Twisty puzzles consist of a set of pieces which can be manipulated into different combinations by a group of operations. Use this tag for puzzles similar to the archetype of combination puzzles, the Rubik's cube.
What is a Twisty Puzzle?
A twisty puzzle is another term for a combination puzzle (also known as a sequential move puzzle). It is a puzzle that consists of a set of pieces which can be manipulated into different combinations by a group of operations. Many such puzzles are mechanical puzzles of polyhedral shape, consisting of multiple layers of pieces along each axis which can rotate independently of each other.
The archetype of this kind of puzzle is the Rubik's Cube. Each rotating side is usually marked with different colors, intended to be scrambled, then 'solved' by a sequence of moves that sort the facets by color. As a generalization, combination puzzles also include mathematically defined examples either not yet or impossible to physically construct (e.g. a 4D twisty puzzle such as a tesseract version of the Rubik's cube).
How do I solve a twisty puzzle?
A combination puzzle is solved by achieving a particular combination, starting from a random (scrambled) combination. Often, the solution is required to be some recognizable pattern such as "all like colors together" or "all numbers in order".
What are some examples of twisty puzzles?
The most common example of a twisty puzzle is the Rubik's cube, but there are many others, such as:
| Picutre | Name | Comments |
|---|---|---|
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Rubik's Cube | The original Rubik's Cube. |
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Rubik's Revenge | Solution is much the same as 3×3×3 cube except additional (and relatively simple) algorithm(s) are required to unscramble the centre pieces and edges and additional parity not seen on the 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube. |
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Tesseract | This is the 4-dimensional analog of a cube and thus cannot actually be constructed. However, it can be drawn or represented by a computer. Significantly more difficult to solve than the standard cube, although the techniques follow much the same principles. There are many other sizes of virtual cuboid puzzles ranging from the trivial 3×3 to the 5-dimensional 7×7×7×7×7 which has only been solved twice so far. |
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Calendar Cube | Mechanically identical to the standard 3×3×3 cube, but with specially printed stickers for displaying the date. Much easier to solve since five of the six faces are ignored. Ideal produced a commercial version during the initial cube craze. Sticker sets are also available for converting a normal cube into a calendar. |
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Sudoku Cube | Identical to the Rubik's Cube in mechanical function, it adds another layer of difficulty in that the numbers must all have the same orientation and there are no colors to follow. The name reflects its superficial resemblance to the two-dimensional Sudoku number puzzle. |
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Skewb | Similar to the original Rubik's Cube, the Skewb differs in that its four axes of rotation pass through the corners of the cube rather than the centers of the faces. As a result, it is a deep-cut puzzle in which each twist scrambles all six faces. |
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Pyraminx | Tetrahedral-shaped puzzle with axes on the corners and trivial tips. It was invented in 1970 by Uwe Mèffert. |
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Megaminx | 12-sided polyhedron puzzle similar to Rubik's Cube in operation and solution. |
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Impossiball | Rounded icosahedron puzzle similar to Pocket Cube in operation and solution. |
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Rubik's Snake | Some would not count this as a combinational puzzle though it bears the Rubik name. Also known as Rubik's Twist. There is no one solution to this puzzle but multiple different shapes can be made. |
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Sliding Puzzle | These ubiquitous puzzles come in many sizes and designs. The traditional design is with numbers and the solution forms a magic square. There have been many different designs, the example shown here uses graphic symbols instead of numbers. The solution requires that there are no repeated symbols in any row, column or diagonal. The picture shows the puzzle unsolved. |
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Fifteen Puzzle | The original sliding piece puzzle. |
A related tag that can additionally be used for these puzzles is mechanical-puzzles
References
Wikipedia contributors. (2021, October 16). Combination puzzle. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:17, October 18, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Combination_puzzle&oldid=1050187792
