The Design Competition Guide (same content: photos, instructions, and notes) is available here.
The following is a summary of the 80 entries in the 2024 competition (click on images for larger photos). Purchasing information will be added later, after content is reviewed and edited.
All designs are copyrighted and are the
intellectual property of the designer. All rights are reserved.
Ant Hunt
Designer: Boaz Feldman
Goal: Open the lock and find the ant!
Materials: Brass and stainless steel
Classification: OPN-LOCK
Designer: Koichi Miura
Goal: Warm-up goal: pack the seven pieces into the box and close the lid; there are 1365 solutions.
The Full goal: pack the seven pieces into the box and close the lid so that the colors of the box and lid match (unique solution).
Materials: Wood
Classification: Put-together
Binary Disk
Designer: Oskar van Deventer
Goal: Slide the eight colorful tokens through their channels, scramble the puzzle, and then get each token at its home of the same color. There are eight challenges: have the straight gold line point to each of the eight colors while the tokens are in their solved position.
Materials: 3D-printed PLA plastic
Classification: Slocum: 5.6 Miscellaneous sequential movement
Notes: The green solved position is shown.
Purchase: Contact designer using Contactform; Price: 60€ plus shipping, 3D-printed to order
BMSD
Designer: Ali Morris, Steve Nicholls
Goal: Find the bananas and feed them to the monkey.
Materials: Brass, steel and random stuff
Classification: OPN-OTH, 2.1 SD
Designer: Brian Young
Goal: Find the 30th anniversary plaque with its pearl.
Materials: Made from a custom made solid brass bolt with magnets
Classification: 2.1 Trick or Secret Opening SD
Purchase: Contact the designer by ; request waitlist
Broad Bins
Designer: Boaz Feldman
Goal: Rotate one bin piece at a time so that all noses face downwards.
Arrange any number of bin pieces on the tray so that they are adjacent to each other. Traditionally each bin piece would be positioned with its "nose" facing upwards. But instead you can arrange the noses either up or down, making it a little bit complicated.
Materials: PLA and acrylic
Classification: SEQ-OTH
Purchase: Contact the designer by
Brother's Key
Designer: Yasunari Makino
Goal: Separate the two parts and reconnect them.
Materials: Brass
Classification: Take-apart
Busy Hand
Designer: Shih Yu Chung
Goal: Find the hidden game cartridge.
Materials: Wood, magnet, iron ball, aluminum wire
Classification: Take-apart
Notes: The aluminum wire may be manipulated.
Purchase: Contact the designer by . Price: US$40-50 plus shipping, via PayPal; quantity: 50
Caravan
Designer: Bram Cohen
Goal: Separate the eight pieces, and then pack them back into the box.
Materials: PLA
Classification: 3.4
Castle Arches
Designer: Matthew Webber
Goal: Assemble the 42 pieces to form a castle with a solid rectangular footprint.
Designer: Alexander E Holroyd
Goal: Remove the central gray plug, then manipulate the puzzle so that the plug can be fully inserted from the opposite side. No forcing or unscrewing.
Materials: PLA, steel
Classification: 5.4
Notes: Gears may be temporarily blocked by gravity pins.
Purchase: Contact the designer by .
CONNECTING CUB3S
Designer: Tanner Reyes
Goal: Make 3 connecting cubes. All the square holes must be used as well as the 3 square pegs. There is only one final shape but multiple ways to assemble it.
Materials: 3D Printed PETG+
Classification: Other Interlocking Shapes
Container
Designer: Junchen Du, Timothy Lo
Goal: Put the four puzzle pieces completely inside the box (avoiding the interior plug).
Materials: Wood,PLA
Classification: 3D Assembly
Purchase: Contact the designer by . Price $45; limited 8-10
Cricket
Designer: George Miller
Goal: Construct a red brick sarcophagus for a poor dead dog.
Materials: PLA
Classification: 1.2 3D assembly
Crooked Spaceships
Designer: Albert Joe
Goal: Pack all pieces inside the box and close the lid.
Materials: PLA with laser cut acrylic
Classification: 1.2: 3D assembly
Designer: Alexander Magyarics
Goal: Place all 12 pieces flat on the table without overlapping, dark wood down, and create a 4x4 square ring from dark square units when viewed from above.
Designer: David Goodman, Guy Loel
Goal: Packing all seven ducks into the pot is as easy as duck soup: 180 possible solutions. But making duck soup with an added Bouillon cube in the pot is very difficult: only 1 solution.
Materials: PLA
Classification: Slocum 1.2 3D Assembly
Purchase: Contact the designer by .
Eagle
Designer: Roman Liu
Goal: Remove the bar and steel balls from the eagle's body by moving the steel balls in the grooves found inside the eagle and the bar.
Designer: Tyler Hudson
Goal: Assemble all the pieces within a 5x5x5 cube, then take them apart again.
Materials: East Indian Rosewood, padauk and holly
Classification: 3.4
Euler Not For Dummies
Designer: Dr. Volker Latussek
Goal: Pack six pieces into the restricted (fixed brass rod) box.
Materials: Bubinga, birch, poplar, brass
Classification: 3D Packing
Exchequer
Designer: Gal Peter, Laszlo Molnar
Goal: Form a non-chequered cube!
