Passion For Puzzles

Puzzle Masters Jerry Slocum, David Singmaster, Dieter Gebhardt, Wei-Hwa Huang, and Geert Hellings, share their expertise on the greatest puzzle ever created. Not only does The Cube: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Best-Selling Puzzle: Secrets, Stories, Solutions provide dozens of strategies for competitive cubing—including speedcubing—it also shows you how to solve every kind of cube that exists: the "Mini Cube" 2x2x2; the "Classic" 3x3x3; the "Rubik's Revenge" 4x4x4; the "Professor's Cube" 5x5x5; and the largest cubes available, the "V-Cube 6" 6x6x6 and the "V-Cube 7" 7x7x7. The book even includes modular instructions for cubes of any potential size! All solutions are fully illustrated with all-new, easy-to-follow instructions created specially for this book.

This unique book also includes a fascinating history of the Rubik's Cube—from its invention in 1974 by Ernö Rubik to the eighties craze to its resurgence today, including dozens of rare photographs of vintage cubes, ephemera, and more!

Packed with color photos from Jerry Slocum's extensive and unique collection of mechanical puzzles, The Cube is a must-have companion to the ultimate brainteaser.

Tags: The Cube | Puzzle Book

Electric Box is a unique styled puzzle game by FreeWorldGroup.

Object is to find out how to connect the main power supply with the target, metal wires can be used to conduct electricity. You can also use components from the inventory like lights, windmills, fan, steam detectors, electric kettles, solar panels and much more. Click the left mouse button to drag equipment to the game grid.

Great puzzle game which will keep you puzzled for a while. If you complete all levels you can also start to create your own levels. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Electric Box | Puzzle Game

Bananagrams is a fast and fun word game that requires no pencil, paper or board. All you need is a table. One hand can be played in as little as five minutes. It is a great for family fun as well as being educational.

Bananagrams portability makes it perfect for travel. Just grab the pouch and go. Available via Amazon.

Tags: Bananagrams | Word Game

Block Drop is an online 3D puzzle game by BubbleBox.

The objective of Block Drop is to control the gem And remove all of the blocks and ending up with your gem on the checkered block. Each level becomes more complex, random generated and even blocks are stacked up which have also to be removed.

Lovely puzzle game as each time you play Block Drop will be unique. Happy Puzzling!

UPDATE : Block Drop is now available for the iPhone.

Tags: Block Drop | Puzzle Game

Anyone can master the fundamentals of game design—no technological expertise is necessary. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses shows that the same basic principles of psychology that work for board games, card games and athletic games also are the keys to making top-quality videogames.

Good game design happens when you view your game from many different perspectives, or lenses. While touring through the unusual territory that is game design, this book gives the reader one hundred of these lenses one hundred sets of insightful questions to ask yourself that will help make your game better. These lenses are gathered from fields as diverse as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, writing, puzzle design, and anthropology. Anyone who reads this book will be inspired to become a better game designer and will understand how to do it. [via TheArtOfGameDesign.com]

Tags: Puzzle Book

Crawlian is Bloxorz variant by Square Enix. Althoug the game is in Japanese it's very easy to start the game.

Just like Bloxorz also Crawlian involves a rotating block in a game grid. Every square you touch with the rotating block will be marked. Touch a the squares as fast as possible and when possible only once to reach the next level.

I think Crawlian is a great puzzle game (even better than Bloxorz) which challenge you puzzle skills to the maximum. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Crawlian | Puzzle+Game

BlankOut are sometimes simple mathematical equation puzzles available via PlayWithYourMind.com.

The object of BlankOut puzzles is to fill in the blanks with the available numbers such that the mathematical equation holds true. When there are more empty spots than numbers in a Blankout puzzle this means that one or more of the numbers must be used more than once. New BlankOut puzzles added weekly. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: BlankOut | Puzzle

Available from March 2009 is this (offically licensed by Rubik's) Salt and Pepper mills. They are produced as a tribute to the world's most addictive - and some would say annoying, puzzle. The iconic 80's gadget is brought to life here as a kitchen condiment dispenser!

