Tricopters, Insanity, and Madness
These edge and face turning puzzles are all based on the geometry of the trigonal dipyramid, one of the most fundamental jumbling geometries.
Tridot Puzzle
Tridot has six axes, one at each 90 degree edge. Because the axis system is based on the triangular dipyramid, every move is jumbling and shape-shifting. Be careful, this puzzle does have some bandaging that is very hard to see as the dots become nearly invisible at times.
Purchase Tridot in my i.materialise shop.
Ultimate Insanity
Ultimate Insanity is similar to my Edge of Insanity puzzle, with three more axes at the long edges of the trigonal dipyramid. The puzzle has a total of nine axes, one at every edge. Moves on these axes can be combined in any order. This makes the puzzle extremely complex as it jumbles and shape shifts constantly.
Purchase Ultimate Insanity in my Shapeways shop.
Tricopter Twist
Tricopter Twist is a twisted prismatic version of Edge of Insanity. Careful, it can be difficult to identify when to stop a turn and start another. The puzzle has six axes, one at each 90 degree edge. Because the axis system is based on the triangular dipyramid, every move is a jumbling and shape-shifting move.
Purchase Tricopter Twist in my Shapeways shop.
Tricopter 9DD Pillow
Tricopter 9DD Pillow is arguably the most complex puzzle in the Tricopter series, featuring stacked axles, floating axles, a cheese core, and the highest part count for this puzzle series. Unfortunately the geometry is very unstable, and the puzzle is highly prone to popping apart, making it very difficult to play.
Tricopter 9DD Pillow is a pop-o-matic, and not for sale.
Tricopter 9SD
Tricopter 9SD is similar to my Tricopter 9SS puzzle, but in this case the non-jumbling cuts have become deep cuts, passing through the origin. The puzzle has a total of nine axes, one at every edge. Moves on these axes can be combined in any order. This makes the puzzle extremely complex as it jumbles and shape shifts constantly.
Purchase Tricopter 9SD in my Shapeways shop.
Buy it ready to play from Etsy.
Tricopter 9SS
Tricopter 9SS is similar to my Tricopter 9DS puzzle, but in this case the jumbling cuts have been moved shallower, and the non-jumbling cuts remain shallower. The puzzle has a total of nine axes, one at every edge. Moves on these axes can be combined in any order, and overhang bandaging is minimized.
Purchase Tricopter 9SS in my Shapeways shop.
Buy it ready to play on Etsy.
Tricopter 9DS
Tricopter 9DS is similar to my Tricopter 9 Pillow puzzle, but in this case the jumbling cuts have been moved deeper, and the non-jumbling cuts have been moved shallower. The puzzle has nine axes, one at every edge. Moves on these axes can be combined in any order, and there is no overhang bandaging.
Purchase Tricopter 9DS in my Shapeways shop.
Tricopter 9DD Flat
Both the jumbling cuts and non-jumbling cuts have been moved deeper in the Tricopter 9DD Flat. As with all the previous Tricopter puzzles, moves on these two axis types can be combined in either order, allowing the puzzle to become fully scrambled. Unfortunately the puzzle is extremely unstable, and pops apart very easily.
Tricopter 9DD Flat is a pop-o-matic, and not for sale.
Tricopter 6 Pillow
TriCopter 6 Pillow is a pillowed prismatic version of my Edge of Insanity puzzle. It is slightly easier since certain pieces do not need to be oriented for the puzzle to be solved. The puzzle has six axes, one at each 90 degree edge. Based on the triangular dipyramid, every move is a jumbling and shape-shifting move.
Purchase Tricopter 6 Pillow in my Shapeways shop.
Tricopter 9 Pillow
Tricopter 9 Pillow is similar to my Tricopter 6 Pillow, but three additional axes have been added at the 60 degree edges of the pillowed prism. The puzzle has nine axes, one at every edge. Moves on these axes can be combined in any order. This makes the puzzle extremely complex as it jumbles and shape shifts constantly.
Purchase Tricopter 9 Pillow in my Shapeways shop.
Buy it ready to play on Etsy.
Tricopter 9
Tricopter 9 combines curvy cuts and a pillowed shape to eliminate several parts present in other puzzles in the series, and allow the geometry to be simplified to it's essence. The puzzle has a total of nine axes, one at every edge. Moves on these axes can be combined in any order.
Purchase Tricopter 9 in my Shapeways shop.
Buy it ready to play on Etsy.
