS
Classification: INT-OTH

Galaxy

GEAPPLE

Designer: Andras Zagyvai
Goal: Build a tetrahedron on the base. Some balls will fit into the dents of neighboring balls.

Materials: Aluminium
Classification: 3D assembly

Purchase: Contact the designer by .

GEAPPLE

Helical Burr

Designer: Derek Bosch
Goal: Take apart and reassemble.

Materials: SLS nylon
Classification: Take-apart

Notes: There are two possible assemblies, one is very simple (a key pieces screws out), and the other is level-11.

Purchase: Available at Shapeways, or from the designer by .

Helical Burr

Hexagonrings

Designer: Yuta Akira
Goal: Take apart, and put back together.

Materials: Stainless steel
Classification: Disentanglement

Hexagonrings

Housing Crunch

Designer: George Bell
Goal: Pack the five pieces flat in the tray.

Materials: Laser-cut plywood
Classification: 2D assembly

Purchase: Contact the designer by .

Housing Crunch

I'm Possible

Designer: Donghoon Pee
Goal: Assemble six pieces to form a burr-shaped figure.

Materials: Wood
Classification: Interlocking

Purchase: Contact the designer by .

I'm Possible

The In'Possible Puzzle

Designer: Mike Toulouzas
Goal: Put the pieces inside the tray.

Materials: Ebony, maple, palisander
Classification: Trick put-together

Purchase: Available at puzzzlevision.com.

The In'Possible Puzzle

Karakuri Box

Designer: Kohno Ichiro
Goal: Open the box.

Materials: Ash, rosewood
Classification: Take-apart

Purchase: Contact the designer by ; price: $100 plus postage.

Karakuri Box

King's Court

Designer: Tim Snyder
Goal: From the starting position (one of multiple challenges), move the 2x2x2 king piece to the center bottom of the board. All pieces must remain completely on the board. Pieces can only move by rolling about an edge into unoccupied regions of the grid, leaving its previous position open.

Materials: Assorted hardwoods
Classification: 5.6 Misc. Sequential movement

Purchase: Contact the designer by .

King's Court

Ladder of Brahma

Designer: Tom Lee and Kong Tang
Goal: Exchange the positions of the green-spot piece and the red-spot piece. The three cones can nest, and start over the red-spot piece.

Materials: Wood
Classification: Sequential movement

Purchase: Contact the designer by ; price: US$180; only two available.

Ladder of Brahma

Manholes 55

Designer: Frederic Boucher
Goal:

  • Hide each ball underneath the coin (manhole) of the same color.
  • Place each ball on top of the coin (manhole) of the same color.
  • Without spinning the puzzle, move the balls to the green areas on each side of the street.

Materials: Wood, glass, coins, steel balls, aluminium, felt
Classification: Dexterity

Manholes 55

Matatom

Designer: Christian Blanvillain
Goal: Make a cube using the 12 colored and magnetic pentadrons.

Materials: Plastic and magnets
Classification: ASS-POLY

Notes: The Matatom shape was discovered by Jin Akiyama, and adapted for use here as a puzzle. Using multiple sets of 12 blocks, it is possible to build a truncated octahedron, hexagonal prism, rhombic dodecahedron, and an elongated rhombic dodecahedron (the five space-filling Fedorov polyhedra).

Purchase: DIY puzzle! Matatom pieces available at Shapeways, magnets available at supermagnete, and assembly instructions available at matatom.com.

Matatom

MazeRoll

Designer: Splinter Spierenburgh
Goal: Navigate the metal ball through the maze from one end to the other (and back) by following the maze paths and rotating the colored cylinder segments.

Materials: Nylon and metal ball
Classification: Sequential Movement

Notes: The cylindrical segments can be rearranged to create easier or harder challenges.

Purchase: The MazeRoll kit is available as kit at Shapeways; price: $103. Also available assembled at mfave.com; price: €110.

MazeRoll

Monge's L-cubes

Designer: Peter Gal
Goal: Create a 3D shape with a specified top- and front-view. The shape must be stable and able to stand on a flat surface.

Materials: Walnut, maple, paper
Classification: 1.2 or 1.3 3-dimensional assembly

Notes: Many different challenge cards are provided; some require a specific number of shapes. The pieces are the six different L-tetracubes with two dark and two light cubes.

Purchase: Contact the designer by .

Monge's L-cubes

N-one 2

Designer: Osanori Yamamoto
Goal: Assemble the two pieces in the center of the frame.

Materials: Wood
Classification: Interlocking

Purchase: Contact the designer by .

N-one 2

Oct-Tetraxis Assemblies

Designer: John and Jane Kostick
Goal: Two assemblies can be made with the 36 sticks. The easier (smaller) one surrounds a cuboctahedron block with twelve sticks. The more challenging (larger) one surrounds the same block with the remaining 24 sticks.

Materials: Wood
Classification: Put-together

Purchase: Contact the designers at kosticks.com for information about similar puzzles.

Oct-Tetraxis Assemblies

Phantom Fish

Designer: Leslie Le
Goal: Put all 14 circular segments into the tracks without overlapping.

Materials: Acrylic, stainless steel
Classification: Put-together

Phantom Fish

A Plugged Well

Designer: Brian Young
Goal: Work your way through the puzzle to find the barrel of oil.

Materials: Walnut, steel elements, and magnets
Classification: 2.1 Trick or Secret Opening

Notes: You will have to discover a range of hidden and disguised tools to reach the final goal. No force is required to open the drawer.

Purchase: Available at Mr Puzzle Australia.

A Plugged Well

Qin Nez Borz

Designer: Stephen Chin
Goal: Determine how the "Impossible" nested balls were created.

