Continuing in the tradition of naming my puzzles after the places where they were invented, here is my latest brand new puzzle design. Ludlow is an interlocking 6 piece 4x4x4 puzzle cube. To assemble this puzzle you will need to discover the correct sequence of sliding and rotational moves as the pieces become locked together. Be warned - as you slot the last piece into the solid cubic outline, there is no simple way to push it out again. The pieces are carefully designed to fit together snugly so it should not fall out on its own. Fortunately, the hollow design of the pieces means that it will be quite easy to hook it out with a small tool or knock it out by tapping the correct face of the cube against your hand.

This 3D printed puzzle is one of my most complex and lovely designs.

It takes thirteen steps before the first piece comes free. The 'switch' is flicked at step 5. When reassembling the puzzle, it may be easier to slide the switch piece with a pair of tweezers or a small pointy thing. One of the steps in the solution is a rotation, which makes it harder for computer programs like Burr Tools to find the solution.

This 5 cm hollow version has been optimised to provide maximum puzzle size at minimum cost. It is also ideally suited to being dyed in a variety of colours.

This 4x4x4 interlocking cube puzzle was designed when I was on holiday on the beautiful island of Anglesey in Wales. It consists of six different pieces, two of which are rather angular C-shaped pieces, which led me to give this puzzle its rather cryptic name.

This is a very tricky puzzle and the first step is work out how to link the two Cs and get them in the right position to solve the rest of the cube. Jos Bergmans, one of the top designers of interlocking cubes, said "It took me ages to figure out how to fit the two loops together. Very nice design, my compliments."

Buying a copy of this puzzle entitles the owner to access a secret video on YouTube providing the full solution.

Copyright Richard Gain - 2011.

 This superb puzzle designed by Jos Bergmans exemplifies everything that I love about interlocking cubes. We share a passion for complex 4x4x4 designs, and Jos, like Tom Jolly, has a real talent for inventing puzzles with clever solutions.

In Jos' own words:
  "There is bunch of engineers at my office that are totally into puzzles, so I give them the puzzle pieces and they try to assemble it. The key measurement here is time: how long does it take them on average to solve the puzzle. When I started out designing (Four Critters, Six Spoons etc), it took them just a minute or two to solve a puzzle. That is when I discovered Tom Jolly's puzzles (it does not get any better than "Twist The Night Away"). Adding rotations to my designs made the puzzles more complex, and it took my colleagues longer and longer to solve the puzzles. 
Currently, a puzzle like "Pivot" can keep them busy for about 40 minutes on average. This solve-time competition keeps me on the edge, and pushes me to find new ways of making the puzzle more difficult."
     _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

This puzzle is the first in a new larger format based on 8 mm unit cubes giving a 3.2 cm solved cube. The interior of each piece is hollow but the pieces still feel strong and handle well. If the pieces had been solid a puzzle of this size would cost over $50 to print.

I have started experimenting with dyeing my puzzles and, as you can see, the tests went well. If you would be interested in receiving a pre-built and dyed version of this puzzle, or any of my other cubes, please visit the main shop page and use the 'Send message' link  under microcubology logo.

New larger hollow format.

I am delighted to be able to present one of the most original interlocking cube puzzles to be designed for many years. Once again, Tom Jolly has kindly given his permission for for this design to be made available through the microcubology shop.

The solution is described as requiring 20 moves (1-2-3-12-2). However, the most unusual feature of this puzzle is the sequence of seven rotations required in the middle of the solution.

The puzzle design can be viewed at http://bit.ly/cvsxev , and although it can be constructed from a set of LiveCubes, the rotations involved can make the pieces break apart rather easily. 

You can read more about this puzzle in Brian's (excellent) Damn Puzzle Blog at http://mechanical-puzzles.blogspot.com/2010/06/twist-night-away.html

Buying a copy of this puzzle entitles the owner to access a secret video on YouTube providing the full solution.

New larger hollow format.

Quaturnery Qube is my fourth 4x4x4 cube puzzle design and has four pieces.  It has a unique level 4.3.4  solution that includes one rotation. 