Each cube is exactly the same size as an authentic Rubik's Cube - 2.24 inches cubed! Sit the mills down next to the real thing and you won't be able to tell between them - only difference with these cubes is you can't play them! The Rubik's Cube mills are built around a durable ceramic mill that grinds various courseness salt & peppercorns. And so only the top layer of the cube rotates to operate the mill and grind the salt & pepper. The salt mill has a white top and the pepper mill has a red top so you can easily tell the difference between the two cubes.

The mills comes packaged in a sleek cardboard box which doubles as a stand for the mill. Each box has a triangle cut out of the top so you can rest your cube in it - just like you can with the real thing!

Features:
- Salt and pepper mills in shape of a Rubik's Cube,
- Durable ceramic mill,
- Grind various courseness salt and peppercorns,
- Same size as actual Rubik's cube,
- Officially licensed by Rubik's.

Dimensions: 2.24 inches cubed and costs £11.99 / €12.87/ $17.50 via GiftMonger.com

Tags: Rubik's | Salt and Pepper Mill

OBLO is a didactic 3D puzzle designed by Marko Pavlovic.

OBLO is a 3D puzzle made of differently sized, shaped and colored spherical elements that need to be twisted against the central axis in order to disassemble and fully reassemble the toy. It consists of an outer round layer (the container), a lid and 10 removable pieces. OBLO is colored with three primary colors and one secondary color to appeal to its audience, children between the ages of two and five. Color is also used to emphasize the different layers lodged inside the toy.

In order to successfully progress from one level to the next, the child needs to find the correct orientation for each piece that will enable their smooth passage through the fixed opening in the outer layer. Using this method, the spherical elements work as part of a bigger unity. The link that connects all the pieces is their shape, which matches the opening in the outer layer.

The degree of difficulty can be modified for different age groups. To make OBLO easier, the open space in the outer layer can be enlarged. On the contrary, the difficulty level can be increased by using a larger variety of shape types. Also, the number of layers can be increased by reducing the thickness of each layer or by modifying of the diameter of the outer layer itself. Colors can also influence the degree of difficulty.

By playing with OBLO, children are encouraged to discover new possibilities, new ways of disassembling and reassembling the pieces. Through interaction, the toy’s didactic features are emphasized in an imperceptible way to the child. However, for parents, the secondary target audience, this will be an important marketable element.

Tags: OBLO | Didactic Puzzle

Tidy Up is another block moving puzzle game by Level234.com.

Object is to move boxes to a new place but when you start it looks like a mess. Now it's up to you to tidy up this chaos. Proof in one hundred different levels your skills as a removal man. Happy Puzzling !

Tags: Tidy Up | Puzzle Game

Railway Engineer is a nice online puzzle game in which you need to plan ahead with all puzzle pieces given.

In Railway Engineer you have to help the little railway engineer building tracks for his toy locomotive. Start laying rails in the right place before the train starts riding from the left to the right side of the game grid. You can replace misplaced railtrack but be aware this takes some extra time you may not have. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Railway Engineer | Puzzle Game

Next to Rubik's 360 yet another Rubik’s puzzle will be released soon. This time it will be an electronic version of the world famous Rubik's Cube that have sold nearly 350 million Cube over the last 25 years.

To create this high tech gadget an engineering team has been working on the Rubik's TouchCube for over three years. Just swipe a finger across one of the squares and the lights will follow your moves, make an L-shape to turn the top face of the Cube a quarter turn. Rubik's TouchCube's motion-detecting accelerometer only recognizes moves made on the top side of the Cube, so that a player's fingers won’t move the lights on other sides when holding it. Rubik's TouchCube offers you a built-in solver, so now you can easily learn how to solve the Cube step by step. Ask for a hint or watch Rubik's TouchCube solve itself.

Although I like the idea, I wonder why I would need an electronic version of Rubik's Cube if I can also solve the original Rubik's Cube in an environmentally-friendly way without any batteries?

Rubik's TouchCube, is available via Amazon.co.uk and is appropriate for children ages 8 and up. It will retail for under US$ 149.99. For more information, you can visit the Rubik’s TouchCube website.

Tags: Rubik's TouchCube

DUI Puzzle is a unique action puzzle game from Chinese developing team S.I.T.T

DUI Puzzle is very simple looking game where you must destroy the object on the game screen by clicking the objects or drive the object in the desired position with the keyboard arrays. If you don't know how to complete the level, there’s mini help task on the top left corner of the game screen. Happy Puzzling !!!