Materials: Wood
Classification: 1.3 3D Assembly
Exquisite
Designer: ZhaoYue
Goal: Assembly all blocks and pins into a burrlike structure.
Materials: ABS
Classification: Burr
Purchase: Contact the designer by . Price: $20
Five Barrels
Designer: Frederic Boucher, Tye Stahly, Amanda Ireland
Goal: Assemble the four pieces and hide the five barrels at the same time. Extra challenges:
First, place the pieces flat on a table and insert the barrels into the cavities. Then, assemble the pieces to create a mirror symmetrical shape. The position of the barrels must be symmetrical too.
Again, place the pieces flat on a table and insert the barrels into the cavities. Then, assemble the pieces into a 3x4 rectangle so that the barrels form a pentomino. Which of the 12 pentominoes are possible?
Materials: PLA
Classification: Slocum 1.2 : 3D Assembly
Designer: Alexander Magyarics
Goal: Use the three square plates to create four numbers (1,2,3,4) at the same time. The numbers may be rotated or flipped over.
Designer: Doug Engel
Goal: Manipulate the KM to release the ring. You may rotate the two ends of the cylinder, rotate one half about a vertical axis, and even separate the two halves. Rotation allows tying any knot, even composite knots.
Materials: Plastic, magnets, string, metal ring
Classification: 4.3 (Slocum)
Designer: Louis Toorenburg
Goal: Place a two-sided challenge card in the frame, then place the 12 pentomino pieces in the frame so that only one single color is visible through each of the stars.
Materials: MDF
Classification: Put-together
Notes: On each card, there are only three solutions; it is up to you to determine to possible colors.
Purchase: Contact the designer by .
Penrose Tiling Box
Designer: Dmitry Andreev
Goal: There are three tasks, in order:
Restore the Penrose pattern on the rotating pieces
Open the box
Repack the the 12 Penrose blocks plus the 13th bonus block.
Materials: 3D print from PETG
Classification: 5.4 / 2.1 / 1.2
Purchase: Contact the designer by . Price: 80€; custom-made
Perfect Entrance
Designer: Koichi Miura
Goal: Put the four pieces completely into the restricted box.
Materials: Acrylic
Classification: 3D Assembly
Piano Box
Designer: Alex Owens
Goal: Dissemble the puzzle and find the reward inside!
Materials: Plastic - PLA
Classification: Sequential movement
Purchase: Printed puzzles and STL files are available at mowens995
Piston Box
Designer: Lee Krasnow
Goal:
Open the box
Free the coin
Break down the box and build it back up
Replace the colored maze pieces to try additional challenges.
Materials: Plastic, steel, copper, paper
Classification: 2.1
Purchase: Contact the designer by or visit Pacific Puzzleworks; Price: $140 (including ROYGB mazes); extra mazes $10
Pit Box
Designer: Laszlo Molnar
Goal: Pack the pieces into the box.
Materials: Wood
Classification: 1.2
Purchase: Limited quantity (~25pcs) will be available at Nedeljko Woodworks
Please Check It
Designer: Takuro Kawasaki
Goal: Arrange the eight pieces into a 5x5 square so that adjacent unit squares are not the same color. Two challenges are given: either using three or four red unit squares (depending on which side of the T piece is used).
Materials: Acrylic
Classification: 2D Assembly
Praise The Sun
Designer: Albert Joe
Goal: Fit all 16 pieces inside the frame.
Materials: PLA
Classification: 1.1: 2D assembly
Puzzle Bird
Designer: Pantazis Houlis
Goal: Place the semi-transparent blue piece on top of both the yellow piece (giving green) and red piece (giving deep purple) to form six (not five!) identical shapes at the same time, and each with a different color.
Designer: Bram Cohen
Goal: Scramble and unscramble the puzzle.
Materials: PLA
Classification: 5.3
Notes: There is no apparent outer frame holding the pieces together.
Sliding Gears2
Designer: Dmitry Andreev
Goal: Arrange the 15 sliding pieces so that the black gear will cause a selected goal gear (separately either red, blue or yellow) to rotate.
Materials: 3D print from PETG
Classification: 5.3
Purchase: Contact the designer by . Price: 30€; made to order
Split Block Box
Designer: Tye Stahly
Goal: Pack all of the pieces fully inside the box through the restricted opening.
Materials: Wood
Classification: Put-Together
Strange Cube
Designer: Yasunari Makino
Goal: Put the three pieces together to form a cube.
Materials: Wood
Classification: Put-together
Sugar Cube
Designer: Chirag Mehta
Goal: Eight little sugar cubes, is there any way?
To fit them happily, within the black tray.
But let me tell you one thing, as you proceed further.
They mustn’t be, on top of each other.
Materials: 3D printed nylon
Classification: 1.2 3D Assembly
Purchase: Contact the designer by .
Symétrie Par 3
Designer: Yannick Bernard Darlington
Goal: Place the 3 pieces to form a symmetrical figure, flat without overlapping.
Materials: MDF
Classification: 1.1
Notes: The pieces are not comprised of unit squares.
Designer: Ali Morris, Steve Nicholls
Designer: Junichi Yananose
Designer: Stephan Baumegger