Materials: Wood and electronics
Classification: Slocum 10

Qin Nez Borz

Rain Drop

Designer: Kelly Snache
Goal: Remove the glass tube to release the $1 bill.

Materials: Spalted curly maple, walnut, cocobolo
Classification: Take-apart

Purchase: Contact the designer by ; price: $140.

Rain Drop

Rattle Twist 4

Designer: Osanori Yamamoto
Goal: Disassemble and reassemble the two pieces inside the frame.

Materials: Wood
Classification: Interlocking

Purchase: Contact the designer by .

Rattle Twist 4

Ze RD - Evil Twins

Designer: Stuart Gee & Stephen Chin
Goal: Disassemble and reassemble the three nested geometric puzzles.

Materials: Wood
Classification: Slocum 3.2

Ze RD - Evil Twins

Rhombic Maze Burr

Designer: Derek Bosch
Goal: Slide maze and pin plates to remove a single exit plate.

Materials: SLS nylon, stainless steel
Classification: Sequential movement

Notes: This is an enhancement of Kagen Schaefer's Maze Burr - using rhombic dodecahedral geometry. It allows for thousands of challenges including one requiring 379 moves to solve.

Purchase: Contact the designer by ; available in two sizes: $150 for small (10cm), $200 for large (12cm).

Rhombic Maze Burr

Ring and Cherries on a Stick

Designer: Dimitar Vakarelov
Goal: Remove the metal ring.

Materials: Natural form of wood, metal, rope and plastic
Classification: Topological disentanglement

Purchase: Contact the designer by ; price: $20.

Ring and Cherries on a Stick

Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other

Designer: Junichi Yananose
Goal: Disassemble and assemble.

Materials: Queensland walnut
Classification: 3.4 Burr puzzles

Notes: Magnets are used to improve the feel, and not theoretically necessary for the puzzle. The level of the puzzle is 13-1-4-1-1-2, it is challenging but not too difficult.

Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other

Slide Twist Twist Slide

Designer: Tony Fisher
Goal: Make a 3x4x4 block of gold cubes.

Materials: Plastic, gold paint, 3 x Eastsheen 2x2x2s
Classification: SEQ-GRP, ASS-CART

Notes: The puzzle consists of three differently shaped parts--each with a 2x2x2 cube core which can twist and be scrambled.

Slide Twist Twist Slide

Snake Case

Designer: Hiroaki Hamanaka
Goal: Arrange so that the snake hides completely inside its case.

Materials: Wood and cotton
Classification: 3-D assembly

Notes: No undue force is required. So please treat the snake gently, and do not stretch the snake too hard.

Snake Case

Symmetrick

Designer: Vesa Timonen
Goal: Lay the pieces flat to make a symmetric shape.

Materials: Oak
Classification: 1.1 2-Dimensional assembly

Purchase: Available at www.sloyd.fi.

Symmetrick

T4-II (Tea For Two)

Designer: MINE (Mineyuki Uyematsu)
Goal: Put the four pieces into the box.

Materials: Wood, acrylic
Classification: Put-together, sliding pieces

Purchase: Available at PUZZLE of MINE * WEB-SHOP.

T4-II (Tea For Two)

TetraCubed

Designer: Robert Reid, Michael Dowle, George Miller
Goal: Fit all eight pieces into the box so that the cubes do not touch each other. Also, make a solid figure from the four dark pieces.

Materials: Wood, plastic
Classification: Put Together and box-packing, and dexterity

Purchase: Contact the designer by ; price: $40.00.

TetraCubed

Tetrakis

Designer: Yavuz Demirhan
Goal: Assemble the four identical board pieces into the cubic frame.

Materials: Padauk and maple
Classification: Interlocking

Purchase: Available at PuzzleWood.

Tetrakis

Tetromino Tablet 18

Designer: MINE (Mineyuki Uyematsu)
Goal: Put the five tetromino pieces into the frame.

Materials: Wood, MDF, acrylic
Classification: Put-together, sliding pieces

Purchase: Available at PUZZLE of MINE * WEB-SHOP

Tetromino Tablet 18

Triangle

Designer: Volker Latussek
Goal:

  • Make one square using all pieces
  • Make two squares using all pieces
  • Make as many different-sized squares as possible.
  • Make as many different-sized triangles as possible.

Materials: Oiled beech
Classification: Put-together

Triangle

Tri-Symmetrics

Designer: Vladimir Krasnoukhov and Irina Novichkova
Goal: In the given position, this object has 120° rotational symmetry. Make a new object that is even "more symmetrical": simultaneously with 120° rotational, 180° rotational, mirror, and central/point symmetries.

Materials: Oak wood
Classification: Put-together

Purchase: Contact the designer by .

Tri-Symmetrics

Washington Monument

Designer: Brian Young
Goal: Unlock and open the puzzle, then close and then relock it.

Materials: Wood (silver ash and jarrah), steel, and magnets
Classification: 2.1 Trick or Secret Opening

Notes: To open the puzzle, you must lock the internal gravity pins inside the round base. If you open the puzzle by chance and the gravity pins still move freely--this is not the intended solution. To relock the puzzle, you must release the gravity pins so they move freely again. All the tools you’ll require to solve the puzzle are given with the puzzle. Take care not to lose the "lightening rod" at the top.

Purchase: Available at Mr Puzzle Australia.

Washington Monument

ZooLogical Garden #2

Designer: MINE (Mineyuki Uyematsu)
Goal:

  • Put four white pieces into the tray.
  • Put any three white pieces and the red piece into the tray.

Materials: Acrylic
Classification: Put-together

Notes: The blue piece is anchored with the screw inside the tray, but can be rotated.

Purchase: Available at PUZZLE of MINE * WEB-SHOP

ZooLogical Garden #2

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