2D Sliding Puzzles

Sliding puzzles are composed of several tiles which lay in a defined geometric shape

and which are only moved by sliding. The objective is to rearrange the tiles

or to move one or several tiles to a specific position. Normally you only slide one tile at a moment.

Most sliding puzzles are plain, but this is not a necessity.

The geometric shape itself as well as the geometric shape and its tiles can be three-dimensional.

The geometric shape of the puzzle can be for example cylindric, spheric or cubic.

Up and down,

Left and right

Almost done,

Never right.

Sliding Puzzles with square tiles

a.) With square geometric

The most famous sliding puzzle is the 15 Puzzle. The puzzle was invented by Noys Palmer Chapman in 1880.

The idea is to slide the stones to order them from 1 to 15 starting by any initial random order.

In 1880 the puzzle became very popular in the USA and in many countries of the world.

Puzzle poems are very rare. But there are many poems about the 15 puzzle. Here are several examples:

One More Unfortunate.

She couldn't get the puzzle solved,

For lack of time-a minute,

And if you would avoid her fate,

Why, never you begin it.

Evening Gazette; Jervis Post, NY, March 11, 1880

Push, Brothers, Push

Push, brothers, push with care,

Push the 14 to the 15 square;

The 6 to the 7, and you've got it there;

The 10 to the 9, or you don't care where,

But the 15 and the 14 they will stick there.

Push, brothers, push with care

Till your minds are all a jumble and you tear your hair.

World; Utica Morning Herald, March 2, 1880.

The Gem Puzzle.

Full many a gem-the puzzle you have seen-

The dark, unfathomed caves of lying bare;

Full many a sorely puzzled wight, I ween,

Will lose his patience and will loudly swear.

But who, unto dumb foolishness a prey,

This pleasing, anxious puzzle e'er resigned

When he would lie, "I did it'other day,

But how, I cannot now quite bring to mind?"

Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault

If never any one believe their tales:

You know full well they'd scarcely earn their salt

By puzzling o'er it till their reason fails.

No further seek their lying to upbraid.

Or ask them how they did the blasted thing;

The puzzle 't is that liars them has made,

The wicked swear-words to their lips does bring.

Boston Transcript, February 12, 1880.

14 - 15 Puzzle/ The Boss Puzzle/The Gem Puzzle

Difficulty: simple

designed by Noyes Palmer Chapman 1880

Play

no copyrights

14 - 15 Puzzle/ The Boss Puzzle/The Gem Puzzle

Difficulty: simple

designed by Noyes Palmer Chapman 1880

Play

no copyrights

Imp Puzzle

Difficulty: simple

designed by Ernest U. Kinsey 1878

no copyrights

Magic Square

4 x 4

Olympic Sports

4 x 4

Bäumchen wechsel dich

You have to exchange the both trees

Difficulty: very simple

made by Clemens Gerhards KG

no copyrights

OUTTA GAS!

3 x 4

comes with 12 problems

Difficulty: very simple

made by POPULAR PLAYTHINGS (Huntar Company, Inc.)

7x2

made by PUSSYCAT

7 x 4

no copyrights

6x4

3 x 3

Difficulty: very simple

Animal World

3 x 3, 3 x 3

10x3

Miro

7 x 7

Difficulty: very simple

made by PUSSYCAT

Miro

7 x 7

Difficulty: very simple

made by PUSSYCAT

Airport Puzzle

7x7

made by PUSSYCAT

7x5

7x5

8x4

From

3 x 7

3 x 3

made by TAQUINZE

3 x 5

Proton

designed by Andrew Looney

made by Looney Labs

Bassie & Adriaan

5 x 3

4 x 2

Panda

3 x 4

3-D PUZZLE

Animal World

3 x 3, 3 x 3

DIGITS

designed by J�rgen Reiche

made by Siebenstein Spiele

COLOR MAGIC PUZZLE

b.) With letters

DEAD PIGS WONT FLY

DEAD PIGS FLY TOWN

made by Village Games Camden Lock London

THE CROSSWORD ADDICT PUZZLE

made by PUSSYCAT

From

made by The Henley Company of Craftsmen Limited

DirtyWord Puzzle

made by AMERICAN PUBLISHING CORP

Buchstabe

Solution: Whiskyproducent

designed by Hans Janmaat

made by TAQUINZE

c.) Magic Squares

The pieces have to slide in such a way that in every row and column as well as in both main diagonals is a different colour.

made by PUSSYCAT

MOZAIKOVA SKLADANKA

made by irisa

TAQUINZE

designed by Hans Janmaat

made by TAQUINZE

MAGIC 21 SQUARE

designed by Hans Janmaat

made by TAQUINZE

NINE O'CLOCK

designed by Hans Janmaat

made by TAQUINZE

d.) With some other geometric shapes

Time Puzzle

Once in this formation, never lift them out of the box again.

