You want a really hard puzzle? You want a puzzle to really stump the person who can do them all? This is it.... a list of all our most challenging puzzles. Our most difficult puzzles all on one page.
Mr Puzzle Australia makes and sells some of the hardest puzzles in the world. Some of the the really hard puzzles are made here in our own workshop and are not available anywhere else in the world.
We consider a hard puzzle to be a puzzle that will take some hours to do and memorise. We don't consider a puzzle mastered until you can show someone that you can do it without them getting bored half way through the performance. We do not consider the use of the solution as 'doing' the puzzle. These very difficult puzzles may be a challenge but being difficult to us doesn't have to mean just more pieces...
You'll find these puzzles interesting as well as difficult.
We've brought together puzzles from our Difficulty Rating 8 to 10 (out of 10) pages. The page is intended as a general guide only and puzzles are not listed in order of difficulty, they are mostly grouped together by type and maker, but you can see how we rate them here.
Find the way through the double layered maze and free the Euro from the labyrinth. A very, very hard puzzle puzzle designed by Jürgen Reiche at Siebenstein-Spiele. Difficulty level 6 out of 7.
In 1980 the Dutch designer Wil Strijbos created his first puzzle and this is it. The Aluminium Cross. And it's design is still as unique and intriguing as when he first created it over 30 years ago.
At first you might think this is the same as other 'cross' puzzles you've seen before. It's not! You might also think it does not look very difficult to take it apart. It is! And once you have it apart you might think it will not be very difficult to put it back together. It is!
Possibly the most intriguing thing about this puzzle is that even if you see the elements of the puzzle when it's apart the solution is not obvious. Wil is so confident of this fact that the puzzle even comes with a photo showing the internal workings of the puzzle. But he does not supply the solution.
The object of the puzzle is to open the cylinder. As usual with Wil's designs, this is nowhere near as easy as it sounds!
And sound is important when solving this puzzle. This puzzle does not give up it's secrets easily and like a lot of Wil's puzzles you are often working blind.
The object of the Lotus is to find the Lotus Flower.
To do this you need to remove an aluminium circular disc with a rod running through the centre. But if you think you've done the puzzle by then you're very much mistaken.
The Lotus is based on the Yen Puzzle which was invented by Wil back in 1979. That puzzle had a wooden frame with a nail in it that held a Japanese Yen Coin. This new puzzle is beautifully machined from anodised blue aluminium and has additional secrets not found in the original design. Those secrets are where the puzzle gets it's name Lotus Flower and until you understand the reason for the name it can be said you have not solved the puzzle.
There are many, many step in this puzzle. Many small parts. No banging, no tapping, no external tools, no force in any way; just enjoy the puzzle and find the secrets of the Lotus Flower.
This is the improved metal version of the first puzzle box Wil designed back in 1984. But in reality this is a sequential discovery puzzle not a puzzle box as most understand a puzzle box to be.
The puzzle is to remove the gold annodised metal rod inside. To do this you do not need any tapping, no magnets and no external tools. Everything you need to solve the puzzle can be found inside the puzzle itself. The puzzle is made more difficult because you cannot see anything inside the box as you're solving it.
When you start the puzzle you can see into the hole in the bottom of the box that the gold anodised metal rod has a sad face on the end. You'll have done the puzzle when you've removed the rod and put it back so that you can look into the bottom of the box and see a smiley face on the rod.
An elegant solution. This means that no element of luck is necessary to solve the puzzle. It can be solved at will with distinct and definite moves.
The puzzle is to remove the 4 burr pieces from the cross frame.
Japanese designer Osanori Yamamoto has been publishing his puzzle designs since the start of 2003.This is one he released in 2012.
The frame is a symmetrical crossinto which the 4 burr pieces fit.They can be removed and reinserted into the frame.
There is a unique level 30.6.3 solution.That means that it will take 30 moves to remove the first piece then another 6 to remove the second piece and still 3 more to get the third piece out.
The puzzle is to remove the 3 burr pieces from the cube frame and insert them again.
Designed recently by Japanese designer Osanori Yamamoto in early 2013 this puzzle has a very complex level 16.3 solution to solve it with a symmetrical colour pattern.
When the puzzle is completed with the symmetrical light colour bars in place on each face there is just one solution from possible assembles. If the colour pattern is ignored there are 2 solutions from 3 possible assemblies.
The level 16.3 solution means that it will take 16 moves to remove the first piece then another 3 to remove the second piece.
The puzzle is to disassemble and reassemble the 4 piece interlocking framed burr. The four piecs are made up of just 3 burr pieces that fit inside a single fixed frame.