It's a great little puzzle with a tricky solution and some nice moves. Have fun!

Buying a copy of this puzzle entitles the owner to access a secret video on YouTube providing the full solution.

Three Easy Pieces is an interlocking 3x3x3 cube puzzle. It's not as difficult as some of the other puzzles I have designed, so if you, or someone you know, is just starting out with collecting puzzle cubes, this may be one for you.

I designed this puzzle with Frosted Detail material in mind, so the holes are slightly larger to give the best view of the inside as well as the outside of each piece.

Copyright - Richard Gain 2011.

Three Easy Pieces is an interlocking 3x3x3 cube puzzle. It's not as difficult as some of the other puzzles I have designed, so if you, or someone you know, is just starting out with collecting puzzle cubes, this may be one for you. The holes are slightly larger to give the best view of the inside as well as the outside of each piece.

Three Tiny Pieces is a 1/2 size version of Three Easy Pieces designed for and tested with Frosted Detail material. It works beautifully.

Copyright - Richard Gain 2011.

I am delighted to be able to present one of the most original interlocking cube puzzles to be designed for many years. Once again, Tom Jolly has kindly given his permission for for this design to be made available through the microcubology shop.

The solution is described as requiring 20 moves (1-2-3-12-2). However, the most unusual feature of this puzzle is the sequence of seven rotations required in the middle of the solution.

The puzzle design can be viewed at http://bit.ly/cvsxev , and although it can be constructed from a set of LiveCubes, the rotations involved can make the pieces break apart rather easily.

This version of the cube has a width of 2.4 cm which, although making it a little more expensive, gives it a decent weight and excellent strength.

You can read more about this puzzle in Brian's (excellent) Damn Puzzle Blog at http://mechanical-puzzles.blogspot.com/2010/06/twist-night-away.html

This cube really is something quite special.

About a year ago, after seeing the Transformers movie, I was inspired, by the behaviour of the alien technology in the AllSpark cube, to try and design a puzzle that could expand equally in all directions. To make things even harder, I wanted each piece to be locked in place by the preceding move.

After many prototypes I finally succeeded in creating this unique sculpture consisting of six parts.

The first stage in solving the puzzle involves discovering how the pieces fit together in the expanded configuration. (One of these moves includes a rotation, which makes it much harder to crack by computer!)

The second stage is to collapse the expanded cube down to the smaller cube by pressing each of the faces in the correct sequence.

The name of the puzzle comes from a (now obsolete) alternative to the Big Bang Theory proposed by Fred Hoyle. I like the fact that from its expanded, steady state the cube can either collapse inwards or explode outwards.

© Richard Gain 2008

This must surely be the smallest commercially available 3D puzzle cube in the world.
It is a tiny 7.5 mm across and presents a real challenge to solve and take apart - and not just because of its size.
It is an example of a sequentially interlocking cube which means that it won't fall apart once the pieces are slotted together.

You can find many more interlocking puzzle cubes in the microcubology shop.

The puzzle was inspired by the cover of Elbow's brilliant album, The Seldom Seen Kid.

These three identical pieces can be interlocked to form a 4x4x4 cube either in 6 sequential steps or smooth coordinate motion. This original puzzle has a beautiful rotational symmetry and is not trivial to solve.
Based on inspiration from Robert Reid's cubic trisections, Tom Jolly's Tangler Puzzle and help from Bram Cohen.
If you would like to get a tri-colour version like the one in the picture, you will need to order three individual copies of "Triaxial piece (2cm)" and specify a different material for each piece.

OK, I hear you cry, why Tertiary? Whatever happened to Secondary Gain?
Well there is one, but this is just a much better puzzle. It has a level of 9 (5.1.1.2) which is trickier than Primary Gain and is definitely approaching the top end of the range for a 4x4x4 cube. The completed cube is 1.6cm on each side.

My fourth 4x4x4 cube puzzle design is 4cm wide, with four pieces and a unique solution that includes rotation (hence the punny name).