From the original position, slide the numbers around The Baffle

Blocks into the arrangement shown in problem 1. From the

solution of problem 1, try problem 2, and from its solution to

No.3, etc. If you get stuck and want to make a fresh start,

begin from the original position. (Consider the Baffle Blocs as

immovable, since they always occupy the position shown above.)

The puzzle has around 9 problems.

problem 2:

122 moves

Solution

The Baffle Blocks are immovable.

made by THE EMBOSSING CO., Albany , N.Y.

no copyrights

TUK-TAK

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

TUK-TAK

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

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Up & Down

designed by Jürgen Reiche

made by Siebenstein Spiele

WORK or GOLF / A Motor Garage Puzzle / The Sputnik Puzzle

8 pieces

43 moves

You have to switch the two words

Difficulty: medium

Solution

made by ThinkFun (BINARY ARTS)

designed by H. E. Dudeney

no copyrights

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HONOR & GLORY

similar puzzles: Black and White

10 pieces

42 moves

You have to switch the two words

Difficulty: medium

Solution

made by ThinkFun (BINARY ARTS)

no copyrights

Baustelle

Same puzzle as the HONOR & GLORY puzzle.

The red dot tiles can not move

Difficulty: medium

no copyrights

Billiards

designed by Josh Frankel

made by ThinkFun (BINARY ARTS)

DIAMOND BOB'S BILLIARDS 8 Ball Puzzle

made by ThinkFun (BINARY ARTS)

4 x 4

PANEX

31537 moves

The puzzle is very difficult to solve.

designed by Toshio Akanuma

made by Tricks Co. Ltd.

Four

designed by GMK, Brasilien

made by Philos

John Muir

The puzzle is double sided and has seven tiles.

Difficulty: very simple

designed by Roland Koch in Autumn 1999

made by KNOX Puzzles (Roland Koch)

JEU DES QUATRE COINS / The So-Easy / Aux Quatre Coins

17 moves

Solution

no copyrights

L'EVASION DIFFICILE / The Teaser (UK Patent No. 3492)

15 moves

The photo shows the start position.

Solution

made by Les Jeux et Jouets Francais, Paris

no copyrights

From

UNITED STATES Spelling Puzzle

no copyrights

no copyrights

From

WALT DISNEY SWITCHIT

Difficulty: easy

Playing Time: < 5 minutes

Nine Men in a Trench

Description

28 moves

Difficulty: easy

Playing Time: < 5 minutes

designed by H. E. Dudeney

Play

Solution

Dimension: 23 cm * 7 cm

no copyrights

THE PERPLEXING PALACE PUZZLE

Puzzle Design Competition 2012

IPP 32 Exchange / Washington, D.C.

designed by James Dalgety and Martin & Brian Scoefield

made by James Dalgety

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Schofield Puzzle (US patent: US 552721 Patented Jan. 7 1896)

Description

35 moves

Difficulty: easy

Playing Time: < 5 minutes

Solution

designed by Thomas F. Schofield

Dimension: 9.5 cm * 14.5 cm

no copyrights

front

comes with 2 problems

back

comes with 4 problems

e.) Combined with mazes

Most maze sliding puzzles have a ball and sliding tiles in a closed box. They have also two markers for the start and the end position.

The goal is to maneuver the ball from the start to the end position with use of the sliding tiles.

Very often, this puzzle type is also a dexterity puzzle. The ball can easily fall down from a sliding tile and you have to start from the beginning.

MAZE BALL GAME

Kugelpuzzle / The ball puzzle

Difficulty: simple

Schieblehre

made by Jean Claude Constantin

A Drive Down Lombard Street

IPP 29 Exchange / San Francisco

designed by Brian Young

made by Brian

f.) With square geometry, but where several tiles are blocking

Slide-Blocked Sliding Block

This puzzle was awarded the Grand Prize

at the 1988 Hikimi Wooden Puzzle Competition.

designed by Bill Cutler

made by Tom Lensch

Arrow puzzle

You have to change the color and the direction of the arrow.

