Today, I bring you a classic puzzle produced by ThinkFun, the Spin-Out, which was invented by William Keister in 1970 (patented in 1972). Considered to be a modern version of the Chinese Rings, which are believed to date back over 2000 years ago, the Spin-Out was first introduced to the public in 1987, when the company was still known as Binary Arts, later changing its name to ThinkFun in 2003.

The Spin-Out (or SpinOut) is a sequential movement puzzle comprised by seven knobs attached to a sliding platform. The knobs can be maneuvered into one of two possible states, either horizontal or vertical. The initial configuration of the puzzle has all knobs in the vertical position, and the goal is simply put them all in the horizontal position, forming a straight line, so the platform can slide out. This sounds simple, but it has more to it than just spinning knobs up and down.

Throughout the years there have been a few other versions of the Spin-Out, including one with elephants (see interactive version here). The first version released by Binary Arts had red knobs and the cover was a little simpler. The newer version, revamped by the rebranded ThinkFun in 2005 has a more modern look, with blue knobs and you can see their logo at the bottom. Which one do you think looks better? - I prefer the blue one.

The solution of the puzzle is very linear, as it follows a simple binary logic called Gray code. The mechanism is built so that only one knob at a time can be moved. For any knob you want to move, the one immediately to its right has to be in the vertical position and any subsequent ones have to be in the horizontal position. The solution has a minimum of 85 moves and while it uses a simple method, it requires the utmost concentration or you will lose track of your train of thought. This really happened to me a few times - I had to gather my thoughts and analyse where I was in the sequence and what the next move should be.

When you understand the logic behind the puzzle, it's not that difficult. What's difficult, as I pointed above, is to keep concentrated and not lose the sequence. When you're able to solve it back and forth (all knobs horizontal and all knobs vertical) you can try to beat your own times and see how fast you can do it. See this video of a kid solving it under 30s. After mastering this puzzle you can try other similar ones that also use the Gray code to be solved. The Brain is another great puzzle that I recommend.

Markus Götz designed a much harder version of the Spin-Out called Crazy Elephant Dance, which uses a ternary system. Instead of two states, the elephants can be maneuvered into three possible positions. There's a nice Java applet in the page that lets you play the puzzle with different levels of difficulty. Can you solve it in the harder level?

Closing Comments:

Back when ThinkFun was Binary Arts, their puzzles were much more interesting. The Spin-Out, a simple and yet brilliant concept is proof that a puzzle doesn't need fancy looks to be fun and enjoyable. It's a great puzzle to keep your brain healthy and sharp, while providing a very satisfying and rewarding experience.

Availability: Sloyd.fi, in Finland, currently stocks the new blue version of the Spin-Out for just €12. Shipping worldwide is available.

Links:

Analysis of the Spin-Out puzzle by Jaap Scherphuis

After five weeks reviewing the different puzzles available from Roscreative, by Valery Rudenko (English), I finally reach the last puzzle, the Rudenko Clips.

First released in June 2010, along with the Doser, Mosaic and Matryoshka, the Clips puzzle is another great implementation of the Tower of Hanoi concept. This small and very simple puzzle has seven clips in three different colors and measures 8 x 6cm (about 3" x 2.4"). The rules are also simple, but with a big exception: It's not possible to cheat.

I would have preferred if it were seven different colored clips instead of just three, but there's a reason for that. You can play other types of game with different rules: Besides getting all clips from one sector to another, you can also get clips in all three sectors with different colors. For example, get only red clips in sector 3, green clips in sector 2 and yellow clips in sector 1. Below left is one example and on the right, a table with other examples.

(Click to Enlarge) - Other possible playable games

The puzzle has three sectors and you have to move all the clips from one sector to another, one at a time. The same rules from the Tower of Hanoi apply, in other words, you can move a bigger clip onto a smaller one, but not the other way around... And here's the interesting part: even if you wanted to cheat, and tried to move a smaller clip on top of a bigger one, it's physically impossible. Another obstacle at moving clips the wrong way is the separation of the sectors, which prevents more than one clip to pass through at the same time.

