Gear Maze 2x2 by OSKAR

Oskar · **Joined:** Mon Nov 30, 2009 1:03 pm

Hi Non-Twisty Puzzles fans,

Gear Maze 2x2 is a set of four mazes, coupled by gears. Each gear has 23 teeth. A tiny metal ball runs through the maze. The maze has very peculiar properties. What looks like a dead end can be a through path. What looks like a through path can be a junction. And the only visible junction in the maze is actually a dead end. The object is to move the tiny metal ball from the circle to the triangle/arrow.

Watch the YouTube video.
By the puzzle at LaserExact.
Check out the photos below.

Enjoy!

Oskar

Attachment:

Gear Maze 2x2x2 - prototype - view 1.jpg [ 141.1 KiB | Viewed 1141 times ]

Attachment:

Gear Maze 2x2x2 - prototype - view 2.jpg [ 138.38 KiB | Viewed 1141 times ]

X-TownCuber · **Joined:** Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:37 pm

Very creative. I like it.

Gus · **Posted:** Sat Oct 29, 2011 9:28 am

Nice puzzle. I guess this was machined from wood? Also, why are the balls glued together?

Oskar · **Joined:** Mon Nov 30, 2009 1:03 pm

Gus wrote:

machined from wood?

No, laser-cut MDF.

Gus wrote:

why are the balls glued together?

A single ball would drop between the gear teeth.

Oskar

Luke · **Posted:** Sat Oct 29, 2011 10:14 am

Impressive stuff Oskar. Have you considered a design with multiple layers? I think that would make quite a cool design too. Also, you could use gears to control where in the next layer the ball falls to. Anyway, I'm going off topic. This is by far my favourite non-twisty puzzle.

Monopoly · **Posted:** Sat Oct 29, 2011 12:30 pm

Amazing! Reminds me quite a bit of those rotational online maze puzzles (like Entanglement for Chrome), only geared, of course.

Gus · **Posted:** Sat Oct 29, 2011 1:56 pm

Can the gears be swapped/offset to make different mazes? Also, in its current configuration, does the maze have a single solution?

Would it be possible to put different numbers of teeth on the gears so that the maze would change its topology as the gears are rotated?

cubedude76 · **Joined:** Sun Mar 06, 2011 12:46 pm **Location:** Wichita

Your so creative! I'm jealous. This is such a cool puzzle

Oskar · **Joined:** Mon Nov 30, 2009 1:03 pm

Gus wrote:

Can the gears be swapped/offset to make different mazes?

Yes.

Gus wrote:

does the maze have a single solution?

No. A maze without loops is boring.

Gus wrote:

Would it be possible to put different numbers of teeth on the gears so that the maze would change its topology as the gears are rotated?

That would make the maze very easy to solve. Think about it.

Oskar

Jared · **Posted:** Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:23 pm

I would have used some sort of wooden disk instead of a metal ball, to prevent it from falling in and also to keep the wood aesthetic. But then, it might still get caught?

Anyway, I'm quite impressed by the use of gears (yet again!) to bring a new twist to an old puzzle.

Now, I have to ask, what if you did something similar (grooves in gears) to make a sorting puzzle, similar to a BackSpin?

Gear Maze 2x2 by OSKAR

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