Find a Puzzle

Puzzle types organised by the challenge

Puzzle Family Tree: How Mechanical Puzzles Are Related

Explore a visual family tree of mechanical puzzles, linking assembly, interlocking, opening, sequential-movement and disentanglement puzzles to examples in the Crafty Puzzles archive.

Diagram showing mechanical puzzles branching into assembly, opening, movement and disentanglement families
The same outside shape can contain a completely different kind of puzzle mechanism.

This family tree is a navigation aid rather than a literal genealogy. Puzzle types do not descend neatly from one another. Instead, the tree groups objects by the main challenge a solver encounters, following the principle used by modern mechanical-puzzle classifications.

Put togetherAssembly & packingTangrams · pentominoes · Soma-style cubes InterlockBurrs & solid assembliesCrosses · stars · balls · crystals Open or releaseBoxes, locks & hidden mechanismsHimitsu-bako · trick locks · secret compartments Move in sequenceSliding & transformation puzzles15 Puzzle · sliding blocks · twisty puzzles UntangleRings, wire & linked partsChinese rings · wire mazes · cast-metal puzzles Control movementDexterity puzzlesBalance · rolling balls · obstacle puzzles Match boundariesJigsaws & construction modelsDissected maps · picture jigsaws · 3D models

Why a cube is not necessarily a “cube puzzle” family

Outward shape can mislead. A cube may be a packing puzzle, an interlocking burr, a sliding puzzle or a twisty permutation puzzle. The Puzzle Museum’s classification guidance explicitly recommends looking at the intended problem and internal construction rather than simply the finished shape.

Where Crafty Puzzles examples fit

CrossInterlocking burrJapanese Puzzle BoxOpening puzzleSix Classic Metal PuzzlesDisentanglementSliding FifteenSequential movementPentomino PuzzleAssembly / packing3D JigsawsJigsaw / construction

Use the tree to identify an unknown puzzle

First ask what the solver is supposed to achieve. Then compare the object with the matching family in the mechanical puzzle encyclopaedia.

Sources and further reading

  1. The Puzzle Museum: Classification of mechanical puzzles
  2. The Puzzle Museum: A brief history of puzzles
  3. Fitzwilliam Museum: Mechanical puzzles terminology

Sources are linked for verification and further reading. Crafty Puzzles has written this article in its own words.

Mechanical puzzle encyclopaedia Types of puzzles History of mechanical puzzles

Puzzle instruction image