The design of the puzzle is fantastic, something worth praising. The simple concept is great at hiding the complexity involved in it, and the thought that went into the making of a cheat-proof puzzle is just amazing. A nice feature is that the puzzle is double-sided, meaning that it can be used by both left-handed and right-handed people. It's a great feature for me, being left-handed to be able to enjoy the puzzle in the same way. Another nice design feature is that the clips aren't perfect rectangles; they have a subtle slight narrower diameter towards the top, which allows them not to tangle so much with with the other clips when you're moving them.

(Click to Enlarge)

Solving the Rudenko Clips requires a lot of patience and concentration on your part. The puzzle has five levels of difficulty, so you can start by moving just three clips to another sector and then work your way up until you reach the seven clips.

Just for you to have an idea of the steps and level of complexity in this puzzle, the Rudenko Disc and Rudenko Matryoshka (both related to the Tower of Hanoi as well) required a minimum of 127 moves from one sector to another, and the Rudenko Clips require a staggering 729 steps, mainly because of the limitations when moving clips from one sector to another.

(Click to Enlarge)

My take on this whopping number of steps is that it's not much harder than the less complex puzzles. It just takes more time to solve and requires much more concentration, especially not to lose your train of thought, and believe me, you will most certainly lose it. I had to gather my thoughts a few times and check where I was, before venturing any further. The other puzzles took about 10, 15 minutes to be solved in the first time, but this one took more than an hour. My advice to you when solving it is that it's best to solve it in one go and not to leave it half solved for another day, because it can be difficult picking up where you left off.

I added below two interesting documents about the Rudenko Clips, one explaining in more detail the facts about the puzzle in relation to the Tower of Hanoi.

Video: Youtube video with the designer, Valery Rudenko, showing the Clips puzzle.

Closing Comments:

The Rudenko Clips is definitely not for the casual player. It can be frustrating at times, particularly if you're close to the end and lose your concentration, but at the same time, it's a wonderful challenge and very rewarding when you finally solve it. Would recommend it to any sequential puzzle fan.

... And there you have it. Five great Russian puzzles from Roscreative and all designed by Valery Rudenko. My favorites were the Disc and Mosaic, but the others are not far behind. They're all fantastic collector's items.

Availability: You can buy Rudenko puzzles at Hendrik Haak's Puzzle Shop, from Germany or Labirint.ru in Russia (English translation here). For wholesale, contact Roscreative directly.

Now available on PuzzleMaster as well.

Links: 

English translation of Rudenko Clips' page

English translation of Roscreative website

Russian Magazine Article about Valery Rudenko (English Translation)

Russian Newspaper Article about Valery Rudenko (English Translation)

(Click to Enlarge)

Last week, I started a series of reviews that will show the five main puzzles from the Russian game company Roscreative. The first review was for the Rudenko Disc and this week, I will review the Rudenko Matryoshka.

As many of you should know, the Matryoshka is a symbol of Russian culture, first carved in 1890. This interesting concept of nesting a set of dolls with decreasing sizes, one inside the other, is very well implemented on this design by Valery Rudenko (English).

Just like all the other Roscreative puzzles, the Rudenko Matryoshka comes in a blister packaging  and the puzzle itself measures 11 x 9cm (4.3" x 3.5"). It has a protective transparent cover that can be slid, becoming a support for the puzzle.

(Click to Enlarge) - All 7 Matryoshkas (The Illegal Movements Shown are Only for Display Purposes)

Related to the Tower of Hanoi concept, the Rudenko Matryoshka, a Sequential Movement puzzle (gray code), consists of a set of seven Matryoshka dolls and has three sectors. A nice subtle design feature is that each of the seven dolls is painted with a different colored head kerchief. The instructions of the puzzle have a nice analogy of the puzzle in relation to the Matryoshka: The sectors, or rooms are connected by paths and the family of Matryoshkas that live in one of these rooms has to be moved to another room, while following a couple of rules: You can only move one Matryoshka at a time; You may place a bigger Matryoshka over a smaller one, however, you can't do the other way around, which is to have a smaller doll on top of a bigger one. If you're not that familiar with this type of puzzles, there's actually 5 levels of difficulty. This way, you can  practice first with just three dolls, increasing then one by one until you have reached all seven Matryoshkas.

