Gift Card Puzzle Vault
Gift cards are unfortunately the maligned gift of the giver. Everyone loves to receive a gift card, but the person choosing the gift always feels like they should have put in more effort during the gift selection process. Hmm… no one wants to give a gift card, but everyone wants to get one… sad really that our societal ideas are so misaligned. Well ThinkGeek is here to help you get rid of your gift card giving angst once and for all. Pick up one of these handy Gift Card Puzzle Vaults and pop in your favorite gift card of choice. Now when you deliver the the Gift Card Puzzle Vault with a flourish, your gift recipient will be tantalized by the sight of the gift card encased in a clear plastic maze. Your giftee needs to navigate the metal ball bearing through the maze before the interior chamber can be opened and the gift card released. Somehow being stuck inside a puzzle makes your gift seem about 10 times cooler… plus you get vicarious pleasure from watching your friends and loved ones struggle to open the damn thing. Now that’s the true joy of giving!
$4.99
Adam’s Cube 6-in-1 PuzzleWe’ll never be tired of puzzles. There’s something about all the spatial reasoning, feeling the zips and zaps of our parietal lobe, that’s just satisfying. Whether it’s attempting to beat our best time on the Rubik’s Cube or finagling with a new Japanese Pocket Puzzle, we can’t think of a better thing to do with our hands while the router is rebooting. Adam’s Cube combines six games in one. Each side of this translucent cube offers a new challenge, as players attempt to arrange the five puzzle pieces within a polygon frame. Some are more complex than others; solve one and move on to the next for lasting fun. Ingenious design allows game pieces and instruction booklet to be stored inside the cube for the next round. Product Specifications WARNING: Choking hazard. Contains small parts. Not for children under 3. Recommended ages: 8+ A beautiful puzzle with architectural roots Combines 6 games in one 5 pieces which when arranged correctly will completely fill the geometric puzzle frame on each side of the cube Removable cover on one side provides convenient storage of puzzle pieces Constructed of semi-translucent sky blue plastic, 3.75″ on all sides Includes instructions and solutions (for you cheaters out there)
$9.99
Gordian’s Knot Puzzle“Turn him to any cause of policy, The Gordian Knot of it he will unloose, Familiar as his garter.” (Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 1 Scene 1. 45–47) Storytime! (Got your teddy?) Once upon a time, the Phrygians were without a king. An oracle said, “The next guy to come into the city on an ox-cart should be king!” (How that idiot became an oracle, we don’t know.) All eyes turned to the road, awaiting the next ox-cart. And sure enough, one arrived, driven by a peasant man, Gordias. “Hooray!” the priests shouted. “We have a king!” An eagle even landed on the cart, probably to eat some of his food, but whatever, it was taken as a sign from the gods. Blammo, king. To remind himself of his lucky break and thank the gods for ending his peasant life, he erected a shrine with the wagon, which he dedicated to the gods. He tied a complex Turkish knot – the kind of knot with no ends exposed – which served as a centerpiece of the shrine. The rope hardened with age and people tried to untie it but never could. The oracles, apparently bored with the way life was going, started rumors that whoever loosed the knot would rule over all of Asia. Many men tried to undo the knot and failed. You know who solved it? Alexander the Great. He solved it with a sword, proving that violence is the answer. We don’t recommend taking a sword to your Gordian’s Knot Puzzle, but hey, it’s your money. The puzzle has six colorful interlocking pieces that you must pull and slide to take apart. Seems easy – only 6 pieces, right? Yeah, it takes 69 moves to solve it. Jacob, one of our code monkeys, was able to figure it out and now he’s demanding we pay him a salary befitting a world ruler. The rest of us had to flip through the solution book and solve it the wimpy, cheating way. This puzzle will delight puzzle geeks and drive the rest of the world insane. But that’s how we like you – just a wee bit crazy. Yes, we are aware that it should be the Gordian Knot, not Gordian’s Knot. If we had named this product, we would have been accurate. We apologize that our vendor was not as… meticulous.