Tags: DUI Puzzle | Puzzle Game

Spin-n-Match is a challenging puzzle game by BubbleBox.com

Object is to rearrange a selection of bubbles on the left side of the game grid to match a given image on the right side. With increasingly forty complex levels this game becomes a real brain teaser. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Spin-n-Match | Puzzle Game

YesStyle has a unique handbag for all female puzzle lovers, the Rubik's Cube Handbag.

The Rubik cube-inspired handbag with metallic chain shows your cheeky side. and is made of black Polyurethane, easy to wipe clean and measures 15cm W x 15cm H x 15cm D，Handle: 12cm. Enjoy! [via Su.doku.es]

Tags: Rubik's Cube | Handbag

Bling Bling Blaster is yet another match three puzzle game, this time it's has a pirate theme.

As every pirate needs bling bling your challeng in this game is to win all badges. You have to swap adjacent tiles to create sets of three or more of the same tiles. Walls cannot be swapped, however they can be removed with pickaxes or bombs. You can collect these when they are removed from the bottom. Pulsating items will change in walls, so clear them out in time. Play the bonus game to clear out lots of items at once. Double click pistols to clear out entire rows.

Use your mouse to swap items by clicking them, double click on pistols to activate them, or click on inventory items to use em. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Bling Bling Blaster | Puzzle Game

Closure a brilliant puzzle game presented as a platforme game.

The all-important unique device: if it isn't lit up, it doesn't exist. It's an extremely smart idea. Orbs of light can be picked up and carried, or placed in moving devices, such that areas of the level are lit. If it can't be seen, it isn't there. So if there's a wall in front of you, get past it by casting it into the shadows. Darkness is a tool.

New orb types appear later on, along with locked doors and keys, and various new tasks. But what makes the game more than a new gimmick is the intelligent application. You are asked to rethink how you platform with this new device in mind, and in no way handheld. In fact, you’re going to have to embrace its ideas to start the thing at all. There are in total 30 levels to solve. Happy Puzzling!

[via RocketPaperShotgun]

Tags: Closure | Puzzle Game

Bubble Math Puzzle is an easy math puzzle game.

Objetc is is to make the three numbers on every line add up to the magic sum as mentioned at the top. Divide the magic sum by three and you will get the value that must be in the center in order to complete the puzzle. Click on a bubble on the perimeter to swap it with the bubble in the center. A solid bubble indicates a valid number placement. Click on the Restart button for a new puzzle. Happy Puzzling

Tags: Math Puzzle

Tylz Game is a is the intriguing magnetic color-matching puzzle game that's fun for everyone.

Tylz! not only rhymes with smiles, it also creates smiles. Tylz is a magnetic color-matching puzzle game that comes with eighty all-different L-shaped magnetic tiles. The object of Tylz is to place a tile on the board so that it matches as many neighboring colors as possible. The more matches you make, the more points you score. As the game progresses the board becomes a mosaic of color with ever-greater challenges and ever greater opportunities to score. Tylze is for people aged 5 and up, and can played with 2 to 4 people. If you can match colors, you can play!

Tags: Tylz

3D Block Game is a 3D puzzle game with sound by Clown Games and is yet another addition to my puzzle collection (thanks to Paul).

In 3D Block Games you have to build a tower as high as possible with 3d Tetris look-a-like blocks. By pressing a button the computer tells you which 3D block color you have to place on the tower. After placing the 3D block you have to press the button again to show you place your block within the timeframe provided. 3D Block game is suitable from 1 to 4 players and comes with 18 colored 3D blocks and an electronic clock.

Tags: 3D Block Game | Clown Games

Figure Ground is a unique new online puzzle game by Ian Gilman.

The screen displays two grids (labeled Puzzle and Goal) filled with squares of different colors. The object is to rearrange squares or groups of squares in the Puzzle to match the pattern in the Goal grid.

In scenarios with squares of more than two colors, each of the different types uncover each other in a cyclical order. Once a piece has been dragged into overlapping or edge-to-edge contact with another piece of the same type, they permanently fuse.

