MINIMA XIII

Designer: Frederic Boucher

This puzzle measures: 70 mm x 50 mm x 50 mm

Material: Padauk, Wenge, Cherry

Frederic Boucher wrote about it: 
“Think the puzzle is already solved when you receive it completely packed? Think again! You must first remove the four pieces and repack them, this time with the different colored voxel completely hidden inside the box. What could the beveled parts of the pieces possibly be for…?”

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:
“I have reviewed many Minima puzzles over the last few years. The original idea by Frederic Boucher was to fit various pieces into a 2x2x3 space through a limited opening and requiring various rotational moves which are facilitated by odd holes in the sides of the box. The series has been continued by him and also taken up by many of the best puzzle designers in the world – I have lots of them and love the variety of challenges. I now have several versions of the Minima 13 and reviewed it in June 2025 having taken 4 years to solve it. When I finally managed to review it last year, I said that this 13th challenge in the Minima series was the utter pinnacle of the series – it is quite literally the very best of them all. It takes the original premise to pack the pieces inside and adds extra stuff:

1. It is trivial to place all the pieces in the box without rotations but this is clearly not the solution because…
2. There is a single coloured voxel which must not be visible from the outside
3. Several of the pieces have been cut at odd angles to allow some rather fancy rotations.
 
This is a seriously tough challenge and the Aha! moments are multiple and difficult to find. I had almost no recollection of the last solve and it took me quite some time to get it again this time. The crucial moves are very well hidden.
 
If you own the rest of the Pelikan wooden Minima series then this is a MUST BUY. If you don’t have a copy of the 13th challenge at all then this is a MUST BUY! The Minima 13 was one reason the whole series made it to my Top ten(ish) for 2025.”