Puzzlepedia™
Mechanical Puzzles
A physical puzzle that you can hold in your hand and try to solve by manipulation.
There are many different types of mechanical puzzles that have been built for thousands of years. The first known mechanical puzzle, Ostomachion, comes from the 3rd century BC, and there are probably older puzzles than that! One of the most popular mechanical puzzles is a sequential movement puzzles from the 1980s, called the Rubik's Cube.
Mechanical puzzles are usually classified by the method in which they are solved. The most common categories are listed below.
Dexterity Puzzles
Dexterity puzzles require careful manipulation, often involving endurance, balance and skill.
Disentanglement PuzzlesDisentanglement puzzles are usually constructed out of metal and/or string and the object is to separate a piece (often a ring) from the rest of the entangled parts.
Impossible Puzzles
An impossible puzzle is an object which appears to be impossible to build. The puzzle is usually to figure out how the object was made.
Put Together/Assembly Puzzles
This type of puzzle comes in a bunch of pieces, with the object of assembling those pieces into the whole.
Sequential Movement Puzzles
Manipulate the puzzle to unscramble it and reach the final solution.
Take Apart/Disassembly Puzzle
Similar to Disentanglement Puzzles, but usually with fewer pieces and not made out of string. The goal is to remove a piece of the puzzle and then put it back.
Trick Puzzles
An object that has a different function than how it appears.
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