$9.99
Zig Zag Knot PuzzleEver been to one of those corporate group hug events? You know, the kind that involve talk of fish or paradigms. The kind with “fun activities” like icebreakers and group presentations? We shiver just thinking about it. One of these “getting closer to your coworkers” activities is the human knot, in which everybody holds hands, gets twisted into a big blob of arms and legs, and then – as a team! – you have to untangle yourselves. It always ends poorly with dislocated shoulders and faces getting too close to crotches. DO NOT WANT. SRSLY. This is why we believe that knot-untangling is a solo activity. The Zig Zag Knot Puzzle is elegant and cunning. It looks like it would be straightforward and easy to solve, but it’s anything but easy. Slide each piece in the correct 37-move sequence to take the Knot apart. Every move will untangle a bit of the knot, but there’s only one right answer! Just in case your abstract thinking and problem solving skills aren’t in tip-top shape, a solution guide is included that shows the 37-move sequence and full instructions for restoring the Zig Zag Knot to its original form. Product Specifications WARNING: Choking hazard. Not for children under 3. Recommended ages: 8 – adult Elegant and cunning puzzle looks like a colorful knot 6 brightly colored interlocking pieces make up the Zig Zag Knot Only one 37-move sequence unlocks the knot Includes step-by-step solution guide and reassembly instructions Learning Skills: Pattern Recognition, Abstract Thinking, Problem Solving
$9.99
Fiendish Japanese Pocket PuzzleThese palm size puzzles are almost too deviously evil to inflict on you and your friends. The moment these solid metal precision crafted monstrosities arrived from Japan, productivity at the ThinkGeek world headquarters dropped to an all time low as puzzle solving obsession kicked in. In fact we barely had time to write this description because we’ve been fiddling with these lovely things for days. The Fiendish Japanese Pocket Puzzles are based on classic mechanical puzzles from around the world. What makes these puzzles so appealing is how you always seem to be on the verge of solving them. The precision metal casting becomes apparent as you try to separate the parts of each one to solve it. They are just sooo close to coming apart you will be cringing with delight. Solutions are NOT included… but maybe if you call us and ask us nicely we’ll give you a hint… that is as soon as we solve ours. We’re offering four different difficulty levels of the Fiendish Japanese Pocket Puzzles. We would rate level 3 as “solvable if you fiddle with it long enough”. While level 6 is “insanely hard and requires some serious thought”. If you solve one of the level 6 puzzles snap a photo and e-mail it to us… we’ll certainly bow to your superhuman puzzle solving prowess.
$12.99
Pentominoes 3D Puzzle CubesFive squares connected at their edges is what forms a Pentomino. Guess what? There are only 12 different configurations you can make (we’re not counting any that are just reflections or rotations of already present designs). And life gets even crazier when you pop them into 3D! But what do you do with Pentominoes? You use them to solve all sorts of mathematical puzzles! It’s for your brain’s benefit that we present unto you these Pentominoes 3D Puzzle Cubes. Each set of Pentominoes 3D Puzzle Cubes comes with all 12 pieces and a guide booklet with over 50 different puzzles. You’ll challenge your geometry skills, your critical thinking skills, your nunchuk skills – all of ‘em. Hey, did you know that Arthur C. Clarke loved Pentominoes (they appeared in his novel Imperial Earth)? It’s true – and if Sir Clarke would have had his way, David Bowman and HAL would have been playing with Pentominoes (instead of chess) in the movie 2001! So not only are Pentominoes 3D Puzzle Cubes important to math and brain function, but they have a deep connection to sci-fi. Double win! Pentominoes 3D Puzzle Cubes Twelve 3D pieces form hundreds of combinations, sharpening basic geometry and problem-solving skills. Guide includes over 50 puzzles, with 3 levels of skill. An updated, 3D version of the classic puzzle loved by many – including Arthur C. Clarke! Ages: 8 and up. Includes: 12 Pentominoes pieces and a 23 page guide booklet. Single Cube Dimensions: 0.75″ cubed (and do the math to figure out the dimensions of each piece).
