I got my
Iball3 a couple of weeks ago and have been playing with it a lot. It is an electronic puzzle consisting of six multi-color light buttons. When you start all six buttons are turned off. Pressing one of them will light it with a random color. Pressing a second button will also light it with a random color. If both are lit with the same color then they will remain lit and you can progress to the third button. But if they are different they will extinguish and the next time you press them they will be a different color. The sequence of colors for all six buttons resets so it is unknown when you first start. The goal is to light up all six buttons with the same color in as little time as possible.
There are two levels to this puzzle. For level 1 the buttons cycle through three colors, red, blue, and green. For level 2 a forth color, purple, is added to the sequences. To progress to level 2 you must beat level 1 in under 20 seconds. Once you make it to level 2 the puzzle will remember that you made it so that every time you play you will start there. There is a method for resetting it back to level 1 if you wish to do so.
The first time you turn on your Iball3 you are presented with an eight digit serial number consisting of numbers (0-9) and letters (A-F). It cycles through somewhat fast so be prepared to write it down. If you miss it (and you probably will) there is a method for redisplaying it. Use this serial number to register your puzzle on the
http://www.iball3.com web site. Once you do this you will be able to log your best times for beating level 2 onto their worldwide leaderboard. If you beat level 2 in under 60 seconds you are presented with an eight digit code that you enter on the web site which will then decode and log your time. You need to log five times to show up on the leaderboard as it will then rank you buy your average and also show your best overall time.
As of this writing I am the worldwide leader with a five solve average of 17.9s and a best time of 6s. There are prizes involved for whoever can knock me off the top spot (A Sonic Games puzzle valued at $200!) as well as monthly cash prizes for whoever remains at the top of the leaderboard the longest. I’m looking forward to some real competition.
This has become one of my favorite electronic puzzles. It is a great way to exercise memory and pattern recognition. I have come up with a novel way to solve the puzzle which gives me some exceptionally fast times which the inventor thought would be impossible to reach. I’m not going to give away my secrets, after all there is money on the line here, but I’m sure someone else here will figure it out for them self.