Reddit mentions: The best assembly & disentanglement puzzles

Well it helps to give us that added information. Any skills you can learn for work that would make you a more valuable employee? any continuing education courses you can take that can take your existing skills to the next level? something that could boost your resume? It doesn't have to be anything super transformative, if you use excel every day but lack advanced excel skills then its you should spend your time with online excel tutorials...same goes for any computer program you use regularly at work. You can also look at job adds in your area of work and see what skills other employers are looking for, any that you lack? Maybe start there.

Yeah, you can learn a language or start a personal project like a book but those usually take more than 3 hours to do properly...your original question makes it seem like you have a random 3 hours to work with, not a set of 3 hour blocks that you regularly need to fill. If thats the case then starting something bigger like learning a language is defeinlty possible. There are also tons of free online courses available online in just about any subject you imagine. Coursera is one, but I know there are others. Instead of jumping straight to a writing a book you could consider r/writingprompts, writing fan fiction, or writing sort stories. Its also fun to just think of characters, giving them names, backstories, drawing them in their outfits.

If reading, writing, and drawing aren't your jam you could try meditation - lots of podcasts to get you started and refocused. You can also pair this with some exercise like getting up and walking to the break room for 5 min every hour. Keeping yourself moving is a great way to keep your mind active.

You can take up a relatively simple hobby like origami or taking up some of your time by buying and taking care of a few plants at your desk. You could try to learn how to solve a rubiks cube which would be a great way to fill a random 3 hour time block at work. For something bit out of the ordinary you could work on puzzle games, like this, or lock picking.

Again, getting personal chores done is another option. If its around Christmas time use it to write all your holiday cards, or write birthday cards for friends and family, maybe write a love note for your SO.

If you regularly have 3 hours to kill it might be worth exploring new opportunities either at your current workplace or elsewhere. It could be that you are ready for a new challenge in your career.

The goal is to figure out how to fold it so that the picture comes together on one side (as well as getting the reverse side to be solid colored) .

There are 100 individual puzzles, each one with a unique design in terms of folding. They start off simple (The one above in this post is 20/100), and then they get more intricate and complex later on - requiring more nuanced folding techniques, and being more difficult to figure out.

It's not really true Origami as they always fold into a square, but I think Origami lovers might still find it really fun.

It took me just a bit over a year to create this puzzle, and I'm really happy with how it came out. I just started selling it, so if you're interested you can find it on Amazon here.

Ideally, she has an interest in the game overall, but the situations and play does not suit her, before a final "You're out." try to see if there's something she is interested in that can be added without detracting from the rest of the game. The 5e DMG (p.6) has a list of main things that players like to get from their game (the list is quite applicable to any system). Some people like just one or two things from the list, others like a whole bunch. Maybe she's really into puzzles, in which case you just a one or two puzzle rooms to the next dungeons and at the end the party finds a puzzle box, so any time she's being nonsocial you just assume her character is fiddling with it obsessively (could even make it a physical artifact!)

I agree, if you like that sort of thing it's a great excuse to get your nails done. A family friend would to this to help with dermatillomania, because the length and texture of fake nails made it physically harder to pick at her skin. I imagine it would be more difficult to pick at the actual nails as well.

I don't bite my nails but I do mess with acne or pull at my eyebrows if my nails get too long, so I just keep them really short. Cutting them short with a few coats of thick polish (so you can't bite or tear at them) may be as helpful as fake nails.

Kind of the same but not really - my husband tends to take off his left shoe and sock when he drives and pick at the sock (why I have no idea). We bought him some nice, super comfy socks and an infinity cube to mess with instead. So far it's seemed to help.

Idk. Unsolicited advice, but I wanted to throw that out there in case something was helpful. :)

I found this set of puzzles which look awesome! It's a great test for your brain and also looks really good as a collection :)

/u/ccobb630 lets be creative! (found you through random wishlist search!)

1. Infinity is a level 6, but its my favorite hanayama
   
2. I've never seen any go out of print.
   
3. I don't have these chess puzzles.
   
4. I'm not a huge fan of wire puzzles.
   
5. Don't be afraid of starting with a harder revomaze. I started with bronze, if you .can grasp how they work you'll do fine! If you're willing to spend the money these puzzles are the best and the most rewarding!!!

She set me up at Christmas with a Cryptex Gift.

Inside that contained a gift from her.
To open it I had to solve 5 riddles, then taking the indicated letter from each answer and unscramble it.


She loves these types gifts and always enjoys watching everyone squirm while trying to figure out her clues. So i want to make this birthday extra special ;)

I have several of the hanayama metal puzzles that I use as fidgets. They aren’t the most silent fidget I’ve used, but they are very tactile and have a nice weight to them due to the metal. I particularly like this donut shaped one and this one with the marble. Depending on the feel you like, others may work better for you specifically.

Search for Hanayama on Amazon. They are rated level 1-6. Skip levels 1-3 and start at level 4 (which are still quite easy). Level 5 and 6 are the best ones. For me, Baroq is the most fun (but easy); Enigma is easily the hardest while still being unique and fun.

