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Interesting 3D puzzles to amuse yourself with at work

mathsnet.net — The idea is to build up the solid shape indicated by the views to the left - but only using the number of cubes given. There are 10 problems, called figuur1 to figuur10. Be warned: they are not easy.

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  • techobo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+30I did #8 with 12 blocks instead of 16. I am sure you can do others with fewer.
    http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/9459/48929916lx0.gif
    • LaminatedParrot, on 10/12/2007, -13/+3I found that out too, I guess that it was supposed to be done with the most blocks possible. Anyway, great game. It took me a good 3/4 hour to complete them all.
    • technomania, on 10/12/2007, -25/+1I just played with this game and met someone who installed Xpanity.
      we have just solved it together until the end of the game
      http://www.xpanity.com
    • AKBryant54, on 10/12/2007, -1/+39pro tip: Yellow means perfect, green means complete.
      The fun part of the game is to get them all yellow, taking away all unnecessary blocks.
    • sunil25125, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Yes, it is possible to do solve some by smaller number of cubes ( and also by a larger number ). The number of cubes are given exactly for that reason - Solve in exactly that many cubes, no less no more. The Yellow / Green is for that indication.
    • chrisrules895, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Yeah, I got that in 12 too. It's sad though, it changes it back to green, instead of yellow.
    • Bisqwit, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I got #6 with 10.
      http://bisqwit.iki.fi/kala/snap/mathousepuz6.png
    • andresthor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25It seems that some of you might be missing the point. Not all of the puzzles are meant to be done with the fewest possible cubes, some actually require you to "hide" some extra cubes in the puzzle. So you might be able to do a puzzle with 12 cubes... but the 4 remaining ones should be put in places that do not distort the outcome.

      Not to be a smart ass, just pointing this out.
    • snowmanchris, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1yea its all about the zig zag removal of the pieces.
    • kcpwnsgman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3well that was easier than I thought, took me a while to get in the mindset of completing them
    • Fordi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hm. #9 was the one that got me to figure out how to solve the rest.
    • lilkillumup, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yea, I did that too. 6 and 8 that is. I just started over and figured out where to put those necessary extras.
  • EridanMan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24Amusing, but really easy once you get the hang of it.

    • NondescriptID, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Agreed, though it seems like the puzzles were out of order in terms of complexity. 5 -> 10 followed by 4 -> 1 (in that order) would seem to make more sense.

      Either way, fun little distraction.
    • playthev, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8fun stuff indeed took me 20-30 minutes to complete, once you get the feel of the puzzle, you can use your intution to help you solve the puzzle, like on the last one you can really appreciate the symmetry of the solution :)
      i hope we get more stuff like this on the frontpage than something like "top 20 movie supporting actress roles of all time"
    • Scatropolis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2There's a few other similar games at http://mathsnet.net/geometry/solid/
  • MrSidnet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+62It's real easy if you use the Fill button, then just carve out what it looks like on the Front, Side and Top. Then optimize as necessary.
    • JC4P, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Best.Hint.Ever.
    • hdtvdust, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4Wow. I am torn about whether to digg you up, or down. Up because it it a great hint. But down because it makes it too easy and takes away the challenge.

      I'll go with up, becuase when I first started this, I saw the BREAK DOWN option and like a moron thought to myself...who the hell would ever want to do it that way? That must be a lot harder.
    • ozydingo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Well, that doesn't quite apply to the last one :-)

      But agreed; I quickly realized the easy way to do it was to completely fill up all columns as required by the top view, then knock out any rows that conflicted with he front or side view. Then I decided not to do it that way because it was too easy and there was no point!
    • Dycacian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ozydingo: I have to disagree with you on that one. I actually found #10 easier using the fill.
  • jockser, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1i love it
  • Ungh, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Finished in about 25 minutes. The Green/Yellow label was a bit confusing though.
    Of course, once you learn that pieces to not have to touch, that makes the game much easier.
    • dfranks, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1did you get green on number 5? if so, do tell. :)
    • Pests, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Its just the diagonal stacked 4 high with the center two missing on both end pieces.
    • GawtMilk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Sure. Don't use any blocks other than the ones visible in this image.

