Accused of being fake, witchcraft and simply impossible..
This kinetic sculpture is inspired by the unlimited freedom of 3d printing,
it wobbles and turns with a slight movement of the hand.
Now give it a good spin or puff of air and it erupts in erratic and wild behavior.

This is the 5cm / 2" version, see the Gyro the Forms section for other shapes and sizes.
Corner stand available separately, or get the complete set below!

NEW!
Now also available as a pendant/keyfob!
In both Extra small and Small

Instructions
It is composed of four concentric cubes, each one spinning around a different axis.
The model needs some minor assembly:
Each inner cube has two knobs which need to be placed into the corresponding clamps in the parent cube. It's easiest to start with the inner most and continue outward.
And then... spin it away !

Notes
Do not be alarmed if your cube will not run smoothly at first!
Because of minor variations as a result of the printing process,
some need to wear in a little but will loosen up very quickly.
In the example video I am blowing on it to make it move, it's that smooth.

Be a little careful with (the assembly of) the Alumide version as this material is slightly less flexible/robust than the Strong & Flexible materials.

Get a complete set.
A default set consists of an Alumide Gyro the Cube and a White stand, you can change the materials in your cart later. +

Dodecahedral sibling of Gyro the Cube.
Same principle, more faces, more rings and more fun ;-)
Made of five nested dodecahedra, each one is limited to rotate about it's own axis.

This is the 6.5cm / 2.5" version, see the Gyro the Forms
Experimental corner stand available here

Instructions
For tighter clearances it is printed with the hinges out of place. So this model needs a little manual assembly. Each element has two "knobs" which need to be "clicked" into the corresponding "clamps" in the parent element.
It's easiest to start with the inner one and then continue outwards.
And then... rotate away !

Roll a Ball on Plastic Rails Inside a 3D Cube. Reach the Exit to Solve the Maze Puzzle. Rolling Ball Maze Puzzle & Brain Game for Kids, teens & Adults.

New 3D Rolling Ball Maze Puzzle. Roll the ball inside a Plastic 3D maze cube to the exit to solve the puzzle. New 2011 brain toy game. A Work of Art.

Color and material options are in the "Select Material" drop-down list on the right. If you want an option not shown or would like a quantity discount, please click on the "Contact Designer" button to write me an email.This pack includes the mazes listed below. Each maze includes it’s own ball.

Escher’s Playground - Reminiscent of the upside-down staircase paintings by Escher, this 7x7x7 maze will soon have you forgetting which way is up and down. The dimensions of this maze are 40mm by 40mm by 40mm and the ball is 9mm in diameter.

Floating Labyrinth - The ball appears to float through an intricately connected matrix. What appears to be open paths are mysteriously blocked in this 6x6x6 maze. The dimensions of this maze are 31mm by 31mm by 31mm and the ball is 8mm in diameter.

Zig Zag Zog - You will learn to zig zag in three dimensions to solve this 5x5x5 maze, but watch out for the pitfalls! The dimensions of this maze are 24mm by 24mm by 24mm and the ball is 7mm in diameter.

Start by pushing the ball into the spring loaded entrance ( it looks like a backwards “J”). Tip the maze in different directions to roll the ball along the paths through the maze. Don’t worry, if you make a wrong turn, the ball will not fall out of the maze. If the ball runs into a dead-end you can just roll the ball back the opposite way and try another path, that’s all part of this fun brain game. When you reach the exit there is a spring loaded button to press to release the ball from the maze. The exit is in a corner of the 3D maze, where you will find a bar with the little button sticking out from the side of the maze.

Each maze game come with the ball attached by a little chain link cage for shipping. This needs to be cut off and cut open with scissors and the ball will fall out. Note that each larger size maze comes with a larger ball. The balls can quickly and easily be colored with a highlighter or marker. Let the ball dry for a minute after applying then roll between clean white paper to remove excess color so it does not rub off on the maze. Paint for plastic models can also be used. The orange, green and black balls in the pictures were colored with highlighters or markers. Coloring the ball makes it easier to track in the Labyrinth maze.

See for yourself how Ethereal Maze Puzzles take maze puzzles to a whole new level of challenge and fun. With their convoluted lattice structure they can also be enjoyed as captivating and intriguing sculptural works of art.

For updates, news and reviews please visit the Ethereal Maze Puzzles YouTube channel and Facebook Fan Page

Show off these unique Works of Art in a quality display case. The medium size case is about $3 and is perfect for "Escher’s Playground". You can see a picture of the display case with a maze inside in the photos above. Use the link below to get your Display Case with Free Shipping.