It depends on your budget but I would suggest getting a 2x2-5x5 bundle. I buy my cubes off amazon so I can't speak for other stores but you can get a reasonably high quality one for fairly cheap.

If you're in the US, I'd recommend something like this: https://www.amazon.com/CuberSpeed-Speedcubing-JiaoShi-Stickerless-Classroom/dp/B06VWRC6BV/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1492687899&sr=8-2&keywords=2x2-5x5+bundle

If you're in the UK I'd recommend something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vdealen-Bundle-Stickerless-Smooth-Puzzles/dp/B01HI9HN14/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1492688100&sr=8-7&keywords=6x6+stickerless

If the player can keep his meta-knowledge separate from character-knowledge, and is happy with the situation, then what's the problem?

The player's gotten the happy thrill of "aw yeah I solved this puzzle I am a genius" and you don't have to worry about the puzzle completely falling flat and the plot being stuck because the players can't solve it, even though we have 18 Intelligence Wizard here who theoretically should.

But to your question of good puzzles for characters and players, I'd start moving towards more puzzles with a physical, hands-on component (like those trapped rings or regular old picture puzzles), rather than mental ones. The physical act of having to move pieces around can delay things. The problem is that it'll be more expensive than cryptogram and math puzzles, and the solution is easier to Google the answer for.

Thank you so much! I am super excited to travel also! :). The sphere is called an Orbo. You can buy them here: http://www.amazon.com/Popular-Playthings-HC410-Orbo/dp/B0010Y5AC8
Quite a fun puzzle I must say!

In my experience, if you send a correction to Amazon, you'll get a nice form letter reply and nothing will change.

Here's a real toy "not suitable for kids under 8 years old" and yet one of the product photos shows two infants and a toddler playing with it.... it looks like the toy has been photoshopped into the image. The toy is multiple pieces of plastic held together with stickers, clearly inappropriate for infants and toddlers that will mouth it and possibly have the stickers come off in their mouths. It's also a potential chocking hazard if the stickers come off, with the individual plastic pieces posing a hazard.

I sent a correction to Amazon a month ago. Nothing happened except a nice form letter response. You're more likely to see this toy at a middle school math festival than in a baby's play room.

They did sort of correct my other complaint, which was incorrectly labeling this a "2-pack." The complete toy is two pieces and is supposed to be two pieces. They are always sold together, and they are not identical. So now it's labeled "2-in-1" as if that's a thing.

A few things I found that they may like:

How to Cosplay: a beginners guild - https://smile.amazon.com/Cosplay-Basics-Beginners-Guide-Costume/dp/1935548816/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494339073&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=sewing+patterns+for+roleplaying

Wish by Clamp: cute story of an angel who comes to Earth. I love it. n_n - 4 books total. Older series so books are cheap. - https://smile.amazon.com/Wish-1-Clamp/dp/1591820340/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1494339507&sr=8-2&keywords=Wish+manga


Metal brain teasers: https://smile.amazon.com/yueton-Brain-Teaser-Puzzles-Puzzle/dp/B0140RKPY4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1494339683&sr=8-6&keywords=brain+games

Brain Game book: https://smile.amazon.com/Brain-Games-Clever-Kids-Exercise/dp/1780552491/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1494339742&sr=8-7&keywords=brain+games


Art book: https://smile.amazon.com/Tangle-Art-Meditative-Beautiful-Instruction/dp/B00FKY98DG/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494339862&sr=1-5&keywords=Art+kits

Natures Art Box: https://smile.amazon.com/Natures-Art-Box-t-shirts-materials/dp/1580174906/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1494340034&sr=8-2&keywords=recycling+arts+for+kids

Crafts: https://smile.amazon.com/Trash-Treasure-Upcycling-Guide-Crafts/dp/193806318X/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1494340236&sr=8-11&keywords=recycling+crafts+for+kids#reader_193806318X

A couple suggestions, I might add:

Metal Puzzles: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QL2XRFD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_4w8RDbSDA8Y6J

Super Spirograph : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KJLUTQU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_7x8RDbNRC3FC3

I've used these as well as other variations for fun. I also play with uv reactive paint or markers and a black light

We did this for our adult daughter for Christmas last year. We gave her one clue that led to another clue in the house, etc. Ultimately she ended up with this puzzle box from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/4Thought-Products-Puzzle-Pod-Cryptex/dp/B009RROA26/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=puzzle+gift+holder&qid=1569523757&s=gateway&sr=8-1

You can program the answer to any five letter word. She had to use the last clue to solve the combination to open the gift. It was a lot of fun to watch.

She also bought me this, which looks awesome and is by the guy who made perhaps my all-time favorite phone game (Alcazar), so I guess it's a wash.

The Hanayama puzzles are my favorite, by a longshot, and almost certainly less than $20.