      http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7757/blockski5.png
    • JaWright, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0I think you are supposed to have them all touch at least by a corner or there would not be any challenge. Glitch in the game IMO. Still not too difficult.
  • sQPha7e, on 10/12/2007, -5/+30Be warned: they ARE easy.
    • justintime2002, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0Indeed. Other than number 9 they all took less than a couple minutes. I don't see what's so hard about number 10. Once you get that far you should have already figured out you do a simple zig-zag...
  • benguild, on 10/12/2007, -17/+6NSFW
  • mattmac24, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4..i cant get number 5, done the rest. it justs sits on the yellow circle...ive used 12 cubes
    • blaze03, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Yea, I'm stuck on number five too. These puzzles are EXTREMELY EASY though.
    • evilpanda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ensure that you're rotated correctly from the top and side views.
    • timbro1, on 10/12/2007, -6/+7yellow means you used the least amount of pieces possible. Green means you made the shape but you can still make the shape with less peices
    • evi1, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11yellow = complete, green = incomplete
    • thetaco82, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Number 5 is the only one that you guys have solved so far. A yellow circle means that you've made it with the least possible number of cubes. It tells you how many cubes you should use just below the top, front, right pics.

      Edit: Damn... Forgot to refresh after beating it...
    • GawtMilk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Once again...here's #5 done to "Yellow".
    • GawtMilk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1* http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7757/blockski5.png
    • justintime2002, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@Matt

      Number 5 is super simple if you think about the pictures for a few seconds. The top pictures shows only 4 spaces filled, meaning that only 4 columns of the 16 can be used, so you already are down to a maximum of 16 blocks. If you look at the front and right pictures there are 12 blocks, therefore all that's left is arranging 12 blocks in 16 spaces to look like the front and right, which shouldn't take too much thought.
  • Dyabolik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5This was a lot of fun, took me around 30 minutes, this probably doesn’t make much sense, but I found it much easier if you use the top view and put as many blocks as possible into each indicated spot, then move onto the front and the side removing the necessary blocks.
    • hdtvdust, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It is easier than that. As Mr. Sidnet said above, just auto fill the entire cube, and then start with the top view and remove and part that has none, then do the same with the front view, and then the right. Then remove parts as necessary to get down to the number of cubes.

      You are basically doing the same thing, only making the first step a little harder.
  • VEKrueger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Fun game. Challenging at first, but once you get a system, it flows well. A great way to challenge your brain, and really tests how well you can streamline a complicated problem into an easy process. Good digg!
  • afruff23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2How do you do 5?
    • dfranks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0seriously.....it is the only one i am having any trouble with.
    • VEKrueger, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13I honestly found 5 to be the easiest of the bunch. Try working to meet the picture from the top first, then go from there.
    • dfranks, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0I was able to make it match the pictures, I just can't get the green dot on this one.
    • dfranks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12oh dear god. i am an idiot. yellow is better than green. just got it.
    • aximus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Every time i finished one i felt like a fool not seeing the solution in the first place :)

      Here's to make you feel like a fool: http://www.specto.nl/figuur5.jpg
    • stinkipete, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The idea is to get a yellow dot, not a green one ...
  • thegr8joe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Great, now I'm never going to get my work finished!
  • PENDRAG0N, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Would have been great to make rt click remove and left click to build - fun little distraction though.
  • errollw, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Have all the people who said it's easy got the shapes perfect then? As it's not hard to get a green circle meaning 'complete', but I think the real aim of the game is to use the least possible number of cubes and get the 'perfect' shapes
  • gheide, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1#6 can be done with 10 blocks... took me about 20 minutes for all of them... too easy
  • jp3550, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1great share, i enjoyed it.
  • everfalling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4i think oyu get yellow if you use exactly the number of blocks given, regardless if you made it with less.so some of my shapes are green because i'm a few under par.

    i can't seem to get #9 to be only 15
  • burgerboy06, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2easy as the high school cheer captain
  • Saan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The engineer in me feels the need to do way more of this game

    props to the maker
  • daotsc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This may be a little redundant but I felt it was not stated clearly above.

    Green = Your setup matches the isometric views (top, front and right)
    Yellow = Your set matches the isometric views and uses the number of cubes indicated in the bottom right corner (not one more, not one less)

    I am also curious if the first 5 puzzles are more difficult because of the learning curve or because puzzle is actually difficult.
    Anyone willing to try the last five before the first five and report their experience?
    • errollw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I did the first 2 (getting yellow dots) before realising the last 5 were easier and this made the last five a doddle compared to what I'd already done
  • exilesrugby, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0I was done in 30 seconds. beat that n00bs
  • mianus230, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i got about half of them on yellow, and the other need like two more blocks removed, but i can't figure them out
  • zephc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Easy peasy. How few can you get for #10? I got 16 is as low as you can go.
    • daotsc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6A puzzle cannot be solved with fewer blocks than the maximum number of blocks displayed in any of the three views. Therefor puzzle 10 requires at least 16 blocks to solve because all views contain 16 filled in squares.
    • kungfumaniac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2think symmetry.

