Auzzle A2 is a mechanical twisty puzzle I invented in 2018 — billed as the first puzzle solved by magnets rather than by matching colours. It is a rounded body of movable sectors that slide and rotate along guides; hidden magnets pull the pieces together or push them apart as you turn. It was licensed for the US toy market and sold as TrueChallenge by TRUEBalance (Excite Toys).
The retail version — “TrueChallenge by TRUEBalance”: “First magnetic puzzle using the principle of attraction and repulsion of magnets.”
Solved by magnets, not colours
The puzzle is built from eight movable sectors that rotate relative to one another along curved guides. Each sector carries three magnets — 24 in total, arranged in 12 pairs. Every magnet faces either inward or outward, so a pair either attracts (pulls flat) or repels (pushes out). The goal is to twist the sectors until all twelve pairs attract inward and the body sits perfectly closed.
There are no stickers and nothing to colour-match — you solve it by feel and logic. Analysis of the puzzle counts 96 distinct solved states and a “God’s number” of 10, and every turn snaps with the satisfying click of the magnets. It can be enjoyed by people who have never touched a Rubik’s-type cube, while still rewarding serious puzzlers.
The Auzzle was made in two versions. The standard edition is multi-coloured, which gives you the colours as a visual aid. The Pro edition is a single colour — with nothing to read at all, it is significantly harder: you have to solve it purely by the magnets and the geometry of the sectors.
From a hand-made prototype to a US toy
From the hand-built wooden prototype (with embedded magnets) to the TrueChallenge retail packaging and the finished product on the shelf.
The first Auzzle units were made by hand in wood, with magnets set into each sector. These wooden pieces were never mass-produced — only a handful were crafted by hand as gifts. I refined the design with 3D-printed prototypes, and in 2018 it earned a Jury Honorable Mention at the Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Design Competition. It was then licensed to Excite Toys and released to the US market in plastic as TrueChallenge by TRUEBalance. The puzzle was later also re-created by the renowned designer Oskar van Deventer as “Tokamak” (see below).
I’m releasing the original Auzzle A2 design files so you can 3D-print your own. Print the two parts, then set small magnets into the sectors (see how it works). Shared by the inventor for personal, non-commercial use — the commercial product is QiYi/Excite’s “TrueChallenge”.
“The tactile and acoustic sensation of Ilya’s design is fantastic, with the magnets clicking under your fingers.”— Oskar van Deventer ★ world-renowned puzzle designer (Guinness World Record holder) · video
“I like a lot the noise of the magnets, the ‘clicking sound’ each time you rotate something.”— Az · Puzzling in Wonderlands
“So this puzzle is like a twisty, but more fun. I like the look, and it’s bigger than I expected — solid as well.”— Az · Puzzling in Wonderlands
“A spinning, twisting, scrambling, puzzle-solving good time — invented by a rocket scientist.”— The Grommet
The legendary puzzle designer Oskar van Deventer — a Guinness World Record holder credited with hundreds of mechanical-puzzle designs — made his own version of the Auzzle, named Tokamak (after the reactor): reshaped more toroidal, with eight differently-coloured segments. In his own words it is “a remake of the award-winning Auzzle A2 puzzle by Ilya Osipov.” The 3D-printed version is even listed as “by OSIPOV and OSKAR.”
The Auzzle is part of my series of 3D puzzles with movable sectors — the same family that later led to the OsCube and the WOWCube entertainment system.
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