The GyroTwisty comprises an ABS plastic (the stuff for 3D printing) circular shell frame l which holds an inner ball. The object of the puzzle is to take apart the pieces and put them back together again. As with the previous Namdarian puzzle Sewing Box, the quality of the 3D printing and finishing here is very good. Tolerances are just right allowing the inner ball to rotate smoothly inside the outer circular frame. My copy of the puzzle looks really cute with a contrasting yellow and blue colour. Physically the puzzle is a nice size for the hands at around 8cm in diameter and about 6.5cm tall. Mine also came in a pinkish drawstring cloth pouch with leopard print.

This puzzle reminds me of Hanayama’s Cast Marble (which I don’t own nor have I played with) and also Peppermint designed by Scott Elliot. While the three puzzles share similar design cues, the solves have their own characteristics. Unlike Sewing Box and Peppermint which I struggled with it, I managed GyroTwisty pretty well. I took apart the puzzle in under 10 minutes and got all four pieces back together in a lesser time. Or maybe I just got lucky. I won’t say its very difficult but its certainly not an easy puzzle either. But I suppose with some persistence, it will pay off in the end as you fiddle the pieces.

There is a technique to the solve. Once I managed to line up the outer shell with the inner ball, which itself splits into two, the puzzle came apart quite easily. Really no force whatsoever is required.

For anyone interested to get a copy,  you can email Diniar via the IPP38 Puzzle Design Competition webpage. Yes, the GyroTwisty was also an entry to the competition. The puzzle costs a very reasonable 15 Euros plus S&H.

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But during IPP38 in San Diego this past August, I received one of the coolest (and most high tech) Exchange Puzzles around! This was the Super Cube from George Miller.

A quick demonstration during the Puzzle Exchange by Roxanne Miller showed me that this puzzle is in the realms of the tech/digital sphere.  Nothing like your typical twisty or Rubik’s Cube. It completely blew me away. Having said that, I am aware that there were in the past, electronic versions of the Rubik’s Cube such as the TouchCube and some other variations.

Is this cool or what?!!

The Super Cube comes packaged with not just the cube itself. But you also have to download the Super Cube app onto your smart phone or tablet to enjoy the Super Cube experience. You can just play with the Super Cube in the usual fashion. But the app also provides a number of challenges and “games”.

From a construction stand point, the build quality and finish is excellent. Even for a non-twisty puzzler like me, I can tell that the Super Cube turns with quiet buttery smoothness, almost like a competition cube.

How it works is that Super Cube is connected via Bluetooth to your smart phone or tablet and the cube will work with the app as intended. Obviously there are electrical components inside the cube. That’s why it comes with a charging cable that connects to the Super Cube via a pair of connectors shaped like miniature headphones.

I wasn’t interested in the other challenges. You can see from my iphone screenshots below what sort of extra challenges are available. And I am sure they are fun and many twisty enthusiasts would love them. What I was particularly drawn to was the Quick Solve function! As the name implies, this function allow you to solve a scrambled cube using the app. Once paired, the app is able to detect the scrambled state of the cube, no matter how you may scramble it. It will direct the puzzler to orientate the cube in the correct manner in order to start following the solving directions given by the app.

Once you have got the faces of the cube in the right orientation, you simply follow the on-screen twists and turns. The app will make the first twist and you follow. It will only show the next move after you have made yours. It won’t “run ahead” of you such that you are unable to keep up with the turns. Great for twisty novices and puzzlers like me who have little (or no) experience…haha! I had good fun with it. I posted about the Super Cube on Facebook and it has drawn mixed reactions with some puzzlers saying that a cube is not solved like this. Well, like any new (tech) product, including puzzles, there will be detractors and supporters alike.

Click on the YouTube video link HERE at the which shows how the Quick Solve function works with the Super Cube.

The Super Cube is available from a number of online retailers for around US$40.00. Google Giiker Super Cube and you will be able to sell who sells them.

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Unlike the IPPs with hundreds in attendance and a planned 3-day agenda and side tours, our little SPP was just a small gathering over dinner with just 8 of us, including Oskar! David Ang of Cubewerkz came with his gang of twisty enthusiasts and speed-cubers (all students by the way – Bin Jie,, Seung Ha, Ryan Peh and Daryl Tan) plus the two of us from the non-twisty domain, Goh Pit Khiam and myself. As you might imagine, given such a small group, the number of puzzles that went around were rather few. I showed off to Oskar some of my recent designs and prototypes such as my Handkerzzle, L(8)tice-2, Micro-Hex and a 2014 design but recently reproduced-Ball In Cylinder #2.  David brought a number of twisties he was currently selling on his new site and Pit Khiam took out a couple of his own designs and also displayed his Android platform digital puzzles. Oskar had a number of goodies in his bag, mainly his 3D printed and incredible looking gear mechanisms and twistie-style puzzles. All in all, it was a pleasant evening of catching up with Oskar and the rest of the gang  and a chance to handle some of Oskar’s newest toys!

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