The puzzle has three solutions with more then 112 moves

designed by Junichi Yananose before 1995

made by Pelikan

Arrow Blocks

designed by Goh Pit Khiam

made by Tom Lensch

Meiji Takenoko no Sato

Chocolate Coated Bamboo Shoot Shaped Cookies

Object : To get all the cookies to point away from the centre

Meiji Kinoko no Yama

Chocolate Coated Mushroom Shaped Cookies

Object : To get all the cookies to point away from the centre

STARDUST

Object: To get the star in the center

Zookeeper's nightmare

comes with 18 problems

made by Educational Insights

Climb Mt. Fuji

IPP 30 Exchange / Osaka + Hakone

designed by Jürg van Känel

made by Kreative Puzzles

Virus I

designed by Dov Nesis

made by ARLENCO TOYS AND GAMES C.C

g.) With square geometric, but several tiles can also rotate

TWISTING RINGS PUZZLE

designed by Dov Nesis

Oost West puzzel

designed by Mark Peters

made by Ton Delsing

TWISTED MIND PUZZLE

designed by Dov Nesis

Twist 'N Slide

it is really a kid toy

made by Popular Playthings

h.) special movements

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The Fan Puzzle / Propeller Puzzle

46 (41) moves

Difficulty: easy

Playing Time: < 15 minutes

IPP 24 Exchange / Tokyo

designed by Grabarchuk

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The Super Fan Puzzle

Problem 1:

68 (63) moves

Difficulty: easy

Playing Time: < 15 minutes

designed by Grabarchuk

Dimension: 11 cm * 14 cm

i.) frame can also be slided

This kind of sliding puzzle allows the frame also to be slided.

The goal is to move the frame from one side of the board to the other side.

In order to achieve this, pieces have to be slided appropriately.

The difficulty thereby is that the movement of the pieces is constrained.

This is either realised by the immobilisation of some stones or

by the presence of some pins on the board so that certain pieces can only be slided to certain positions.

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DOUBLE SLIDING

IPP 22 Exchange / Antwerp

designed by Dario Uri

The Sliding One Puzzle

42 (24) moves

designed by Serhiy Grabarchuk

Dimension: 14 cm * 10 cm

j.) other

SlideMaster / Battle the Space Aliens!

made by Dan Gilbert, Inc.

SlideMaster / Bad dogs are on the Loose!

made by Dan Gilbert, Inc.

From

Mind Lock

designed by Markus Peatling

3 level Puzzle

made by IBEX CORP. LTD

k.) Ton Delsing

Many of Ton Delsings puzzle designs are sliding puzzles with square tiles. Most of them look very simple to solve, but are very difficult.

I love Sliding Puzzles

made by LaserExact!

Sam Loyd 15 / 14 cracked?

IPP 28 Exchange / Prague

Designed by Ton Delsing

made by Peter Knoppers

CAT & DOG

One of Delsings best puzzles.

One tile in the middle can only move up and down.

If you do not use the two middle tiles,

you can only move the other tiles in a circle.

If you use the middle tiles, one tile will get out of the center

and another tile from the opposite has to move to the center.

problem 1:

212 moves

Solution

problem 2:

212 moves

Solution

made by LaserExact!

Missing 1-8

made by LaserExact!

Ton's Sliding 15

made by LaserExact!

Squares

made by LaserExact!

Spider's Web

made by LaserExact!

Hole 19

made by LaserExact!

I love puzzle

IPP 31 Exchange / Berlin

designed by Ton Delsing

l.) Serhiy Grabarchuk

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PUZZLE IMPOSSIBLE

made by HANAYAMA

The Sliding Matchstick Fish Puzzle

Rearrange the pieces in such a way that the matchstick fish swims

in an opposite direction as shown on the right.

60 moves

designed by Peter Grabarchuk

made by Ton Delsing

=>

Return to the Future

29 moves

made by Ton Delsing

The Snake with Diamonds

designed by P. Grabarchuk

made by Ton Delsing

One Fish, Another Fish

Make the fish shown in the right figure

36 moves

Difficulty: medium

Playing Time: < 30 minutes

Solution

Dimension: 12 cm * 15 cm

The Two Butterflies Puzzle

Change the two cocoons into the two butterflies

40 moves

Dimension: 14 cm * 10 cm

m.) Hans van der Zon

Change of Heart

IPP 25 Exchange / Helsinki

designed by Hans van der Zon

made by Buttonius Puzzles & Plastics

Slidy 7.a.1

designed by Hans van der Zon

made by LaserExact!