Designed by Turkish designer Yavuz Demirhan in 2011 this puzzle is an amazingly complex design with a level 14 solution from this solved state. When the puzzle is completed with the symmetrical light colour squares in place on each face there is just one solution and one possible assembly. If the colour pattern is ignored there are 3 solutions from 5 possible assemblies.
The puzzle consists of a looped handle interlocked with nine rings. The object is to remove the nine rings from the handle. It will take 341 move to do the puzzle but there's a method and once you know it you'll certainly be able to solve the puzzle.
The puzzle is to build the symmetrical honeycomb shape from the 10 pieces each made from hexagonal cylinder pieces of different lengths joined together. Note: This puzzle doesn't normally come with a solution but from feedback we know it's a very hard puzzle so we've created a detailed solution that we now supply with the puzzle.
The puzzle is to separate the four pieces from each other then put them back together again. Even when you think you've almost got it there's another secret to unlock... and then there's the problem of putting it back together.
Separate the 4 pieces of the puzzle. True bonds has always been hard to form, but once formed such bonds are eternal and hard to break. The inventor Uyematsu says that his original version was created with this image in his mind, but the puzzle was completed into a cast puzzle with a bond that is truly difficult to unravel. How would you go about breaking and forming this bond? There are two approaches to this puzzle and we challenge you to both!
The three pieces of this puzzle just slide apart, you don't need to force them. Can you work out the twisting movement required to achieve this and to then get them back together again?
Can you separate the three links of the chain and then get it back together again? What's special about this puzzle is that it can be solved three different ways, depending on which of the three pieces has been chosen as the middle link.
The object is to separate the two parts - N E W S. The level of difficulty is very high because it's very difficult to work out the solution to the puzzle. Once done the puzzle is not difficult to memorise.
There are two goals to the Cast Nutcase created by the Dutch puzzle inventor, Oskar van Deventner. 1. Remove the small nut by disassembling the Cast Nutcase. 2. Cast puzzle enthusiasts (some call them nutcases) can enjoy trying to change the wording on the bolt from "nut-case" to "case-nut".
Edward Hordern IPP Puzzle Exchange - Washington DC, August 2012 Presented by Frans de Vreugd. Made by Brian Young @ Mr Puzzle Australia. Designed by Stephane Chomine. Only 200 of these puzzles ever made. 100 sent to IPP32 for the Edward Hordern Puzzle Exchange. 100 for sale exclusively on this website.
The puzzle is to assemble the 6 pieces so that you make what looks like a framed burr. The Vice comes in two pieces and then the 4 other pieces intersect in two directions through it. We've presented the puzzle disassembled which raises the difficulty level. Whilst at the same time being just 6 pieces the challenge to solve is not unrealistic. Nevertheless it will be hard to do without resorting to the solution.
Yes, Vinco believes this is even outside his rating system. Harder than his 5 out of 5 puzzles.
There are twelve very odd shaped pieces which make a cube. Once complete this cube sits on a 45o angle inside the open stand. An incredibly difficult puzzle to get together.
Edward Hordern IPP Puzzle Exchange - Prague, Czech Republic, August 2008 Presented by Mike Hawthorne. Made by Václav Obšívac at Vin & Co. Designed by Václav Obšívac.
Difficulty 5/5 The goal is to make a cube, and the other nine shapes, from the 8 pieces of the puzzle. The shapes are amazingly complex - even for Vinco!
Edward Hordern IPP Puzzle Exchange - Washington DC, August 2012 Presented by Laurie Brokenshire. Made by Václav Obšívac. Designed by Václav Obšívac.
Difficulty 5+/5 You may try 3 (Tri) challenges using the mathematically complete set of 4 different woods on each of 6 pieces which look a bit like bicycle wheels. 1. Uni-Cycle. Simply form a cube (not too difficult) 2. Bi-Cycle. Each corner of the cube must be one single colour (a bit trickier) 3. Tri-Cycle. The cube must have no identical colour touching anywhere, not even diagonally or on an edge (a lot more though required to do this one)
Edward Hordern Puzzle Exchange - Gold Coast, Australia, August 2007 Presented by Laurie Brokenshire. Made by Václav Obšívac. Designed by Václav Obšívac.
Difficulty 5/5+ The puzzle is to assemble the six differently shaped pieces into this very complex interlocking burr. This puzzle is one of the hardest that Vinco has ever invented and because of the way it has to be assembled it is not possible to solve this puzzle using a computer program.
Edward Hordern IPP Puzzle Exchange - Berlin, Germany August, 2011 Presented by Karst Nauta. Made by Brian Young @ Mr Puzzle Australia. Designed by Junichi Yananose.
Status: 30th March 2013. Only 7 left. Once sold we won't make this puzzle again.
The Burrliner Kruse is a 12 piece plated burr based on the Altekruse type burrs.