Medium Size BCW Maze Puzzle Display Case

If you are in the UK you can get a similar one for about GBP 5.30 with Free Shipping with the link below:

Display Case for Bare Bones for UK Customers

SOMA Cube Puzzle has a new twist: 14 Interlocking pieces. Inner parts slide into outer ones for interlocked "cube in a cube" challenges.

SOMA's Revenge is an interlocking assembly cube puzzle with sliding pieces. The new and unique challenge for this puzzle is to assemble the pieces into interlocking cube configurations. It also has hundreds of other challenges that involve assembling the pieces into various figures.

Contest - SOMA's Revenge is a new spin on one of the most popular puzzles of all time. No one has solved its new challenges, so I am starting a prize contest for the first people in the world to solve it. Contest details and rules are at the bottom of this page.

SOMA's Revenge is based on the same seven shapes as the classic SOMA puzzle. These SOMA shapes are made up of 27 cubes joined into pieces with three or four cubes each. These can be assembled into a 3 x 3 x 3 cube shape in 240 different ways. They can also be assembled to form hundreds of figures such as buildings and animals. The pieces of the classic SOMA puzzle do not interlock.

SOMA's Revenge consists of a set of seven outer pieces, and seven inner pieces. Each set of seven pieces are modeled after the seven pieces of the classic SOMA puzzle. Where the SOMA pieces are made of small cubes with solid faces connected together, the SOMA's Revenge pieces are made up of only the edges of cubes. Round rods are used in SOMA's Revenge to create what looks like wire frame outlines of the individual cubes used in the classic SOMA pieces. The inner pieces are slightly smaller then the outer pieces. This allows the inner pieces to slide snuggly into the outer pieces in several different ways. The cube challenges for this puzzle are to assemble all 14 pieces into a 3 x 3 x 3 cube. The hollow wire frame shape of the outer parts makes it possible to assemble both sets of SOMA pieces into a single cube. This results in a slightly smaller 3 x 3 x 3 cube inside of an outer one.

The first 240 cube challenges for the puzzle follow the 240 different cube assemblies of the classic SOMA puzzle. I call these the "Easy Cube" challenges because you can easily assemble the pieces into one of these solutions. For these solutions each of the inner pieces are first slide into the outer piece that has the same shape. Slide them all the way in so the smaller piece is completely contained within the larger piece. For example for the "L" shaped pieces, the smaller one is slid entirely into the large one so the "L" shapes of each line up. This results in seven "twin pieces", where a piece's smaller twin is inside of it. These "twin pieces" have the same outline shape as the classic SOMA pieces, so these can be put together in the same 240 ways as the SOMA cube puzzle.

The ultimate cube challenges for this puzzle is to find other ways to assemble the pieces with the same goal of having a slightly smaller 3 x 3 x 3 cube inside of a larger one. What is different for these cube challenges is that one or more of the inner pieces must be slid into an outer pieces of a different shape. Here one or more of the cube outlines of an inner piece will be inside, and line up with cube outlines in a different shaped outer piece. What this results in is that at least one inner piece will be partially inside one outer piece, and also partially inside another outer piece. This will create an interlocking of many pieces. This interlocking is something new to SOMA type puzzles. I call any assembly of this type where at least one small piece is inside more than one large piece an "Interlocked Cubes" configuration.

So far only one "Interlocked Cubes" Solution to this puzzle is known, there may be many more. I just invented this puzzle in July 2012 and designed it around an "Interlocked Cubes" Solution. This solution results in a fully interlocked cube - toss it in the air and all the pieces stay together. I purposefully have not looked for any other "Interlocked Cubes" solutions. Instead I have left this as a challenge for puzzle lovers to try to discover on their own. I have assembled the parts for the "Interlocked Cubes" Solution that I designed the puzzle for, but I don't consider that solving it as I already knew where each piece went. Everyone has the chance to be the first person in the world to solve one of the "Interlocked Cubes" Solutions for this puzzle.

SOMA figures puzzle challenges - SOMA's Revenge has many other challenges besides all the cube challenges. There are hundreds of figures that you can try to construct using the seven SOMA shapes. A good way to do this with SOMA's Revenge pieces is to first put each smaller part completely inside its larger twin. This makes the pieces more stable for solving the other SOMA figures. Next go to Thorleif's SOMA page and visit the All the SOMA Figures at a click page. This contains more than 2000 figures you can try to build including the dog, robot, crystal, snake, tower, tunnel and sofa from the original SOMA manual.

SOMA's Revenge with multiple Colors - I would suggest that the inner pieces of your SOMA's Revenge puzzle be a different color from the outer pieces; for example with the inner pieces black, and the outer pieces white. This makes it easier to see the inner pieces inside of the outer pieces when you are trying to solve the puzzle. This also makes it very attractive when it is in a display case. One way to do this is to order "SOMA's Revenge - Inner Parts Only" and "SOMA's Revenge - Outer Parts Only" separately, and select White Strong and Flexible for the material for the outer parts and Black Strong and Flexible for the other. You can do that now by clicking on the "Add Set to Cart" button below.