Dancing Square

IPP 31 Exchange / Berlin

designed by Hans van der Zon

made by LaserExact!

Slide & turn

designed by Hans van der Zon

made by LaserExact!

Symbols Mix

designed by Hans van der Zon

made by LaserExact!

Slidy Cupido

designed by Hans van der Zon

made by LaserExact!

Slidy 8.a.1

designed by Hans van der Zon

made by LaserExact!

n.) Vladimir Krasnoukhov

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

The Luckless Angler

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

PHOTOROBOT

If you examine the image carefully,

you will find on the left side Slocum Puzzles and

on the right side Gillen & Gitt and NOB'S PUZLETOPIA

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

PHOTOROBOT

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

AEROFLOT

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

BETWIXT AND BETWEEN

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

The Tricky Hedgehog

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

The Little Bear

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

Hermit's dominoes

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

IPP 16 Exchange / Luxemburg

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

Sliding Puzzles with rectuangular tiles

Tokyo Parking

is the same puzzle as Rush Hour

designed by Nob Yoshigahara

Rush Hour

designed by Nob Yoshigahara

made by ThinkFun (BINARY ARTS)

Snakes in a Plane

The concept is the same as by Rush Hour,

the puzzle is only made in Oskar style

IPP 28 Exchange / Prague

designed by Oskar van Deventer

made by Buttonius Puzzles & Plastics

=>

Israelogi

161 moves

designed by Junk Kato

Adam & Eve

You have to interchange Adam and Eve

56 moves

IPP 17 Exchange / San Francisco

designed by Nob Yoshigahara

The Flag

31 moves

same puzzle: Butterfly

Difficulty: simple

IPP 25 Exchange / Helsinki

designed by Stewart Coffin

made by Stewart Coffin

Butterfly

31 moves

same puzzle: The Flag

Difficulty: simple

Puzzle Design Competition 2005

designed by Stewart Coffin

made by Tom Lensch

CHICKEN SHUFFLE

comes with 48 problems

Five transparent rectuangular pieces which have 5 chickens

on the top lie over a background picture.

The background picture shows some eggs and animals.

The goal is to slide the pieces in such a way

that the chickens on top of the pieces cover the eggs,

but not the animals.

designed by Raf Peeters

made by smartgames

Broken Heart

designed by Junichi Yananose

Who's the boss ?

made by Siebenstein Spiele

SMARTPHONE

comes with 32 problems

designed by Raf Peeters

made by smartgames

A Slide-ly Tricky Tower

IPP 19 Exchange / London

designed by Lee Yee Dian

The Nightmare

made by Siebenstein Spiele

Sliding Puzzles with square and rectuangular tiles

a.) from various designers:

Zwirbel

made by HABA

meet me at the corner

9 pieces

52 moves

Solution

designed by Michael Toulouzas

made by Michael Toulouzas

Something Japanese

designed by LEVEL-5 Inc.

made by BANDAI

Schieb' den Saurier durch die Stadt!

made by VOCK Spiele

no copyrights

Schieb das Nashorn von der Bank / Dad's Puzzler

2 problems

problem 1:

59 moves

Solution

problem 2:

29 moves

Solution

made by VOCK Spiele

no copyrights

Khun Phan / Khum Pan / Quo vadis / Klotski / L'Ane Rouge

10 pieces

81 moves

Solution

designed by J. H. Fleming in 1932

patented in England, patent number 411515

Difficulty: difficult

no copyrights

no copyrights

Fence The Cow

Durst-Strecke

made by Bartl

Get My Goat / Kapture the Kron Prinz / The Boogie Man / Helio Puzzle

28 moves

Solution

made by HIKIMI

designed by J. I. Wiley (US patent1 112 746) /

R. W. Hunter and J.C. Wilson (UK patent 110 186)

HELIPORT / Get My Goat

Object: To put the Helicopter in the center

28 moves

Solution

made by HIKIMI

Get My Goat

28 moves

Solution

Goal

Pentangle

Hooked

Pentangle

Howzatt

Pentangle

Pit Stop

Pentangle

Buddelschiff

made by Siebenstein Spiele

ROADSIDE RESCUE

designed by Hank Atkins

made by ThinkFun (BINARY ARTS)

comes with 2 problems

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

made by Vladimir Krasnoukhov

designed by Jean Claude Constantin

made by Jean Claude Constantin

CHECKMATE

designed by W.G.H. Strijbos

made by PUSSYCAT

SLIDING BLOCK PUZZLE

The goal is to exchange the number 1 and 3.