Side note: Curiously enough, the Tower of Hanoi had the complete opposite rule for the discs - You were only allowed to place a smaller disc on top of a bigger one.

Compared to the Rudenko Disc, I think the Matryoshka puzzle is a bit easier and simpler, because it doesn't  restrain that much your movements. Nevertheless, it does have a clever mechanism that prevents certain types of movements. As you can see from a photograph below, I show a type of movement not allowed by this mechanism: When you move any doll from one sector to another, they pass through an horizontal white bar that will stay upwards until you make the doll pass again and place it on the other sector. Only then, the bar will go downwards and allow the next doll to pass. This also signals an illegal move.

(Click to Enlarge) - Blocking Mechanism

This is a type of puzzle that with practice develops your algorithmic way of thinking. At first, it may take you some time to get familiarized with the solving process, but as you repeatedly solve it again and again, you'll understand better the movements. A nice way to verify your progress is to count, each time, all the steps it took you to solve it. If the number of steps decreases with time, it's a sign you're getting better at it. For reference, the minimum number of movements necessary to solve the puzzle is 127 - exactly the same as the Rudenko Disc. I have explained this in the previous review with this formula: 2ⁿ-1, where n is the number of dolls. This way, you get 2⁷-1=127.

Video: Youtube video made by Roscreative.

The Matryoshka theme is a perfect fit for this sequential movement concept. With a great modern design and true to his country's symbols, Valery Rudenko has made, in my opinion, one of the best Tower of Hanoi implementations I've had the pleasure to play with. Even if you own a Tower of Hanoi puzzle, the Rudenko Matryoshka is definitely worth a try.

For years, Russians have been known for creating many extraordinary things, and mechanical puzzles are certainly among them. Since I started my collection, I've seen some great classic puzzles coming from Russia, particularly from the 80's. However, the puzzle I have here is very recent, released in April 2011, and it's as equally brilliant as its older predecessors.

The Rudenko Disc, a Sequential Movement puzzle (more specifically, Gray Code) invented by Valery Rudenko, will be the first of five puzzle reviews in the coming few weeks, all from the Russian game company Roscreative.

The puzzle comes in a blister packaging and measures 10cm (about 4") in diameter, so it's smaller enough to carry around anywhere. It has a transparent cover to protect from dust and consists of a disc with seven colored chips (no stickers) and three sections, each with colored circles indicating the correct order for their corresponding chips. The object is to rearrange the chips, one at a time, by color in any of the three sections. The colors, as you can see for yourself, are ordered just like in a rainbow - from violet to red (smaller to larger bow).

Side note: Did you know that when you see a double rainbow in the sky, the second rainbow has its colors in reverse? - It goes from smaller red bow to larger violet bow, it's wider than the main rainbow and it's also dimmer.

Back to the Rudenko Disc... The mechanics of the puzzle are easy to understand, but can take some time to master. The puzzle is set to develop an algorithmic way of thinking, while promoting logic and creative skills. It takes a minimum of 127 movements to get all chips from one section to another. To get to that number, all it takes is a simple formula "2ⁿ-1", where n is the number of chips -> 2⁷-1=127.


Sequential puzzles date back, at least from a couple of centuries ago, when French mathematician Édouard Lucas invented the Tower of Hanoi puzzle in 1883. The Rudenko Disc is a little different though, because it has some movement restrictions. The chips can move only to their correspondent color circles in any desired section, but can't move any further. For example, a yellow chip can pass through the red and orange circles until it's blocked when it reaches its yellow circle. Beyond that point, it's useless to force any more movement. Perhaps a more similar concept is the Panex puzzle, which also uses some movement restriction.

