The Design Competition Guide (same content: photos, instructions, and notes) is available here.
The following is a summary of the 66 entries in the 2022 competition (click on images for larger photos).
All designs are copyrighted and are the
intellectual property of the designer. All rights are reserved.
Abraham's Well
Designer: Brian Young
Goal: Find the uniquely Australian token hidden inside the puzzle. There are many intermediate challenges to solve as you progress through each level to get to the final goal.
Materials: Wood with metal and magnets
Classification: 2.1 Trick or Secret Opening
Notes: No bashing/tapping, no external tools, and no brute strength are needed. There’s a tool for every step of the puzzle, you just have to find them and then work out how to use them.
Designer: Rodolfo Kurchan/Kate Jones
Goal: Assemble the 20 pieces into a great variety of different shapes and designs; three challenges given:
Fill the tray.
Fill the tray so that pieces of one or two of the same color are connected. (Connecting all three colors is impossible.)
Divide the pieces into ten pairs to simultaneously form 10 symmetric shapes.
Materials: Laser-cut acrylic
Classification: Put-together dissection, polyform set
Notes: The 20 tiles are a tiny subset of the 369 Octominoes, being all the pieces containing a 2x3 rectangle. The three colors of the set denote 3 groups: symmetrical, those with two single squares attached, and those with a domino attached.
Purchase: Contact the designer by or visit gamepuzzles; $65 PayPal, major credit cards, check; produced on demand
Clutch 1
Designer: Girish Sharma
Goal: Interlock the three pieces into a 4x4x4 space.
Materials: Wood
Classification: Interlocking 3D assembly
Notes: Rotations are allowed and needed; no undue force required.
Purchase: Visit WoodWonders; available in the near future
Cube Snake Boogie
Designer: Eric Harshbarger
Goal: Manipulate the linked cubes to form a larger 2×2×2 cube.
Materials: 3D printed PLA filament
Classification: FOL-HGOP
Notes: In all final configurations there should be a yellow, spherical hinge hidden in the center and one centered in each of the six faces of the large cube. How many different black/red patterns can you discover?
Detour
Designer: Laszlo Molnar
Goal: Pack the four polyominoes into the tray so that the result is a sliding block puzzle. That goal of that puzzle is to slide the circular token from one marked (with a hole) corner to the other, such that the token avoids at least one of the other marked spaces.
Designer: Dr. Volker Latussek
Goal: Pack three triangular prisms into the box.
Materials: Acacia and maple
Classification: 3D Packing
Five Snakes
Designer: Ryan Plaisted
Goal: Fit the five snakes into the frame.
Materials: Stained wood and acrylic
Classification: 2D Assembly
Notes: The goal of the design was to create a more organize packing puzzle with as much empty space as possible, while still maintaining a unique solution.
Designer: Jordi Gallen
Goal: Arrange the box into one of the four different color coded configurations, and then place all seven Soma pieces inside the box beneath the closed hinged lid(s).
Materials: PLA and magnets
Classification: 1.2 3D Assembly
Notes: Solution is given only for the yellow configuration.
Purchase: Contact the designer by . Price: 85€; printed on demand
Fort Knox PRO
Designer: EscapeWelt
Goal: Solve multiple challenges to open the secret compartment.
Designer: Frederic Boucher
Goal: Pack the three pieces into the box so that no empty space is visible.
Materials: Wood (walnut, tamo)
Classification: 3D Assembly
Purchase: Contact the designer by . A small batch will be produced if there is sufficient demand.
Mittan
Designer: Junichi Yananose
Goal: Open the box, and put a bell on the cat.
Materials: Wood, metal
Classification: Sequential Discovery (2.1 Trick-opening)
The Music Cube
Designer: Brian Kaplan
Goal: Solve the Rubik's Cube with colors replaced by small pitch pipes. When solved, each face consists of pipes that play the same note, different from the other five faces.
Notes: The pipes are wrapped with removable colored tape so that you may check the accuracy of your solution, or solve in the traditional colored way.
Sealed straws and alcohol swabs are provided so that the puzzle can be solved in a sanitary fashion.
Purchase: Contact the designer by to get on the waitlist to purchase; price TBD
Naked Lock Puzzle
Designer: Doug Engel
Goal: Completely disassemble the lock.
Designer: Osanori Yamamoto
Goal: Build an apparent 3x3x3 block inside the box. (The opening of the box is completely filled and any empty space is hidden within the box.)
Materials: Wood and MDF
Classification: 3D Interlocking Sold
Social Distancing
Designer: Carl Hoff
Goal: Nine pentominoes walk into a bar...
You need to seat the nine pentominoes while following social distancing guidelines, no two may touch, not even at a corner. You must choose one pentomino to sit safely in the small 3x4 patio while the remaining eight are seated in the bar.
Designer: Cristian Poliziani
Goal: Find the hidden prize.
Materials: Wood
Classification: Take-Apart
Purchase: Contact the designer by .
Symmphony
Designer: Timothy Lo
Goal: Create a mirror symmetrical shape with the three pieces.
Materials: PLA
Classification: 2D Assembly
Synchronizer
Designer: Hiroshi Yamamoto
Goal: Arrange four pieces to make two identical shapes, including the position of the hole.
Materials: Acrylic
Classification: 2D Assembly
Three Numbers
Designer: Alexander Magyarics
Goal: Use the six pieces to create three separated numbers (3,4 and 5) at the same time.
Pieces can be flipped over and rotated; the resulting numbers in solution can be rotated but not flipped.
Materials: Black palm, Moluccan ironwood
Classification: 2D Assembly
Designer: Brian Young
Designer: Dee Dixon
Designer: Jon Keegan