Number 2 remain in the same position.

designed by S.S. Adams

made in England

Logik 3

a very simple sliding puzzle

you have to slide the pieces in 18 moves,

so that the yellow pieces make an archway.

The photo shows the start position.

made by Kamenzer Spielwaren GmbH

QWIK-SANE

35 moves

designed by J. R. O'Neil

made by WFF'N PROOF

347

comes with 3 problems

IPP 16 Exchange / Luxemburg

LB

IPP 25 Exchange / Helsinki

designed by Toshi (Junk) Kato

made by Toshi (Junk) Kato

Sunbeams

95 moves

Solution

Lung

made by Siebenstein Spiele

Feld und Wald

made by Verlag W. Girardet Essen

Tiger Triple Teaser

comes with 3 problems

IPP 19 Exchange / London

designed by Sherley E. Stotts

made by Interlocking Puzzles

Linking Rings

comes with 2 problems

IPP 30 Exchange / Osaka + Hakone

designed by Kohfuh Satoh

DAS FÜNFLINGS-PUZZLE / Line up the Quinties!

Line up the Quinties!

made by THE EMBOSSING CO., Albany , N.Y.

no copyrights

=>

Magic Domino

Puzzle Design Competition 2011

IPP 31 Exchange / Berlin

designed by W.G.H. Strijbos

Spotcheck Puzzle

needs 224 Moves to solve

made by Pentangle

BUDGET CRISIS PUZZLE

IPP 32 Exchange / Washington, D.C.

9 pieces

comes with 12 problems

designed by Dick Hess and Neil Bickford

made by Walter Hoppe, Laser Perfect

Schiebung

made by Siebenstein Spiele

TRICKY NUMBERS

IPP 29 Exchange / San Francisco

designed by Ton Delsing

8 Queens

9 pieces 8 sliding pieces

designed by Gennady Yarkovoy

Proton-Puzzle

comes with 5 problems

designed by Vladimir Krasnoukhov and Irina Novichkova

made by Vlaidmir Krasnoukhov

Helio puzzle

designed by Nob Yoshigahara

made by Hikimi

b.) Serhiy Grabarchuk

The Bat Puzzle

IPP 19 Exchange / London

designed by Grabarchuk

The 9 Puzzle

57 moves

designed by Peter Grabarchuk / Serhiy Grabarchuk Jr.

made by Ton Delsing

=>

=>

CARD SYMBOL PUZZLE

33 moves

Difficulty: easy

Playing Time: < 5 minutes

designed by Grabarchuk

made by GRIFFIOEN DESIGN, NL

The Christmas slide

designed by Grabarchuk

made by Ton Delsing

The Sliding Arrow Through the Bottle Puzzle

The object of the puzzle is getting the arrow through the bottle.

32 moves

Solution

designed by Grabarchuk

Dimension: 14 cm * 11 cm

The Sliding Arrow Through the Bottle Puzzle

Solution

Dimension: 14 cm * 11 cm

c.) Herman Witteveen

EXPLODE

IPP 14 Exchange / Seattle

designed by Herman Witteveen

ONETOTEN

IPP 16 Exchange / Luxemburg

designed by Herman Witteveen

Sliding Puzzles with square, rectuangular and L-shape tiles

a.) from various designers:

Platzwechsel / Escott Puzzle

48 moves

Solution

designed by Edward Escott, 1938

made by Philos

S(lide) & P(lace) Jr.

27 moves

designed by Hiroshi Yamamoto

Harlekin / Ma's Puzzle (US patent 1927: US 1 633 397)

comes with 2 problems

Problem 1:

23 moves

Difficulty: easy

Solution

Problem 2:

37 moves

Difficulty: easy

Solution

designed by C. L. Diamond

made by HABA

no copyrights

LeoLei

24 moves

designed by D.Sam Cornwell

made by HABA

Alef Bet

190 moves

designed by Minoru Abe

Slide-Trom-Bones

comes with 5 problems

IPP 20 Exchange / Los Angeles

designed by Harry Nelson

made by Interlocking Puzzles

Get the Square out / Quadrat raus

designed by Bernhard Schweitzer

made by Philos

Something Japanese

designed by LEVEL-5 Inc.

made by BANDAI

Sink or Swim

comes with 50 problems

made by POPULAR PLAYTHINGS (Huntar Company, Inc.)