The puzzle is a completely new design by Junichi Yananose, who took his inspiration from the original and well-known Altekruse Puzzle. It was a 'by-product' of the analysis he did to create the Windmill Burr that we made in the 2010 Limited Edition series.
You can choose to have the burr sent assembled or apart. It's challenging to take apart (Level 4-2-3) but receiving it in pieces really makes it more tricky. If you're comfortable doing burrs this is still difficult but doable (and it comes with a very detailed printed solution if you get really stuck).
Junichi originally name it New Altekruse Type 04 but Karst named the puzzle as a reference to the historical inventor William Altekruse and to the International Puzzle Party in Berlin.
The puzzle is made from Australian Rose Alder. Size: 100mm x 100mm x 100mm
Edward Hordern IPP Puzzle Exchange - Washington DC, August 2012 Presented, made and designed by Brian Young @ Mr Puzzle Australia Awarded 3rd Prize for Themed Puzzle Award
There’s Red, While & Blue on the flags. There’s the White monument on a Red base. Can you find the other Blue? If you keep searching you’ll find it inside the puzzle. And we’re not referring to the use of “blue” language or going “blue” in the face (excuse our Aussie slang) with frustration.
The object of the puzzle is to unlock and open it, find the blue, close and relock it. You’ll have solved the puzzle when you can complete these two stages.
First stage Lock all gravity pins inside the round base of the obelisk so they do not move. This will allow you to remove the obelisk from the base. If you open the puzzle by chance then the gravity pins will still move freely; this is not the intended solution. The first stage is not completed until the gravity pins are locked inside the round base.
Second stage Unlock the gravity pins so they flow freely again. This allows you to lock the obelisk back in the square base. You could find that relocking the puzzle might be more challenging than unlocking it was.
All the tools you’ll require to do the puzzle are given with the puzzle. The puzzle we’ve presented is a representation of the Washington Monument, right down to the lightening rod in the top, which can come out, so be careful not to lose it. You’ll more than likely need it to complete the puzzle.
Edward Hordern IPP Puzzle Exchange - Washington DC, August 2012 Presented by Matthew Dawson. Designed and made by Brian Young @ Mr Puzzle.
The challenge is to work your way through the puzzle to find the barrel of oil.
You've inherited this oil well from Uncle Bubba who plugged it in a very tricky way back in the 1960's when oil was selling for under $3 a barrel. With oil now over $100 a barrel the challenge is to unplug the well. You'll know you've got the oil flowing again when you find the barrel of oil. Can you pitch your wits against Uncle Bubba and work out how he plugged the well?
You will have to discover a range of tools and work out how to use them, some are very well disguised, to reach the final goal. No physical force at all is required to open the drawer when it’s unlocked. If you find yourself forcing something you are doing something the puzzle was not designed to do.
A seven piece wooden ball (koule in Czech) puzzle on a turned wooden stand.
The basis of this puzzle is the Stewart Coffin designed Convolution Cube. The puzzle is rated as Demanding. Each of the 7 pieces is made from a combination of different species and colours of wood. The pieces are totally interlocked to make a solid sphere with a single solution. Yes, there are no voids inside the sphere. The bigger challenge is probably putting this puzzle back together, but in disassembly, even after you've found the first couple of pieces it still hasn't released all it's secrets.
Each puzzle piece is made from many smaller complex shaped pieces glued together; finding the correct combination that are not glued, to push or pull to take apart, may be quite difficult.
Solution: A video on assembly and disassembly is supplied on DVD with the puzzle.
The object of the puzzle is to dissassemble the 13 piece rectilinear burr.
This puzzle was designed by Bill Cutler in 1982 as part of his Wausau series of burrs. Prior to this he had worked mostly with the standard six piece burr but this series was an experiment in different patterns of rods along the 3 axes. Bill describes this second puzzle in the series, Wausau '82, as one of his favourite designs, saying it uses a lock picking technique.
9 hexagonal sticks & 9 dowels. Some different lengths. Four stick-dowel pairs joined to form elbows. Four stick-dowel pairs joined to form cross pieces. 3 different elbows. 2 different cross pieces. 10 pieces in total.
Edward Hordern Puzzle Exchange - Gold Coast, Australia, August 2007 Presented by Bill Darrah. Made by Brian Young @ Mr Puzzle Australia. Designed by Bill Darrah.
The puzzle is to disassemble and reassemble the 12 piece burr so that all the decorative routing is symmetrical. The puzzle can go together in two different ways. A very elegant design by Bill Darrah who is well known for designing very difficult puzzles. As well as being a burr it is actually a box with an inside space of 45mm x 45mm x 45mm.
This puzzle really does show a case of 'don't judge a book by it's cover'. It may look like other six piece burrs on the outside but it is DEFINITELY not. The puzzle is incredibly more complicated than the commonly known six piece puzzle. This photo shows the Mega Six when it's about half way together or apart).
