Shape Escape

Description

How it works: There are two parts to this puzzle, one, a board with eight 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 or the square with the goal of continuing through the successive shapes until the entire piece has passed through the board.

If starting with the triangle, one would pass the triangle through one of the triangular openings in the board and then 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 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, if one started with the triangle) has cleared the board.

The board can be played with either side up and as stated above, can be worked starting with the triangle or the square on the movable piece.  By flipping the board over and starting again, one can enjoy two different solutions to this puzzle.

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!  That original puzzle is available as Shape Escapade, elsewhere on this site.  As I was considering children-suitable puzzles, it became clear that a smaller version of my original might be a good learning aid.  However, after one customer told me three times that it was “Easy!”, I modified it slightly and offer the more challenging Shape Escape 2 for older elementary students and others wanting more challenge.