=>

1999 - 2000 Puzzle

89 moves

IPP 19 Exchange / London

designed by Rodolfo Kurchan and Serhiy Grabarchuck

LE RETIF

IPP 26 Exchange / Boston

made by Marcel Gillen

no copyrights

16 - I - P - P

comes with 3 problems

designed by Serhiy Grabarchuk and Peter Grabarchuk

Dimension: 9.5 cm * 8 cm

Maggies's Farm

comes with 10 problems

designed by MINE (Mineyuki Uyematsu)

made by DYLAN-Kobo

b.) Diniar Namdarian

Sliding Chess

The purpose of sliding chess is to mate the opposing king by sliding from an existing mate position.

Thereby, it has to be considered that the existing pattern of the chess board is maintained.

=>

=>

=>

=>

=>

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Sliding Chess Mate in 96

96 moves

9 pieces

Solution

designed by Diniar Namdarian

Dimension: 12 cm * 12 cm

Sliding Chess Mate in 34

34 moves

9 pieces

Difficulty: easy

Playing Time: 5 minutes

Solution

designed by Diniar Namdarian

Dimension: 12 cm * 12 cm

Sliding Chess Mate in 55

55 moves

9 pieces

Difficulty: medium

Solution

designed by Diniar Namdarian

Dimension: 12 cm * 12 cm

Sliding Chess Mate in 70

70 moves

9 pieces

Solution

designed by Diniar Namdarian

Dimension: 12 cm * 12 cm

Sliding Chess Mate in 36

36 moves

9 pieces

Difficulty: medium

Playing Time: < 45 minutes

Solution

designed by Diniar Namdarian

Dimension: 12 cm * 12 cm

Sliding Chess Mate in 60

60 moves

9 pieces

Solution

designed by Diniar Namdarian

Dimension: 12 cm * 12 cm

Sliding Chess Mate in 50

50 moves

9 pieces

Solution

designed by Diniar Namdarian

Dimension: 12 cm * 12 cm

Sliding Chess Mate in 38

38 moves

9 pieces

Difficulty: easy - medium

Playing Time: < 30 minutes

Solution

designed by Diniar Namdarian

Dimension: 12 cm * 12 cm

Fish and Swan

9 pieces

52 moves

Difficulty: medium

designed by Diniar Namdarian

=>

Arrow Block

36 moves

8 pieces

Solution

designed by Diniar Namdarian

=>

Clouds and Sheep

IPP 33 Exchange / Narita, Japan

10 pieces

problem 2:

96 moves

Playing Time: > 3 hours

Solution

problem 3:

113 moves

Playing Time: > 4 hours

Solution

designed by Diniar Namdarian

Dimension: 17 cm * 9.5 cm

Challenges:

=>

=>

=>

38 moves

Difficulty: very easy

Playing Time: < 5 minutes

Solution

46 moves

Difficulty: very easy

Playing Time: < 5 minutes

Solution

55 moves (78 steps)

Solution

=>

=>

=>

76 moves

Solution

104 moves

106 moves

=>

=>

113 moves

118 moves

Solution

Sliding puzzles with triangle tiles

Triolo

The problem is to slide the pieces, so that the three dark

pieces forms a hexagon.

There are two solutions:

One solution needs 21 moves,

and the other solution needs 27 moves.

designed by Hanns-Helmut L¨ders

Triangolo

designed by Lothar Hannapel

made by HABA

Derrick's Triangle Slider

IPP 19 Exchange / London

designed by Derrick Schneider

made by Kadon Enterprises

Sliding puzzles with hexagonal tiles

=>

NINEFIELD

designed by D.Sam Cornwell in 1992

The Shield Puzzle

Rearrange the pieces into the position shown on the right

52 moves

designed by Grabarchuk

Dimension: 11.5 cm * 14 cm

Sliding puzzles with other tile shapes

a.) from various designers:

Labyrinth 88

designed by MINE (Mineyuki Uyematsu)

Schiebeschloß

18 moves are needed to open it

designed by Jean Claude Constantin

made by Jean Claude Constantin

Anti-Virus

designed by Oskar van Deventer

made by smartgames

The Quadrion Puzzle

120 moves

designed by Serhiy Grabarchuk

made by HIKIMI

Slide in Slide

IPP 28 Exchange / Prague

Object: To swap the positions of the green

and red pieces

36 moves

designed by Hiroshi Yamamoto

The Stuck Drawer

IPP 28 Exchange / Prague

designed by Goh Pit Khiam

Rebuild Jerusalem

261 moves

designed by Ili Kaufman

Dog & Balls

IPP 27 Exchange / Australia

designed by MINE (Mineyuki Uyematsu)

STAR DOCK

designed by Douglas A. Engel

made by Douglas A. Engel

b.) Serhiy Grabarchuk

Grabarchuk is apart from Minoru Abe one of the most important sliding puzzles designers.