The particular movement characteristics of the Rudenko Disc are what makes it so interesting. When I first started playing with it, I didn't know exactly how the puzzle worked, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it had more to it than I was expecting. The chips move from one section to another to their correspondent color circle and you feel them click into place by some sort of clever locking mechanism that prevents them from going further than they're supposed to.


Since I had previously solved a few sequential movement puzzles, it wasn't so hard solving this one, although it took me about 15 minutes to solve it in my first attempt. Now, after a little more practicing, I can do it in under 5 minutes. Once you understand the method to get the chips from one section to another, all it takes is some coordination and attention so you won't lose your chain of thought. When you master these skills, it's just a matter of keep practicing to see how fast you can solve it.

The puzzle comes with instructions and an algorithm to move the chips from the middle section to the left section, unfortunately they are all in Russian. Nevertheless, I was sent English instructions as well and this way, the algorithm is understamble. If you don't get yours in English, just send me an e-mail and I'll send you a scan of mine.


From what I gathered, there's only one European online store that sells most of the Rudenko puzzles, which is Hendrik Haak's Puzzle Shop, in Germany. I believe the Roscreative website only takes wholesale orders, but you can send them an e-mail and ask for a quote.

Now available on PuzzleMaster as well.

Update (March 16): I was told that there is an online Russian store that sells all Rudenko puzzles and has international shipment. The website is all in Russian, but you can check here its English translation. Unfortunately, they don't accept Paypal, but you can pay by credit card or bank transfer.

Here's a video made by Roscreative about the Rudenko Disc.

Closing Comments:

The Rudenko Disc is a very welcoming addition to the sequential puzzles category. Its original and appealing design makes it one of a kind and its fascinating concept with the locking mechanism is definitely a joy to play with.

Links:

English translation of Rudenko Disc's page

English translation of Roscreative website

Russian Magazine Article about Valery Rudenko (English Translation)

Russian Newspaper Article about Valery Rudenko (English Translation)

The Brain is a very interesting puzzle, using the Gray Code concept (after Frank Gray) or reflected binary code, which is a binary numeral system. It's produced by the American company Mag-Nif and dates back from 1973. It's still sold today and is actually one their most successful brainteasers to date.

The objective of the puzzle consists of getting all of its eight pegs out, but to achieve that you have to do a sequence of 170 correct moves. Sounds scary, but don't be intimidated by the big number. This may take some time to get used to if you're a casual puzzler, but it becomes quite easy and simple once you understand the logic.

Limiting your movements is a stack of disks that are locked and with every step, you will unlock them one by one until you have all the pegs out. Each peg is numbered from 1 to 8 and they can only have one of two possible positions. When they're closer to the center, they have a value of 0 or In, and when they're outwards, they have a value of 1 or Out. To move a specific peg, you need to make sure that you have the immediate lower numbered peg out and all the remaining lower ones in. This process is exactly the same until you have all the pegs out.

Solving the puzzle will depend on how fast is your understanding of this logic is. It took me about 20 minutes or so to solve it and to get all pegs in again, it took less than 10 minutes, because I had the process all memorized by then. A similar puzzle based on this concept, the Spin Out, actually took me much more time to figure it out. Probably because at the time (three years ago), I was more inexperienced with these type of puzzles...

The current design of The Brain is pretty much the same from the original version, but the color has now been changed from black to red and the transparent plastic has a black and silver glitter effect. I don't have the older version to compare, but from what I've seen in photos, I like the appearance of this one better.

The Brain is a great example on how to turn an otherwise boring mathematical problem, into an interesting challenge and very fun to solve. It's a shame there's not many puzzles out there that use the Gray Code. I, most certainly, would love to try other puzzles like these. Besides this one and the Spin Out, I only have the Chinese Rings and Tower of Hanoi.

The Brain can be purchased at SeriousPuzzles.com.