Shrinking Soma 2nd Edition

Designer: Dr. Volker Latussek

This puzzle measures: 84 mm x 84 mm x 78 mm

Material: American Walnut

Goetz Schwandtner wrote about it:

“After the Soma Cube has been around for many decades, it is surprising that designers still come up with new puzzle designs and ideas based on this well known puzzle. After I had received the SHRINKING SOMA by Dr. Volker Latussek, I quickly removed the beautiful pieces from the box and started assembling a Soma Cube and after some minutes I had the cube assembled and could pack it back into the box. However there was a lot of space left, and the cube looked like it was shrinking indeed. Time for the real challenge: Use only the provided Soma pieces to pack them into the box so that the 4×4 opening of the box is closed completely. To make things more interesting, they need to be packed that even after shaking of the whole box they will not collapse. This was a much more difficult challenge for me and after some analysis of the situation, I formed some ideas to solve this task. First, it seemed completely impossible, then a phase with unstable assemblies followed, which collapsed quickly or had some holes in the lid. In the end, I finally reached an assembly that would not collapse, and it survived shaking the box! With the precise craftmanship of Pelikan Puzzles, the pieces do not only fit into that opening exactly, but form a stable and even lid indeed. A fun and beautifully made puzzle coming with a tough packing challengenge for everyone to try.”