Dancing shoes

Dancing Shoes is a puzzle designed by Goh Pit Khiam, who is famous for very clever packing puzzles that usually have a nice twist.

This one is no exception to that rule :)

May Goh puzzles have been made in wood by Tom Lensch, but not sure is this puzzle has ever been made by Tom, so I guess this 3D printed version that Puzzle Master is selling is the only copy of Dancing Shoes.

The goal is to put all the pieces flat in the tray without overlaping the pieces. Having saying that (and that no force is required!), it's up to you how to arrange the pieces! But you will soon realize that you need to think outside the box. Goh designed some time ago more or less a similar puzzle and even if Dancing Shoes does not have the same appearance , I thought that the solving process should be more or less the same....and guess what: I was right !! That does not mean I solved in within a minute. It still did not take me hours.

The solving process is smooth and very enjoyable. I am sure that it may take long long time for a non experienced puzzler as it requires a trick that may be natural for a seasoned puzzler!

Whether you like Goh's puzzles and/or packing puzzles and/or puzzles with a twist, you won't be disappointed at all.

You can buy this puzzle on Puzzle Master Webshop!

Chain store

Awarded at past IPP, this puzzle comes from the genius mind of the designer Goh Pit Khiam and was made by the very talentuous Tom Lensch.

Tom is used to crafting puzzles made by Pit Khiam and his puzzles are usually very good and have a little something that makes them very special. Just take the example of this puzzle: packing puzzles are common, not original. But packing puzzles using a chain of 5 links...well I have never seen it before! Have you?

Despite the fragile look of the chain, I can say that it's strong enough (unless you use useless brute force!) to be handled and manipulated without fear that the chain breaks. You have to believe the ability of Tom, he knows what he crafts!!!

I have played with the puzzle for some time before finding the solution and I would say it's pretty challenging, but not overly difficult compared to many other packing puzzles.
It's easy to put some part of the chain inside the box, but it's way more challenging to put all the chain, and remember that you have to pack the chain so that the top is flat...! :-)

Next attempt may be the right one....maybe...

My method was to try packing the chain outside of the box and see how it can fit or not inside. And I do think it's better to play like that, because you may not be able to arrange the links of the chain when the chain is inside the box. No force needed, just clever moves to try to make the chain "as small as possible" without too many holes or useless gaps.

There is only one solution and I really wonder how you can find that there is only one solution and how to write a program that gives you the precise solution..Nevermind, it's another kind of puzzle I assume...

String octet

Recently crafted by Brian Menold and designed by Goh Pit Khiam, this is not only a puzzle, but 13 puzzles itself!

Well you have to solve 13 challenges, so it will take you some time to solve all of them :-)

You have several pieces on which a path is drawn and 2 filler pieces. The goal is to make a continuous path from the starting piece to the end piece by using all the pieces (sometimes you can complete the goal with less than all the pieces, but well, it just means you failed...) and the 2 fillers. Brian includes a paper with hints, which consists in telling you where to place these 2 fillers. But I am sure you will not look at the hints, will you??

Almost....

Obviously you have 2 sides for each piece and then depending on the orientation of the piece, the path is changed. The initial design was with straight lines, but I feel this is nice to have these curves, and maybe it can confuse people, making the challenges even more difficult?

When I saw the puzzle, I thought it would be super (or too) easy, well....definitely not. This is challenging, and so far I have not yet solved all the challenges. This is not the common packing puzzle you're used to seeing and this is what makes this puzzle very interesting.

The quality of the puzzle is nice and Brian is a very friendly craftman, always replying to emails and questions, even if he is very busy....If everyone could be like him ;-)

The puzzle is still available HERE. I am sure Brian will be happy to sell it to you, but don't wait too long because the puzzles are sold out quickly! It's worth the money!

Number blocks

Number blocks is a puzzle designed by the very talented Pit Khiam Goh (Goh is his last name by the way) for IPP 2015 and was awarded as "Honorable Mention" by the Jury, which was well deserved!

This puzzle was crafted by Tom Lensch. No need to speak about him because I assume that everybody already knows how good his craftmanship is.

Number blocks is composed of 4 pieces of wood with protrusions that fit inside a box. Each piece has a number on its top and the goal is to rearrange the numbers, hence the name.

Below on the left the starting position and on the right the solved position:

I see you coming and wonder how can these pieces move. Well the number 4 does not have any protrusions and thus you can just take it out, which creates a hole in the tray to be able to move the other pieces. Simple as that!

The moves are smooth and it's really fun to play with this puzzle and notice that at some point you're stuck....whatever you do you cannot achieve what you want...and that will prevent you from solving the puzzle :-)

I tried many combinations and was always stuck. Damn! How is it possible?! Well it is, but there is a clever features that you need to use!! And you will have to think out of the box! And no force (even small) is needed nor advised.

So after the puzzle is solved you can still try to arrange the pieces to find other combinations. If there were no protusions at all you could have 24 possbilities. For example (1st two numbers for top row and last two numbers for bottom row): 1234, 1243, 1324, 1342, etc.
Actually you have fewer possibilities due to the constraints of the pieces. I managed to find all the possibilities:

 

 

These extra challenges are not really difficult, but it's still fun to try to see how we can increase the fun of a puzzle. I am  almost sure that no other combinations can be found, but in case you find others feel free to add a comment :-)

To conclude: a really nice and enjoyable puzzle for a reasonable price.