What are the different types of Chinese puzzles?

The term CHINESE HEAD PUZZLE is a common expression when faced with a problem that proves impossible to solve. But what actually is a Chinese puzzle? Let's take a look at 4 main types of Chinese wooden puzzles.

Before showing you the main Chinese wooden puzzles it is important to know that they have their own difficulty and their own solution. A multitude of other puzzles also exist but are less known (see at the end of the article). Here is our top 4 of these games like no other:

• THE WOODEN CUBE PUZZLE
• THE WOODEN BALL PUZZLE
• THE PYRAMID PUZZLE
• THE STAR PUZZLE
• A LARGE COLLECTION OF OTHER PUZZLES

(@ The Smart Child / The World of Puzzles)

Real games for adults that are also great gift ideas. The collection of Chinese wooden puzzles is made up of ten puzzles that are small in size but large in their difficulty and intellectual interest. Similar educational games for children and adapted to their levels are also offered.

A REAL NEURAL BOOSTER

Before detailing the main types of Chinese wooden puzzles (puzzle games), it seemed important to us to briefly recall certain advantages of this type of wooden games, for adults as well as for children:

✅ Improve memory skills - Puzzles require a lot of feedback on your movements, forcing your brain to store patterns, they require a high and long level of thinking.

✅ Problem Solving -  You can't cheat with a puzzle, either the elements fit together or they don't (same for a tangram).It’s up to you to develop your critical thinking skills to solve the puzzle without looking for the solution on the internet.

✅ Patience - Chinese wooden puzzles take time and need to be worked on, so satisfaction is not instantaneous. For some, long minutes, for others, long hours or even days are necessary to resolve them!

✅ An effective anti-stress - By playing wooden puzzles your mind will be completely focused on solving it, thus relieving you for a while of the stress and problems of life current. Adults, you need it!

The different difficulties and therefore the different levels of these games allow everyone, whatever their age or their level of thinking, to try their hand at solving these wooden puzzles.

(@ Canva / Relaxed business woman)

To find out more about all the benefits of this type of game, do not hesitate to consult our article "Why do puzzles?"

TYPE 1: THE WOODEN CUBE PUZZLE

This puzzle is also commonly called the Soma cube and invented in 1933 or 1936 by the Danish Piet Hein .The cube consists of seven different pieces, each made up of several small cubes. The objective of this Chinese wooden puzzle is to assemble these pieces to create a cube of three units. Try your luck and you might find one of the 240 solutions without counting the rotations!

(@ L'Enfant Malin / Wooden cube puzzle for puzzle collection)

In addition, the wooden cube puzzle, the ultimate puzzle game, can also be stacked to create a multitude of constructions and shapes such as a castle, a snake or a chair. Below are some small examples to redo!

A crystal	A plane	A dog	A Robot

A tower	A castle	A chair	A snake

A tunnel	A sofa	A grave	A monument

🚩Attention here is a solution in VDO but the goal is to think for yourself for many hours or even days! 🚩

Here are some ideas for variations on the wooden cube puzzle, for younger children:

(@ The Smart Child / 3DPuzzle™)

TYPE 2: THE WOODEN BALL PUZZLE

Chinese puzzle, both fun and stimulating, consists of 12 pieces.
It makes an excellent gift for the thinkers you want to spoil.
The assembly requires careful observation and reflection to analyze its internal structure.The wooden ball puzzle helps exercise the brain, develop intelligence, improve problem-solving ability. The time tried to solve, this medium level brain teaser will let you release pressure and relax.

(@The Smart Child / Wooden ball puzzle)

🚩Attention solution in VDO of the wooden ball puzzle, but don't let yourself be tempted. Solve this puzzle for yourself, we believe in you! 🚩

For children this game proves too complex, however other similar puzzle activities can be offered to them:

(@L'Enfant Malin / Ball puzzle for children)

TYPE 3: THE PYRAMID PUZZLE

Reduce this pyramid to ruins. Will you be able to rebuild it? Not before long moments of reflection! Depending on the model, the pyramid puzzle can be made up of 5 to 14 pieces to the delight of puzzle fans.

The design of this puzzle also makes it a remarkable decoration for your home or office. A real gift idea? Yes !

(@ L'Enfant Malin / Pyramid puzzle for puzzle collection)

Also see the ball pyramid puzzle which is a variation of the classic pyramid puzzle.

(@The Smart Child / Wooden ball pyramid puzzle)

TYPE 4: THE STAR PUZZLE

It's a good starting point for 3d puzzles and brain teasers, a fun puzzle that leaves you with a beautiful decoration for any desk or mantelpiece. It's important to pay attention to how the star comes apart so you can put it back together!

(@ L'Enfant Malin / Star puzzle for puzzle collection)

This puzzle contains 6 identical pieces. Try to put the pieces together to make a 3D star shape. The difficulty is medium for experts but quite hard for beginners. Very difficult for children.

A COLLECTION RICH IN SHAPES AND MATERIAL 

⭐ Other interlocking puzzles - Dozens of other Chinese puzzles such as the barrel, the carpenter's cross, the sphere, the crystal, the snake cube generally all in wood.

⭐ The bottle puzzle - Also very popular, you can find our special article which presents this puzzle like no other (The Heist. our article)

Photo Fashion  

⭐ Secret and magic boxes - In the category of dismantling puzzles, boxes are also superb decorative elements for adults. Children may especially like this gift.

⭐ The cuntie headbands - Generally made of metal or rope and wood, you can find dozens of models all equally intriguing for each other. We can find, among other things, a multitude of games with metal or wooden rings.

⭐ Padlocks - Yes, padlocks are also puzzles as you can see in the vdo below.Padlocks are much more recent than Chinese puzzles made of wood and generally metal. A big dose of logic will be necessary to open them!

⭐ The tangram - The tangram has the particularity of being intended for both adults and children. Indeed, depending on its number of pieces, the tangram can have a lower or very high difficulty!

(@ L’Enfant Malin / Le tangram pour tous)

Solving Chinese wooden puzzles has a large number of benefits for your health (improving memory, preventing future illnesses, improving your mood, etc.).). The 5 puzzles listed here are the best known but also the most loved. If you feel the patience and the level then don't hesitate and challenge yourself!