---

Want to get a White and Black set?

+

---

Another way to do different colors is to order "SOMA's Revenge - All Puzzle Parts " and then dye or paint one of the sets yourself. If you are buying two puzzles then you could buy one "SOMA's Revenge - All Puzzle Parts" in white, and one in black, then use the black inner parts and the white outer ones for one puzzle, and the remaining parts for the second.

Display Case - If you purchase SOMA's Revenge you will probably want to also buy the companion display case to show it off. You can easily assemble all the pieces into one of the "Easy Cube" solutions. Then the assembled cube will fit nicely in the 2 inch by 2 inch by 2 inch clear plastic cube display case. This clear plastic display cube is sold separately, and is available for around $3. Use the link below to purchase it with free shipping.

Medium Size BCW Puzzle Display Case for SOMA's Revenge

If you are in the UK you can get a similar one for about GBP 5.30 with Free Shipping with the link below:

Display Case for Bare Bones for UK Customers

Contest Description and Rules

The contest is to be the first ones to solve one of the new challenge for SOMA's Revenge. The Grand Prize will be a $50 Shapeways gift certificate courtesy of Shapeways ( Thank You Shapeways helping me promote this contest!). The Second Prize will be any model from my Ethereal Maze Puzzles Shapeways Shop. This includes any of my multi-puzzle mix packs.

The Grand Prize will be awarded to the first person to enter with an "Interlocked Cubes" solution. To give more people a chance to win you can also enter with a "partial solution" for a drawing for the Second Prize. The "partial solution" is where all seven of the outer pieces form a 3 x 3 x 3 cube, and there are at least four inner pieces are fully inside this cube and each inner piece is interlocked inside more than one outer piece.

To enter you will need to make a video of SOMA's Revenge being solved in an "Interlocked Cubes" configuration, or a "partial solution" configuration. The video needs to clearly show all steps used in assembling all of the pieces into the final cube shape. I will be judging the videos and reproducing the solution entries, and require the video to shows all the steps in order to be qualified. The Grand Prize will be awarded immediately to the first person to enter a video showing an "Interlocked Cubes" Solution. The Second Prize will be randomly drawn from all entries, including "partial solution" and "Interlocked Cube" videos (excluding the Grand Prize winner). The drawing will be held at the end of January 2013 so you have plenty of time to enter.

You can enter the contest up to two times. Once with a "partial solution" video and once with a "interlocked Cubes" video. To enter an "interlocked Cubes" video it must not be the same as the Grand Prize winners solution. I will announce the Grand Prize winner as soon as I verify the video they post, so everyone will be able to see it on my Youtube channel. Be sure to check out everyone's entries on my Youtube channel during the contest, as they may give you some clues or ideas on how you can solve the puzzle for the Grand Prize or to make an entry for the Second Prize.

How To Enter Your Video - To enter your video in the contest you will need to post your video as a video response to my "SOMA's Revenge" Cube Puzzle Solution Contest video. This video is on my Ethereal Maze Puzzle Youtube Channel. You will need to have to have a Youtube account to post a video response. I will also use your Youtube accounts to notify winners and award prizes. Start the entry processes by making the video and uploading it to your Youtube channel. Next post it as a video response to my "SOMA's Revenge" Cube Puzzle Contest video. When you post a video comment it will allow you to select one the videos you have previously uploaded to your Youtube channel. If you don't know how to upload a video and use it as a video response you can learn how in this cute video of how to post a Youtube video response. It may take me a few days to get to your video to approve it, so check back in a few days to make sure your entry appears as a video response.

This contest will start on August 10, 2012 and run until the end of January 2013 when the drawing will be held. There are millions of ways to try to configure the pieces with an inner cube inside of an outer cube. But the number of configurations which are actually possible to assemble is going to be a much, much smaller number. So you should have plenty of time to purchase a puzzle and try for the Grand Prize. In case no "Interlocked Cube" solution is found by the end of the year I will extend the contest for the Grand Prize. Feel free to post text comments to my "SOMA's Revenge" Puzzle Cube Solution Contest video. This would be a good place to post ideas on ways you think would be useful in trying to solve it.

SOMA Cube Trivia

The original SOMA cube was conceived of in the 1930's by Piet Hein while attending a lecture on Quantum physics by Werner Heisenberg (the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle guy). The SOMA Cube was one of my favorite toys when I was a kid. I had the big red plastic one. SOMA's Revenge makes me think of the Quantum entanglement of two SOMA cubes.