You could probably get him both Cast Gear and Cast Laby for about $20. Or replace Cast Laby with Cast Dolce (the one with the male/female symbols), which is also really cool.

https://www.amazon.com/OGEAR-Hanayama-Metal-Teaser-Puzzle/dp/B00D9J7F2U

https://www.amazon.com/LABYRINTH-Hanayama-Metal-Teaser-Puzzle/dp/B0038BCMYU

https://www.amazon.com/DOLCE-Hanayama-Metal-Teaser-Puzzle/dp/B00D9J7F2A

Turns out this already exists! I found out about it on a Boardgaming podcast, and very co-incidentally two days after posting this I was given Manifold as a present! I highly recommend it, fun little brain teaser, and a twist on what we normally fold!

Buy here

Thanks for posting this (and Nutcase)... In for one of these as well!

Labyrinth is the same price too!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038BCMYU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Not sure why they don't come up that price during a normal Amazon search though... had to use your links for some reason

Brain teaser puzzles [like this] (https://www.amazon.com/QUARTET-Hanayama-Metal-Teaser-Puzzle/dp/B0038BHZS8/ref=pd_sim_21_23?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0038BHZS8&pd_rd_r=6SXNMWW9S14JP2298PM4&pd_rd_w=Obc88&pd_rd_wg=oPLsj&psc=1&refRID=6SXNMWW9S14JP2298PM4) are great for doing something with you hands and keeping your mind on something. I'd get him a few of the better reviewed Hanayama puzzles.

Apart from actual little puzzles you can hand out to the party IRL I don't give puzzles to my parties. Too often puzzles are tests for the players not their characters and there is nothing you can really do in-game to provide any in-game push apart from an npc. Giving somebody one of these or something similar is just complicated enough to make them invest real attention to it but small enough that it doesn't detract from the rest of the group. Plus you can pass it around and the table and everyone can try it.

I really like edgy, dark artwork that is really detailed. It immediately catches my eye in comics.

I am not sure it is unique, but this puzzle is really cool!

Perhaps the Elon Musk book - my dad really liked all the in depth tech info in it.

There are also these small metal puzzle things that a few men I've known have really liked - they are brain teasers and can be pretty difficult!

Yueton IQ Toys, IQ Test Mind Game Toys Brain Teaser Metal Wire Puzzles Magic Trick Toy, Metal IQ Puzzle Set of 8 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0140RKPY4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ohksybD36PVQA

Yes, that's more the theme I'm looking for. I actually picked up the JR set of that. Also, puzzles like this http://www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-6820-ThinkFun-Gordians/dp/B000EGI4OO/

Kids borrow these toys for about a week so having different types of toys (beyond legos and erector sets) is what I'm looking for.

This one looks kind of cheap, but it's a nice display piece and you can make the password "TREES" http://www.amazon.com/Puzzle-Pod-Cryptex-Brain-Teaser/dp/B009RROA26/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417538197&sr=8-1&keywords=cryptex

I have one of these toys and it is a lot of fun!

Pretty much this with out the pictures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjD_Q3UwLIw

https://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Fidgeting-Spinner-Anxiety-Fingers/dp/B071X8S8WQ

Holy cow yes. Have you tried infinity cubes?

Infinity Cube Fidget Toy, Luxury EDC Fidgeting Game for Kids and Adults, Cool Mini Gadget Spinner Best for Stress and Anxiety Relief and Kill Time, Unique Idea That is Light on The Fingers and Hands https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071X8S8WQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_jSV4CbQJC48RF

It really depends on the individual. My personal favorite is an Infinity Cube.

I'll let you know! I'm super anxious to get it (I actually bought 3 of them). My therapist gave me one of the puzzles in [this set](yueton IQ Toys, IQ Test Mind Game Toys Brain Teaser Metal Wire Puzzles Magic Trick Toy, Metal IQ Puzzle Set of 8 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0140RKPY4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_zE3MybC6TQ09R) middle row all the way to the left - and that kept me busy enough to not pick!!

There are interesting topological problems that can be made into wire puzzles, but none of the puzzles I've seen IRL have been topologically interesting at all. Each of the puzzles here, as far as I can see, are two or three unlinked unknots. If they were topological problems, you could just bend the metal and take the pieces apart. Since you can't, they're geometric problems, sort of like the couch-in-the-hallway one.

The gordian knot puzzle is quite a challenge.

Because that's what was on the picture he saw on Amazon.

Get a metal puzzel! They are so much fun!
https://www.amazon.com/LABYRINTH-Hanayama-Metal-Teaser-Puzzle/dp/B0038BCMYU/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&qid=1504516477&sr=8-31&keywords=metal+puzzle

> gordians knot

https://www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-6820-T-ThinkFun-Gordians/dp/B000EGI4OO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpbpUNRbZtY

Puzzle Pod Cryptex - Brain Teaser & Coin Bank https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009RROA26/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_opfmybFQ6BFZE

I bought one like this last year. It came coded with a word so I would assume they are all made with the same starter word. Unfortunately I can't remember what that word was. It may have been space but that's just a guess.


Puzzle Pod Cryptex - Brain Teaser & Coin Bank https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009RROA26/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_uTnpybS1EB3AZ

This one is kind of cool if you don't care about the stealth factor and just want a beat place to out your weed.

Edit: did the wrong link, think I fixed it..