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mechanical puzzle
A puzzle, involving several objects or a single object composed of one or more movable parts, whose solution requires moving from an initial state to a predefined final state. Mechanical puzzles were first classified by Louis Hoffmann in Puzzles Old And New (1893).1 A modified form of his scheme is shown in the table below. Click on the links for further details.
| Type | Subtype | Example(s) |
| assembly | 2-dimensional assembly 3-dimensional assembly (non-interlocking) matchstick puzzles miscellaneous |
Tangrams, T-puzzle, jigsaw Soma cube puzzle rings |
| disassembly | trick or secret opening miscellaneous |
puzzle boxes trick locks, keys, etc |
| interlocking solid | burr puzzles 3-dimensional jigsaws interlocking |
cubes, other objects |
| entanglement and disentanglement |
wire puzzles string puzzles miscellaneous |
Chinese rings cat's cradle |
| sequential movement | counter removal counter rearrangemt sliding-piece miscellaneous |
peg solitaire Fifteen puzzle Tower of Hanoi |
| puzzle vessels | puzzle jugs miscellaneous |
bottom-fill teapots, pitchers |
| vanishment puzzles | Get Off the Earth |
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| folding | origami flexagons |
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| impossible objects |
References
- Hoffmann, Professor (Angelo Louis). Puzzles Old and New. London: Frederick Warne, 1893. Republished privately by L. Edward Hordern, 1993.
- Slocum, Jerry. Compendium of Mechanical Puzzles. 3rd ed. Slocum and Haubrich, 1977.
Related categories
• GAMES AND PUZZLES
• MATHEMATICS
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