• designed by Ronald Kint-Bruynseels (Belgium)
• number of pieces: 9
• difficulty rating (from 1 to 10): 8
• availability: out of production

This puzzle is an unusual member of the Board Burr family because absolutely no shifting moves are required, yet it is serially interlocking every step of the way. During disassembly, each piece pulls directly out of the puzzle one by one, but only in a very specific sequence because each subsequent piece is locked in place by the one that comes out immediatly before it. Naturally, the reverse-order of the disassembly sequence must be followed in order to reassemble the puzzle.

What this means for the frustrated puzzle solver is that disassembly is quick and easy (just find the next loose piece and pull it out) but it is extremely difficult to get the pieces back together because:

1. each piece is shaped differently
2. each piece has only one specific position in the fully assembled puzzle
3. having a piece accidentally in the wrong position, flipped upside-down or inside-out will cause big problems later on...
4. it's easy to keep going forward several more steps after making a mistake, thinking that you're on the right track
5. even if you do figure out where each piece properly goes, if you don't put them in place in the proper sequence, you will have to backtrace steps to fix the problem.
6. it's easy to confuse pieces or accidentally flip them upside-down or inside-out when backtracing...
7. see reason #3

Standing a mere 1.5" tall, this small scale puzzle easily fits in your pocket or purse, and makes an excellent companion for long trips, boring meetings, or simply taking a break from whatever else you were busy working on. These flexible wooden pieces will happily take the abuse of being quickly thrown back into your pocket when your bus or boss suddenly arrives.

Pacific Puzzleworks proudly manufactures each puzzle from eco-friendly sustainably harvested cherry, walnut and maple veneer that is produced locally. We glue and press these super-thin veneer sheets together into our own high-quality 5-ply and 7-ply laminate products. Using sheets of our 5-ply material, Space Invaders is precision laser etched and cut, meticulously sanded and finished by hand, and delivered to you in an assembled state.

Design Notes: Ronald Kint-Bruynseels originally named this design "Tubular Burr Box".