There are several levels like:
- Ocean, "White Center" The board has squares of two types (white and black), but only the black squares can be moved. When a black piece is moved, it uncovers white squares.
- Desert, "Three Colors" The board has squares of three different colors.
- Mountain, "Four Colors" The board has squares of four different colors.
- Sky, "Two Colors" The board has squares of only two different colors as in the Ocean level, but now both colors can be moved.

Thanks to Puzzlinks. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Figure Ground | Puzzle Game

Super Stacker is back with the sequal of the well known online puzzle game Super Stacker.

Super Stacker is now back with 40 new levels, 4 speedruns, a stack editor, revamped graphics and much more. Can you stack the shapes without any falling off the screen?
Your stack must survive ten seconds or until the shapes feel happy that they won't to fall. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Super Stacker | Puzzle Game

Pixel Harvest is a nice variant of Color Box puzzle game.

In order to become a successful pixel harvester you must plant pixel within the available cross grid of buckets. Each day you may plant a single row or column of red, blue or yellow pixels. It's possible to mix life pixels together in order to create bonus pixels. The pixels, when sold, have various effects that increase your efficiency as a harvester. Once you have planted sufficient number of pixels it will become necessary to take them to the market. This will make room for new pixels as no bucket may ever hold more than 5,000. As your farm grows your taste for pixels become greater until you are overtaken with greed. Be a good farmer and try to survive as long as possible.

As this puzzle game is still in beta you can submit ideas for improvement. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Pixel Harvest | Puzzle Game

Perfect Balance is a new great physics puzzle game by Kongregate.

Object is to try to achieve perfect balance by rotating and stacking Tetris like shapes. There are 80 levels to solve. Happy Puzzling !

[via microsiervos]

Tags: Perfect Balance | Puzzle Game

The Rubik's Cube has gotten yet another update with the announcement of the Rubik's Magic Cube 360 Puzzle Toy, due to go on sale in UK shops this summer.

The new Rubik's brain-teaser claims to take the puzzle into a "new dimension" and gets a round, rather than square design.

Ten centimeters or so in diameter, the 360 is described as a transparent plastic sphere housing two further internal transparent spheres, both independently suspended on a rotating axis, with six balls at its center.

The object of the puzzle is to steer the colored balls through holes in the spheres and into their respective colored home slot domes on the outside.

Inventor Professor Erno Rubik says: "I feel that the Rubik's 360 is one of the most innovative and exciting puzzles we've developed since the Cube - adopting elements of my original design, challenging the solver to use skill, dexterity and logic. But it's a more kinetic challenge, more physical, because gravity is involved. We all have great hopes for it".

Rubik's Magic Cube 360 Puzzle Toy is also available via Amazon.com. [via pocket-lint]

At YouTube you can find a video on how the Rubik's 360 works.

Tags: Rubik 360 | Magic Cube

The New Switcheroo is yet another variant of LightsOut.

With a smaller game grid (3x3) and somes extra's, each button has a symbol which depicts which buttons will change. The goal is to turn all button colors into the same color. Pressing a button enacts the change. The change can be to color, position or symbol. Happy Puzzling !

Tags: Switcheroo | Puzzle Game

Grid is an interesting online Flash puzzle game by CandyStand.

The object of Grid is to create a power flow to supply power to all Glyphs in the game grid. Power is emitted from a single power station and shown as a visible pulse. Power flow is created by rotating Glyphs by clicking on them so that their connections link one another to the power station.

Only a puzzle that has all Glyphs powered and all connections used is considered solved. There are 35 levels to solve. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Grid | Puzzle Game

Last month I already wrote about Giant Sudoku's and suggested them to make the Sudoku's not only printable format but available online.

Well at Giant Sudoku's they have been very active and created some interactive versions of their Sudoku's (4x4 to 36x36 and 9x9 Wordoku's). You can not solve the puzzles online but the only application you'll need is Microsoft Excel.

All other formats of Giant Sudoku's are still online (like 16x16, 25x25, 36x36, 49x49, 64x64, 81x81 and 100x100, so Sudoku's with grids from 256 to 10000 cells). Happy Puzzling !

Tags: Sudoku | Wordoku