He has already designed more than 120 different sliding puzzles (partly together with his children)

with big differences in their functionality. Various elements such as material, frames, cubes or the board

show their advantage in his sliding designs. The sliding pieces in many of his sliding puzzles

differ from many other designers.

Thus, he likes to use pieces which consist of two layers.

His most popular sliding designs are: Slant Slide, The Super Fan Puzzle, Sliding Stones,

Two Sliding Squares and The 9 Puzzle

The Beetle

Exchange the two color squares on Beetle's back.

another puzzles.

You may turn any of these two Beetles on

90, 180 and 270 by sliding of the pieces only

(no turnung of the tray

and the the pieces is allowed).

53 moves

The object is to exchange the yellow and the red block

made by BITS & PIECES

PuzzleScope

IPP 22 Exchange / Antwerp

made by Kadon Enterprises

Replacement 3x4

IPP 27 Exchange / Australia

designed by Serhiy Grabarchuk

made by Walter Hoppe, Laser Perfect

=>

Hole in One / Sliding Stones

22 moves

Solution

made by BITS & PIECES

=>

SLIDING BUBBLE CAR PUZZLE

38 (34) moves

designed by Serhiy Grabarchuk

made by GRIFFIOEN DESIGN, NL

THE SLIDING THREE

designed by Peter Grabarchuk and Serhiy Grabarchuk

Dimension: 8 cm * 14 cm

=>

Sliding Matches

11 moves

designed by Serhiy Grabarchuk Jr.

Dimension: 12 cm * 12 cm

c.) Minoru Abe

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Block 10

comes with 25 problems

Kuroko & Dairu

85 moves

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TRAP Puzzle

TRAP Puzzle

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neo BLACK&WHITE

190 moves

designed by Minoru Abe

Egg Puzzle

22 moves

Difficulty: easy

Playing Time: < 10 minutes

SOLO

35 moves

designed by Minoru Abe

Diavolo / SOLO

35 moves

designed by Minoru Abe

made by Siebenstein Spiele

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Tricky?

comes with 5 problems

Angel & Satan

74 moves

designed by Minoru Abe

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Heart in puzzle

28 moves

RUNAWAY

Sliding beads on a graph

A mathematical object, which is a set of nodes and edges, is called a graph. Two nodes can be connected by an edge.

If you interpret a position as a node, where a bean can lay, and the edge as a path, where a bean can move to the next position.

TEN LITTLE NIGGER BOYS

no copyrights

no copyrights

Automobile

no copyrights

QUESTION DU JOUR / La Grange Question / Columbia Puzzle

no copyrights

Autour Du Moulin

same puzzle as Le Moulin Rouge

made by N.K. Paris

no copyrights

Le Moulin Rouge

made by Les Jeux et Jouets Francais, Paris

no copyrights

THE NOT-SO-EASY-TEN

IPP 11 Exchange

designed by Len Gordon

Play

The Thirteen Puzzle

IPP 11 Exchange

comes with 2 problems

problem 2: start- same as above

finish-consecutive order 1 to 12

clockwise around sides with 13 in original position

original was made by

COLUMBIA NOVELTY MANUFACTURING CO. BOSTON, MASS.

THE SEVENTEEN PUZZLE

IPP 17 Exchange

Billiards 9-Ball Puzzle

designed by Joshua Frankel

made by ThinkFun (BINARY ARTS)

Nutzy Numbers / Tantalising 7

/ Nutty Numbers / The KNIGHT's Puzzle

comes with 4 problems

made by E.S. LOWE COMPANY, INC.

