The Rubik’s Cube has been exciting and entertaining geeks for many years now. But maybe the design is due for an upgrade. That’s why puzzle expert Tom Parker has been working on a Rubik’s-inspired cube with a unique magnetic design.
Tom’s 3D-printed cube ditches the traditional rotating and sliding mechanism of the original cube, replacing it with magnets. It looks like this actually makes moving the segments a bit easier. I guess it also makes cheating easier too since you can just take each piece out and put it back the way you want. Check out the video and see for yourself how cool it is.
It comes apart in sections very nicely if you pull it. You would think it would just fall apart as you twist it, but it doesn’t. Turning seems much more fluid, so I bet this would be great for competitions. But what do I know? I’m just a dude who will never ever solve one of these things. Cool build, Tom!
[via HackADay]
When I was a kid, my grandfather kept a Tangram puzzle game on the side table in the kitchen. I played that game all the time with my uncle and cousins when they were around when I was five or six. I crushed at the game, for whatever reason Tangrams are one of the things that always came easy. This meant my uncle (a teenager at the time) would get pissed off and throw the pieces on the floor and refuse to play with me.
This Tangram Puzzle set reminds me of those days of my relatives being frustrated to the point that I’d be forced outside to play. Ah, good times.
If you are unfamiliar with a Tangram, you get a pile of plastic parts with triangular and polygonal parts The goal is to look at an image on a card or box and then try to replicate that image using the shapes. This particular set comes with 12 puzzles ranging in difficulty from making a square to an airplane, and looks like a fun way to spend a little time making your brain work.
The Can You Solve Me Tangram set sells for $40 on Uncommon Goods.
This unique jigsaw puzzle is not for those who get frustrated with ordinary puzzles. Designed by artist Clemens Habicht, the 1000-piece Changing Colors jigsaw puzzle is printed with a lenticular lens to create an eye-catching iridescent sheen.
So not only does the puzzle have lots of areas of similar colors, they constantly vary depending on the viewing angle and lighting conditions. As evil as the concept sounds, it may not be as difficult as it seems.
According to one Redditor who finished the puzzle, “In case anyone is curious, it was definitely challenging but two things made it doable: first, the holo effect is made using lenticular imaging, which uses parallel tiny tubular lenses for lack of a better word so that you see the different colors at different angles, and that gives the entire surface a consistent grain which I could use to orient the pieces. Secondly, every piece was two colors, and along a gradient, so I could sort by the color pairs and find all the green/magenta pieces and separate them from the green/red or blue/yellow, etc. I do not recommend gifting this to anyone who is colorblind unless they’ve wronged you in some extreme manner.”
Cue everyone lining up to buy this for their colorblind friends. You can pre-order this challenging and colorful puzzle from Lamington Drive for $100.
[via Mike Shouts]
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