This is a brand new concept for me. Cost-conscious, as ever, I have tried to create a puzzle cube consisting of hollow cubelets. To make the shapes more interesting I have designed my basic Curly Corner Cube in TopMod and then constructed the puzzle pieces from alternating left- and right-handed unit cubes in Blender.
This means it is possible to create a much larger puzzle without it being too expensive.

Another innovation of the design is the flexibility of the cube pieces (when printed in White Strong & Flexible material). The springiness of the Curly Corner Cube shape means that the puzzle pieces should always fit snugly together without being too loose or too tight.

Here is an experimental smaller version of the popular Steady State cube based on 3mm unit cubes.

In White Strong & Flexible it works well and looks really great when the pieces are dyed in different colours.

Shapeways successfully printed this in metal for me but the roughness of the metal surfaces made it impossible to fit the pieces together at first. After some careful Dremel work all of the surfaces are now smooth and the puzzle can be assembled correctly. However, this did take a significant amount of work and I would not recommend ordering this puzzle in metal unless you are prepared to take on the necessary post-processing work.

The Inside Out Cube is the first miniature cube puzzle from microcubology.

This is a real working interlocking cube puzzle that requires both skill and dexterity to solve. This version of the Inside Out Cube is 1.5 cm in size. Why is called the Inside Out Cube? Because the whole puzzle can be rebuilt inside out leaving a 3x3x3 hollow on the inside and all the interlocking legs on the outside.

In its life this puzzle has had three different names. As well as the 'Inside Out cube', which probably describes it best, it has been known as Triple Mirror, because three of the pieces are mirror images of the other three. And before that I used to call it the Tiresias cube. I'll leave you to figure that one out for yourselves!

© Richard Gain 2007

This is a very clever puzzle designed by Tom Jolly, who will receive a share of profits from any sales. It has the mechanism of a burr puzzle inside the shape of a 6x6x6 cube. The completed cube is 2.1cm on each side.
© Tom Jolly 2004

Happiness Cube #20 (2.1cm). This is a brilliant 6x6x6 cube by Japanese puzzle designer, Sekog Yukiyasu.

This is a level 30 puzzle (15.4.3.6.2) which will prove challenging for most puzzlers. It is currently the most difficult puzzle in the collection.
© Sekoguchi Yukiyasu 2006

A really lovely 3 x 3 x 3 interlocking cube that takes two sliding moves to get the first piece out and three more to get the second out - unusually complex for such a small format!

The pieces are made from a new 'springy cube' design which gives a degree of flexibility and an unusual squishy feel. It also means that the pieces will always fit perfectly and never rattle or jam.

I am delighted to be able to present one of the most original interlocking cube puzzles to be designed for many years. Once again, Tom Jolly has kindly given his permission for for this design to be made available through the microcubology shop.

The solution is described as requiring 20 moves (1-2-3-12-2). However, the most unusual feature of this puzzle is the sequence of seven rotations required in the middle of the solution.

This budget version of the cube has a width of 2.0 cm and although it is a little smaller, it still has a reasonable weight and good strength.

The puzzle design can be viewed at http://bit.ly/cvsxev , and although it can be constructed from a set of LiveCubes, the rotations involved can make the pieces break apart rather easily. This version in White Strong and Flexible plastic is virtually unbreakable.

You can read more about this puzzle in Brian's (excellent) Damn Puzzle Blog at http://mechanical-puzzles.blogspot.com/2010/06/twist-night-away.html

A bizarre construction cube that may or may not have a use.

A much larger version of the popular Switch Cube, made possible by the new version of Burr Tools which supports hollow pieces.

This is Quinsequential Gamma (3 cm) the third version of the Quinsequential design. Quinsequential Alpha required 9 separate moves before the first piece came free. Quinsequential Beta improved that to 11 moves, and now Quinsequential Gamma is ready for public viewing with a respectable 13 moves for first removal.
As far as I know, this is a record for a 5x5x5 cube, so I am laying down the gauntlet!
I have given the design a nickname of 'The Switch Cube' - you'll understand why when you've solved it!
Available in four sizes to suit all budgets.