Bill Cutler first used a computer program to analyse six piece burrs in 1974 but it took until 1990 to analyse all possible six piece burr combinations.
Mega Six is the result of that search for the maximum number of moves for a six piece burr with a unique solution. This does not mean it has a unique assembly, due to the number of internal voids. In theory the pieces should fit together in 20 different ways however, the reality is that you can physically only put the puzzle together in one of the 20 assemblies.
Not only OUR hardest six piece burr but THE hardest six piece burr!
Covered by Australian Design Registration No 151844 and is made under license to Bill Cutler.
This puzzle is also available in our Craftsman Range in Jarrah, Blackbean or Silver Ash (Click here).
This puzzle really does show a case of 'don't judge a book by it's cover'. It may look like other six piece burrs on the outside but it is DEFINITELY not. The puzzle is incredibly more complicated than the commonly known six piece puzzle.
Bill Cutler first used a computer program to analyse six piece burrs in 1974 but it took until 1990 to analyse all possible six piece burr combinations.
Mega Six is the result of that search for the maximum number of moves for a six piece burr with a unique solution. This does not mean it has a unique assembly, due to the number of internal voids. In theory the pieces should fit together in 20 different ways however, the reality is that you can physically only put the puzzle together in one of the 20 assemblies.
Not only OUR hardest six piece burr but THE hardest six piece burr!
Timber varieties: 2. Queensland Blackbean (sorry these are no longer available - 1. Queensland Silver Ash 3. Western Australian Jarrah)
The puzzle is to return the cube to its original state... every side finally having one solid color. With "43 Quintillion" possible moves and only "ONE" solution... nearly one in every five people in the world has twisted, jumbled and enjoyed this immensely popular puzzle.
There is no Solution booklet in this Hexagonal packaging however at time we do have some Secondhand copies of various original Solution Booklets for sale on our "Collectible Puzzles" page. Click here to see current stocks. You can also view the latest techniques to solve the cube at the Official Rubiks website http://www.youcandothecube.com/secret-unlocked/solution-stage-one.aspx
LATEST NEWS! July 2010. Researches have found that the Rubik's Cube can be solved in 20 moves or less from any mixed up state. Don't believe it's possible? I'ts true. Morley Davidson, John Dethridge, Herbert Kociemba, and Tomas Rokicki did some serious number crunching with the aid of Google's computers and proved it. Read more here.... Watch a recent ABC documentary about "God's Number" 20 http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3233961.htm
The puzzle is to return the cube to its original state... every side finally having one solid color. The Rubik's 4x4 cube (otherwise known as Rubiks Revenge) was released more than 20 years ago and remains one of the classic Rubik's must have puzzles.
The puzzle is to return the cube to its original state... every side finally having one solid color. The Rubik's 5x5 cube (otherwise known as Rubiks Professor Cube®) is the most complex of all Rubik's Cube levels.
Prepare to be absolutely amazed by the smoothness and sturdiness of this cube! This is the original patented V-CUBE 5™ made in Greece not a Magic Cube cheap copy. It's a multicoloured, five-layered cube with exceptional quality and incredibly smooth rotation.
Prepare to be absolutely amazed by the smoothness and sturdiness of this cube! V-CUBE 7™ is a multicoloured, seven-layered cube with exceptional quality and incredibly smooth rotation. Available with either black or white background cube color. The sides have a nice pillowed shape that feels great under the fingers. This is the original patented V-CUBE 7™ made in Greece not a cheap Magic Cube copy.
Designed by John Kirkman. Made by Brian Young. Put the 8 pieces in an 8x8 array in checkerboard pattern. All pieces may be turned over but some are different on the reverse side.
Status: 20th February 2013. We have 5 of these puzzles still available.
For the top part of the puzzle Brian was looking for a complex but rare burr that could attach to the main shaft of the puzzle without coming apart accidentally. He decided to use Stewart Coffin's design called Triple Slide. Although Stewart does not seem to have allocated this puzzle it's own number in his system he did describe it as "having a most unusual action to assemble". Bill's Cutler's analysis in the late 1980's found it to be a unique level 3 solution.
Brian created a new design to wrap around a central post by using 4 six piece burrs that must work simultaneously. The 16 piece burr is a level 5-5-22 burr; very solvable, especially when you have 200+ international puzzlers in your backyard! In fact the giant puzzle was taken apart and reassembled by a group of enthusiastic puzzlers on the IPP27 Giant Puzzle day. A copy of BurrSolver solution file for both upper and lower burrs can be supplied upon request.
Mr Puzzle - We've got puzzles! 
You want a really hard puzzle? You want a puzzle to really stump the person who can do them all?