Play

ROW TO ROW

The same puzzle as Tower of Hanoi

motyla Hezulanka

Leapin' Lizards

designed by Larry Nichols

made by ThinkFun (BINARY ARTS)

Disk

made by www.roscreative.ru

NON IPP Puzzle

comes with 2 problems

The goal for both puzzle is to rearrange the markers

to spell the word NIPPON

IPP 21 Exchange / Tokyo

designed by Michael A. Tanoff

Colorix

made by HABA

From

The New "15" Puzzle

made by British Manufacture

ATHENA

comes with 50 problems

designed by Robert Aubrey Hearn

made by POPULAR PLAYTHINGS (Huntar Company, Inc.)

Try Angles / STC #251

IPP 31 Exchange / Berlin

designed by Stewart Coffin

made by Stewart Coffin

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InOut

12 moves

Difficulty: simple

designed by Frank Stark

made by Clemens Gerhards KG

Soko or Warehouse puzzles

Treasure Quest

designed by Harry Nelson

made by ThinkFun (BINARY ARTS)

Lunar Lockout

designed by Hiroshi Yamamoto

made by ThinkFun (BINARY ARTS)

Pete's Pike

same puzzle as Lunar Lockout,

now with goats instead of robots

designed by Hiroshi Yamamoto

made by ThinkFun (BINARY ARTS)

SOKOBAN IPP 13

IPP 13 Exchange / Amsterdam

designed by Lee Yee Dian

Designing Slidingpuzzles

A beautiful sliding puzzle is not only defined by its geometry, but also by its design.

The design should be optically appealing and at the same time show quickly the task.

Here are two examples:

The arrow should pass through the bottle, shouldn't it?

There are no flying sheep, are there?

There are two possibilities of inventing a new sliding puzzle:

First possibility:

You invent first the design and think afterwards of how the pieces could be geometrically arranged.

Example:

Design idea:

We like to go from a black checkmate position in chess by sliding into a white checkmate position.

As an 8 x 8 board is too big, I restrict myself to a 4 x 4 board.

Design:

Here are both chess positions:

If we depicted each field with a sliding piece, then we would get an ordinary 1 -15 puzzle.

Therefore for an interesting sliding game, it makes sense that some sliding pieces consist of two or three fields.

Some chess figures are in one of both positions near the border or next to another figure.

Therefore, there is a strong restriction which fields can be put together.

We see on this example that the design has a strong influence on the geometrical position of the sliding pieces.

With this approach, the sliding pieces have neither at the beginning nor at the end a beautiful symmetrical position.

Second possibility:

First, you think of the position of the pieces and then you look for an appropriate design.

Of course it is possible to take any possible geometrical order, but who will remember its solution?

It is necessary to refer all the time to the appropriate task paper.

A symmetrical order at the beginning and at the end has the charm that the solution stays in the focus.

The design should not only be aesthetically, but also show quickly what needs to be done.

Example:

We choose two L � pieces and place them on the opposite side of a 3 x 6 field.

We put 1 x 1 pieces on the additional fields, whereby we leave both central fields empty.

Can the pieces above be exchanged with the pieces below?

As they can be relatively quickly exchanged, we make the puzzle more difficult

by substituting two 1 x 1 sliding pieces with a 1 x 2 sliding piece.

The result is the following:

Design:

If we interpret above as heaven and below as earth, then we get the following picture:

Several design tips:

A puzzle design should neither look complicated nor confusing. In most cases, one or two little changes are sufficient

to design the puzzle in an easier and more appealing way.

Many sliding puzzles use numbers and letters. However, numbers remind very much of the school days and seem to be complicated.

Especially girls are scared by such sliding puzzles. If numbers are used in a sliding puzzle, then only an ascending

or a descending sort of the sliding pieces is possible. If numbers are substituted by figures, then the puzzle gets more appealing.

More problem situations are also very often possible.

Difficulty:

In general, the more moves are necessary for the shortest solution (number of the minimal steps),

the more difficult is the sliding puzzle. The number of the pieces is no indicator for the difficulty of the puzzle.

In general:

Main Designers

Minoru Abe

Ton Delsing

Serhiy Grabarchuk

Diniar Namdarian

Literature

Jantine Bloemhof Schuif puzzels

Serhiy Grabarchuk NEO SLIDING BLOCK PUZZLES

Serhiy Grabarchuk NEO SLIDING BLOCK PUZZLES Part 2

Serhiy Grabarchuk, Jr. UniSliders

Edward Hordern Sliding Piece Puzzles

Jerry Slocum The 15 Puzzle book

Shops

TAQUINZE http://taquinze.nl/

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