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Lego Puzzle Boxes

What is a Lego Puzzle Box?

A Lego Puzzle Box is a structure built of Legos that has a hidden compartment which requires a series of steps open. These steps often inlcude: sliding pieces, pressing hidden buttons, rotating or spinning knobs, etc. After 4-12 motions, the hidden compartment is finally revealed.

A well-designed Puzzle Box challenges the user up until (but not quite reaching) exasperation!

How do you make a puzzle box?

First, you'll need a decent number of Legos. The most useful sizes are:

- Bricks: 4x2, 2x2, 4x1, 2x1, 1x1
- Flats: 8x8, 6x6, 4x4, 6x2, 4x2, 2x2, 2x1
- Smooths: 2x2, 2x1

Next, you'll want to come up with a theme or a cool mechanism. I usually aim for about 6-12 consecutive steps to open the box. Common mechanisms include: sliding pieces back and forth, pushing pieces up and down, poking "keys" into holes, etc.

Finally, choose the box dimensions. Mine are usually 10x10 to 14x14 (this is a happy medium between comfortably hand-held and having enough internal space for complexity). Remember to save space for the hidden compartment!

While it can be useful to try drafting on paper, you'll end up changing things on the fly (invariably, things won't work as expected). As Tony Robinson said, "Always plan, but never plan on your plans".

A couple notes:

- Your first box will be pretty time-intensive. There's a lot of rebuilding mechanisms, so assume 2 to 10 hours of time.
- A well-designed Puzzle Box makes it "clear" which pieces should move. Make sure your user won't mistake taking it apart for "solving" it.

Can I buy one?

Sure! You can contact me or send me an email at [email protected].

FYI, Legos are pretty expensive, an average of 20¢ each (when purchased induvidually at Lego Pick-A-Brick). I would estimate each Puzzle Box is 150+ pieces, plus a bunch of work hours, gives a total price of $120.

Someday, I hope to publish (free) step-by-step instructions for building all of them.

Box 001 - The First

It was the winter of 2014. I was three days into my highschool winter break, and boredom had already set in. You can only play Minecraft for so many consecutive hours before everything feels like homogeneous sludge.

While I always identified as a "Lego Kid", this pastime had been largely dormant since elementary school. Armed with the wisdom of a now 15-year-old highschool brain, I decided to embark on my next Lego adventure. I sat down at 9:00 AM with my family's giant bin of Legos, a Red Bull (a discerning palate knows this is the best drink), and a whole day to work.

10 hours (literally) and a bazillion revisions (figuratively) later, my masterpiece was complete: Lego Puzzle Box 001. While I didn't know it at the time, this new hobby would actually continue into adulthood. I was very pround of my first Puzzle Box (although to be honest, it kind of sucked and had mechanical issues).

I showed it off to my friends and family, put it on my shelf, and forgot about it for the next eleven years.

Box 002 - Messy & Compact

My Lego saga continued at age 26. Now already married and with 2 kids, I was looking for new escape to fill my free time. I borrowed the massive Lego basket from my parent's house (still dusty from my childhood), and got to work.

This box was the epitome of "You work with what you got" (full sarcasm intended). I rummanged around for the few basic pieces I needed, and cobbled together a masterpiece. It did have one new innovation though - the hidden compartment was now secertly embedded in the top.

Box 003 - Cube

This box marked my turning point from amateaur builder to professional Lego architect. After spending a whole $400! on Lego pieces (thank you Lego pick-a-brick!), I crafted my most difficult box yet.

It had two new innovations: pieces that slide on the top face, and pieces that must be moved multiple times.

Box 004 - The Flat

This box's inspiration was "let's jam as many steps into a flat thing as possible". While I might have been able to include another 1-2 steps, it comes at the price of sturdiness. If too many pieces are moveable, nothing is held together (you get the Lego version of the card game 52 pickup).

If I really wanted to, I could calcuate a "move-per-volume density" that would divide the number of moves by the total box volume. This would give a good measure to compare Lego box complexity as a function of size. This box would likely rank 1st, followed by 003, 001, and finally 002.