Madness Plus
Madness Plus was designed to make the geometry of the Tricopter puzzles more easily understood. The puzzle has a total of nine axes, one at every edge. Moves on these axes can be combined in any order, and there is no overhang bandaging. This makes the puzzle extremely complex as it jumbles and shape shifts constantly.
Purchase Madness Plus in my Shapeways shop.
Buy it ready to play from Etsy.
Insanity Plus
Insanity Plus is a close relative of my previous "Edge of Insanity" puzzle. In fact, Insanity Plus looks exactly like Edge of Insanity, but it has three extra axes located at the vertices with four-way symmetry. This gives it a total of nine axes.
Purchase Insanity Plus in my Shapeways shop.
Madness Cubed
Madness Cubed is a cubic version of Oskar van Deventer's More Madness puzzle. The puzzle has six axes, one close to the center of each face. Every move is a jumbling and shape-shifting move. The puzzle becomes quite confusing after only a few moves, and can even be hard to scramble due to the challenge of finding viable turning axes.
Purchase Madness Cubed in my Shapeways shop.
Shallower Madness
Shallower Madness looks nearly identical to Oskar van Deventer's Deeper Madness puzzle. However, Shallower Madness is different internally, and is actually shallow-cut instead of deeper-than-origin-cut like Oskar's puzzle. The result is a puzzle with less internal bandanging, making more axes available for rotation.
Purchase Shallower Madness in my Shapeways shop.
HeliPrism 9 Curvy
HeliPrism 9 Curvy is similar to my HeliPrism 6 Curvy puzzle, but three additional axes have been created at the 60 degree edges of the prism. Interestingly, the square faces of the puzzle exhibit true four-way symmetry, even though the curvature of the two types of cuts are different. The puzzle has nine axes, one at every edge.
Purchase HeliPrism 9 Curvy in my Shapeways shop.
Insanity Double Plus
Insanity Double Plus is a close relative of my previous "Edge of Insanity" and "Insanity Plus" puzzles. In fact, Insanity Double Plus has the same three extra axes as Insanity Plus, but those axes now have full four way symmetry. This creates several more parts, and should make the puzzle much harder to solve.
Purchase Insanity Double Plus in my Shapeways shop.
Insanity Cubed
Insanity Cubed is a cubic version of my previous Edge of Insanity puzzle. The puzzle has six axes, one close to the center of each face. Because the axis system is based on the triangular dipyramid rather than the cube, every move is a jumbling and shape-shifting move.
Purchase Insanity Cubed in my Shapeways shop.
Buy the mass produced version at HK Now Store.
HeliPrism 9 Ball
HeliPrism 9 Ball is similar to my HeliPrism 6 Ball puzzle, but three additional axes have been created at the 60 degree edges of the prism. The puzzle has a total of nine axes, one at every edge. Moves on these axes can be combined in any order. This makes the puzzle very complex as it jumbles and shape shifts constantly.
Purchase HeliPrism 9 Ball in my Shapeways shop.
HeliPrism 6 Curvy
HeliPrism 6 Curvy is a prismatic version of my Edge of Insanity puzzle. It is slightly easier since certain pieces do not need to be oriented for the puzzle to be solved. The puzzle has six axes, one at each 90 degree edge. Because the axis system is based on the triangular dipyramid, every move is a jumbling and shape-shifting move.
Purchase HeliPrism 6 Curvy in my Shapeways shop.
HeliPrism 6 Ball
HeliPrism 6 Ball is a prismatic version of my Edge of Insanity puzzle. It is slightly easier since certain pieces do not need to be oriented for the puzzle to be solved. The puzzle has six axes, one at each 90 degree edge. Because the axis system is based on the triangular dipyramid, every move is a jumbling and shape-shifting move.
Purchase HeliPrism 6 Ball in my Shapeways shop.
Edge of Insanity
Edge of Insanity could be considered the next puzzle in Oskar van Deventer's "Madness" series of puzzles. First was More Madness, a face-turning, shallow-cut trigonal dipyramid. Next was Deeper Madness, in which Oskar moved the slice planes slightly past the origin of the puzzle. With Edge of Insanity, I moved the slice planes even further, creating an edge-turning, shallow-cut form.
Purchase Edge of Insanity in my Shapeways shop.
Buy it ready to play at Chewie's Puzzles.
Edge of Insanity Tall
Edge of Insanity Tall is an elongated version of my previous Edge of Insanity puzzle. It has six axes arranged in a jumbling-only geometry. It was designed when a puzzle manufacturer wanted to make the Edge of Insanity, but thought the proportions of the dipyramid were not aesthetically pleasing enough. What do you think?
Purchase Edge of Insanity Tall in my Shapeways shop.