      And Legos.
    • doddilus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1"A puzzle cannot be solved with fewer blocks than the maximum number of blocks displayed in any of the three views"

      you couldn't be more wrong
  • Mimi42, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Great and challenging game. In fact it is both easy and challenging at the same time, which is a perfect combination. However, it would have been even better if there were more than 10 puzzles to do, cause it didn't take as much time as I had hoped. But it was pretty entertaining, and it is a perfect solution to people, who are as bored as I am :)
  • uberlord, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I got all of them except #1. My recommendation is to not stay on 1 puzzle for more than 2 minutes, if you can't get it, move on to the next one. Sometimes a strategy is more obvious in one problem than another, and once you've learned that strategy you can apply it to the previous puzzles.

    But I still can't get #1... it seems impossible, though I know it isn't...
    • evi1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Follow the simple rule that no solid face should touch. (or look at how you did number 10)
  • yish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2go to the source: http://www.fi.uu.nl/thinklets/welcome.xml
  • btraut, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Again, follow the early advice given. If you start with a complete block, move to face each of the three respective sides, and cut away what is supposed to show through, the puzzles become very easy. In fact, after you do this, you're already finished with #5.

    It's one thing to not solve these puzzles. It's another to not solve them, ignore the given advice, and take the time to ask.
  • tuhn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0All yellow completed http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/9333/blocksdq5.jpg

    They are not hard, they are fun :)
  • estacado, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9#1 was the hardest.
  • azizrulez, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0easy as pie,
    although i got yellow on only 5,
    then i got bored.
  • kungfumaniac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+31 and 10 def the hardest.

    Just killed my productivity today.
  • scotland87, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Great game, however find it extremely easy when you fill the cube completely then remove any unnessecary squares instead of building it from scartch.
  • ShadowLady, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2got them all without spoilers, the first and last one were hardest in my opinion
  • nanotaboada, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's quite simple (but fun!), you just have to start always with the set full of bricks then just do a little of "sculpting".
  • M3wThr33, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I had the most trouble on #1. Then after that it all breezed by.
    Of course, my last game I made was a version of this but using tetris pieces.
    • Dycacian, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yeah I had the most trouble with #1... but mostly because that was the first one I tried. It took me a minute to figure out the best strategy. Once I got #1 the rest were cake. #5 was by far the easiest, but I made a stupid error and made it FAR more difficult than it needed to be.
  • hadak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1i thought that was going to be a challenge in the immediate ten minutes after i woke up. guess i was wrong.
  • Skint, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2There's a few different patterns you can do some of the larger ones also..
    http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m11/skint243/BloxOwned.jpg
  • Wolf393, on 10/12/2007, -1/+01 and 10 were tough. The rest weren't too bad. I just shared with the employees on my team. This should kill their productivity today.
  • CountryJustice, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Definitely good fun. Good way to wake me up this morning. :)
  • macrymble, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2#10 was my favorite! Did anyone else feel the similarity to sudoku on that one? (except in 3 dimensions, obviously)
    • mrgreenjeans, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I was just thinking that! All of them are, really.
  • krolyat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0This was easy...I love doing these type things while at work. Now to go back through and see if I can do any other ones with less cubes.
  • codemonkey314, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0wicked fun game!
  • Poon007, on 10/12/2007, -2/+110 out of 10
  • runxctry, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2now that i'm done, my c++ code looks funny now... consecutive letters are not really consecutive... i've just placed the letters to look consecutive.... what/??
  • warmonger48, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1One and Ten killed me......need MORE!!!
  • Almadiel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3neat, but way too easy
  • LembasBread, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1enoyable, but it is pretty easy to get greens. I have a pretty easy system to do it in less than 30sec. Now, getting the yellows.... that is a different story. I managed to get 5 yellows and 5 greens.
  • skooxboyx2xl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Pretty cool game, although the puzzles were not that hard. Got to yellow on all puzzles in less than 20 minutes.
  • lilkillumup, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It was easy once I figured out the trick. Took awhile to figure out what I was trying to do though. Definately got some time kill out of it.
  • durnekell2k, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Nice, but kinda easy
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