Electronic games and puzzles are all very well (some of them are quite exciting too) but you cannot beat the enjoyment of completing a wooden puzzle. Perhaps it’s the tactile nature of wood added to the sense of accomplishing the challenge that gives the physical puzzle the advantage over the ‘cyber’ versions.
I remember owing a beautiful solid wood puzzle as a child. It was a simple cube made from seven interlocking pieces of polished wood (long, long before Rubik cube) and the task was to reassemble the cube from the various odd shaped pieces. The final piece slid into position and held the entire cube intact. When this piece was removed the cube fell asunder.
There are more than 200 different ways to complete the cube. The wooden cube puzzle was created by a mathematician and usually contains seven pieces of wood, although I have seen more complicated versions with many more pieces. Each piece is uniquely shaped but fits exactly into the finished cube. Solid wood puzzle cubes can still be purchased nowadays and they make excellent Xmas presents or Christmas stocking fillers.
Other versions exist now such as 3D SUDOKU and interlocking wooden cube puzzles with designs of the faces of the cube. I am not too fond of wooden puzzles where the wood is not natural and solid, as I dislike painted numbers or coloring on the wood.
A very nice wooden puzzle is the ‘Beer Barrel’ shaped one which can sit neatly on your mantle piece and it looks like a perfectly miniaturized oak barrel. Take it apart at your peril because it is a difficult one to reassemble. It is difficult to take apart too as the ‘key’ locking piece is not obvious. Best is to leave it and just admire it. You can, however, tempt guests to tackle it but be prepared to have them stay with you for several hours.
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