$16.99
36 Cube – World’s Most Challenging PuzzleASTRA Best Toy for Kids List – 2009 Parents’ Choice Gold Award – 2009 iParenting Media Awards Best Products of 2009 Our copywriter monkey will admit she both loves and hates puzzles. She enjoys figuring things out and the vast sense of accomplishment when a puzzle is defeated, but if she can’t figure something out she’ll throw a mental tantrum and lose sleep for weeks. Srsly, she’ll have dreams about the puzzle and come in to work looking like a pink-haired zombie. If you are like her, the 36 Cube is not for you. You will probably lose sleep, friends, family, your job, and your house in the attempt to figure it out. Now that you’ve had the warning, read on… The 36 Cube is a 3D sudoku puzzle that consists of a gray base that looks like a city skyline and 36 colored towers. The towers come in six different colors and six different heights. Your mission – should you accept it – is to place all the towers onto the base and form a level cube with each of the six colors appearing once and only once in each row and column. It seems simple until you get 34 of the 36 towers placed and then realize you’ve done something wrong and have to start all over again. What’s even more unnerving – you can’t solve this puzzle by writing a computer program to do the logic for you. You’ll have to rely on your own brain, nerds. Good luck.
$17.99
Creative Puzzle PegParents of wee geeks know that there’s nothing cuter than getting your geekling together for playdates with other geeklings of similar age. Of course, while the cute reigns supreme, you know everyone is secretly comparing their geekling to the others. Susie’s boy is the tallest, Donna’s girl started talking first, Anne’s boy looks the most like Captain Picard. While looking like a Starfleet captain is important, you really want to be sure your wee geek is the smartest. The Creative Peg Puzzle is five puzzles in one! Each of the four pieces of the base has a post with little nubs on it. Match the slots in the brightly colored shapes with the nubs on the post and then twist the piece as it goes down to the bottom. It’s one step further than the usual sort and stack puzzle, so you can be sure your wee geek’s brain grows bigger and better as a result. The four bases can be used by four wee geeks in a puzzle party or they can be fit together as its own part of the puzzle.
$19.99
Mirrorkal Escher PuzzleM.C. Escher was the original Inception-style architect. He created these amazing images that you could get lost in for hours. If we were zombies, we’d eat his brain just to acquire the knowledge of how to make drawings like his. (That’s how it works, right? Eat brain, acquire powers?) In this puzzle game, five of Escher’s iconic images are scrambled into a mirror-based puzzle by Ivan Moscovich, who was lucky enough to meet Escher in 1964. The product of these two geniuses is the Mirrorkal Escher Puzzle. The plastic base has bits of Escher drawings around the inside edges. Each of the nine cubes has bits of Escher drawings on the sides and a mirror in the middle. Arrange the cubes in the base to form one of Escher’s famous drawings. It’s devious and difficult and oh-so-much fun! The perfect gift for puzzle fiends, art school students, and art teachers. Product Specifications A challenging puzzle for art lovers, featuring the works of M.C. Escher For ages 7 – adult Arrange the mirrored cubes inside the tray to form one of Escher’s drawings Durable plastic tray has bits of the drawings on the inner walls Each of 9 cubes has bits of the drawings and a mirror Holes in the bottom of the tray make it easy to pop out incorrectly placed cubes Solve 5 puzzles: Hand with Reflecting Sphere (1935) Sky and Water 1 (1938) Reptiles (1943) Drawing Hands (1948) Print Gallery (1956) An excellent gift for art students and teachers Dimensions: Tray: 5.25″ x 5.25″ x 1.5″ Mirrored Cubes: 1.25″
$19.99
Frabjous Sculpture PuzzleThe Frabjous Sculpture Puzzle is a sculpture and geometric assembly puzzle. The swirling geometric form is composed of thirty identical pieces. Mathematically, the planes of the shape are the face planes of a “great rhombic triacontahedron,” a self-intersecting polyhedron with thirty rhombic faces. But the puzzle piece is a carefully designed subset of the rhombus that doesn’t intersect copies of itself. Ok, so we copied most of that from the back of the Frabjous Sculpture Puzzle box. It’s written by the sculpture’s designer, George Hart (the Chief of Content at the Museum of Mathematics), and is very mathematical sounding. We think the Frabjous Sculpture Puzzle looks like a pretty flower. You will find it very challenging to put together (each piece is the same -sheesh!), but also very rewarding once it’s completed. With your Frabjous Sculpture Puzzle assembled achievement unlocked, you will be propelled to the top of your social circle. Or, at least, you’ll feel more awesome than you already are. Mathematical! Frabjous Sculpture Puzzle 30 identical pieces combine to form a beautiful geometric sculpture. Pieces are laser cut, blue frosted acrylic. Recommended for ages 16+. Includes: 30 pieces and instructions. Assembled Dimensions: 6" x 6″ x 6″
$29.99
