Shape Escapade

Description

How it works: There are two parts to this puzzle, one, a board with twelve cutouts in the shapes of squares, triangles, and circles.  These cutouts are connected by a series of passages.  The second part is a movable piece that consists of six shapes stacked one atop the other with a short length of shaft in between each.  The top shape on the movable piece is a triangle, and the bottom piece is a square.  When working through this puzzle, a player may start with the triangle at the top or the square at the bottom.  The board should be turned so that the shape at the top of the movable piece will pass through the corresponding shape at the end of the board.  The goal is to work each successive shape through a matching opening until the entire piece has passed through the board.

To get started, one would pass the top shape through its matching opening on one end of the board, and then move the triangle through one of the triangular openings in the board.  After coming through the board with the triangle, one would try to move the piece into the passages connecting the shapes to a circular opening.  If the piece does not move easily out of the triangular space, the player will need to back up and try another triangular opening until one is found that will allow the piece to move out of the triangular opening.  When moving to the circular opening, if the piece doesn’t easily move into the opening or if it won’t come out once the circle comes through the opening, then that is not the correct circle.  The player would continue working the various shapes on the movable piece through the appropriate openings in the board until the last shape (a square) has cleared the board.  Be aware, there are some false sequences that may require one to back up a couple of steps before moving forward again!

The board can only be played with the board and movable piece properly oriented.

Story Behind the Puzzle: This is among my first three puzzle ideas.  The wooden prototype is so old, it has been glued back together more than once!  This is the original puzzle as I developed it.  As I was considering children-suitable puzzles, it became clear that a smaller version of this might be a good learning aid.  However, after one customer told me three times that my simplified version was “Easy!”, I modified it slightly and offer a version suitable for older elementary students and others wanting more challenge (see Shape Escape 2).  For younger audiences, try Shape Escape elsewhere on this site.