How to Make a Difficult Lego Puzzle

Have you ever wanted to make a difficult puzzle out of LEGO without all the hassle of designing and complex building? If so, then this project is for you!


There is a Lego Digital Design file at the bottom of this page for this project.

You will need:

Lots of LEGO pieces.

Step 1 Creating the Base

The base is probably the easiest part. I used three 4x12 plates put side-by-side to make a 12x12 square. Yours could be any size.

Comments

[Mirror Mage]

You should make it with four pins.

[cod black ops]

how do you solve it

[Mirror Mage]

You would just spin it like normal.

[FightCube Technologies]

Thanks for the idea! I made this 14x14, 4 bricks high with a 6x6 center block. I did the sides red white and blue striped and used two pegs just like yours. I made a small hidden 2x2 brick that is pressed into one of the corners to use as a "tool" for pulling up the center 6x6 block when it's unlocked. The 2x2 tool is just a stack of (2) 2x2 plates and (1) 2x2 tile, and blends in with the stripping colors of the side, making it invisible to the untrained eye. We brought the puzzle to our family Christmas party tonight and everyone had fun trying to figure it out, until my 6 year old son showed them how to solve it. we also added a small drawer in the 6x6 block that holds some small decorated tiles, schematics, a gauge and some other pieces of interest. You open the drawer by taking one of the locking cross pieces and pushing it into the cross slotted 1x2 brick. Here is a little photo gallery of my build -> https://www.dropbox.com/gallery/41117656/2/Lego%20Puzzle%20Boxes/Spin%20To%20Open%20Box?h=cf8a0e

[knex builder36472418]

whats the puzzle?

[moocowdog]

see? its puzzling you as to what the puzzle is. thats what it is, a puzzle

[dannypalmer2001]

i cant understand how to build step 5

[didgitalpunk]

geat instructables! i think it could be slightly better but it is still good
you could do it with all same color bricks and put a pin on all 4 side insted of only 2

[St Jimmy]

If you made more than one first layer, and perhaps a stopper piece to stop the top falling in, you could use this as a safe, although maybe not a very secure one

[superduperdrew]

not really... you could just drop it and it would fall apart

[St Jimmy]

I seem to remember mentioning it not being secure? Although this principle would apply even to a puzzle made of solid steel, so I guess if the thief isn't particularly intelligent it would work...

[pablo6674]

very cool nobody could figure it out!!!! LOL

[bobandthemonkey]

made a modified version too, its more of a challenge, with need of usind a key sort of thing to move a bar so you can pull the inside box out. thats for the idea

[thatnerdguy]

Nice puzzle! I made a modified version of it- the removable part is now a case made out of clear lego elements. I'm going to put something inside it and give it to my brother for Xmas. Thanks for giving me the idea!

[HeyJD]

Very nicely done. good instructable, and I guess good creation.

[nebih]

this is awesome i rated 5*

[PKM]

Nice puzzle- though I'd be tempted to make it out of something you can't just disassemble like LEGO :)

When I was younger I had a wooden "safe" from Opitec that was similar- you had to turn it upside down and slide a piece out to open it.  A wooden version of this would be a nice craft project, I think.

[Jorbs3210]

Cast News form Hanayama uses the same mechanism, but it is slightly more complicated.