Customer Reviews

Soma Cube 3d - Large

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a classic puzzle. Its history is fascinating--invented during a lecture by Heisenberg himself--and its simplicity belies a fiendish complexity. This version, made of a pleasing tropical hardwood by Monkey Pod Games, is a tactile joy as well as a visual-spatial delight.

I love the feel of the seven different wood pieces, and I'd forgotten how much fun the puzzle itself is. The tray and cover pieces are very nice, too. It makes an attractive display piece when it's not galvanizing your right hemisphere.

You should note that there is only a minimal solution sheet, giving Piet Hein's own first solution to the puzzle. You'll be able to download a nicer PDF of the same thing from the company website. There are 239 other unique solutions...happy hunting! You'll want to look online for more information.

Most highly recommended is this large size; at close to 3.5" on a side, it's almost identical to the old Parker Brothers version, and the best to work with. The price is great, shipping was trouble-free, and the puzzle has now sat in various forms on my desk all day at work...fortunately, I'm in the arts, and this behavior is an asset, not a liability!

Highly recommended as a present for a friend, a bright kid of any age, or yourself.

Good value, good construction out of good materials. Better instructions would be helpful--go to one of Martin Gardner's books.

Incidentally, it is NOT a toy; it's a very good puzzle that one can build into a multitude of different constructions. A cube is only one of many.

David

My cousin had this at his home and my kids always played with it, so I decided to get one for ourselves! Fun!

This is a great educational toy for kids from 8 to 80! My son has played with one at school and wanted one for Christmas. We all love it!

This is a great puzzle in so many ways. The quality is excellent. The pieces fit together to form a very tight square (or whatever shape you are looking to create). The wood is of very nice quality. And, this size of the SOMA Cube is really substantial and very nice to use.

The puzzle itself is great. There are so many shapes that can be made with this puzzle. The puzzling possibilities are virtually endless. A web search will show you the many possibilities. And the puzzles can take a bit of time to solve but are not so hard that you won't be able to find a solution in the end.

One note about the puzzle is that it not only comes with what is shown in the photo (the puzzle and base) but also with a nice wood lid that covers the whole thing up.

I definitely recommend this puzzle.

I purchased this for my young (preschool) children. We've had it ~ a month. They work with it quite often on their own accord. It is engaging and fun. IMO this is a great mental exercise for their young brains. I highly recommend this and/or similar puzzles.

Purchased this for a Christmas gift for my son. He loves puzzles and he is very hard to stump. He beat this one in under two minutes, but he really loves the look of it. Said it is nice enough to have as a desk decoration.

I got the large Soma Cube 3D as a gift. It was much appreciated by the recipient, at which time I got to see it unboxed. WOW! It comes in a wooden storage box that is even more attractive than I had anticipated. The top of the box nestles down against the bottom (which serves as a tray), and it looks great on display.

I had researched Soma cubes some time back, so I know that they can be used to build all kinds of designs (great for helping kids or adults build their spacial reasoning skills), but Soma cubes can also have a lot of entertainment value for quiet times (rare as it is).

This is wonderful for a desktop toy, and it fits well in any office decor. Keep your eyes on it, though, so it doesn't disappear with guests. Both adults and children seem to want one of their own...

I purchased this as a logic toy and to use with my grade school son for math and spatial visualization. My cube came in a teak form (darker and more uniform in hue than the picture) with well-sanded edges and tight seams within the individual pieces. It also comes in an outer brown box and an inner wooden display and storage container that is quite durable. The box sat on the counter for a couple days and piqued the interest of my son; he really enjoys the challenge of taking it apart and reassembling the cube and other possible shapes. There are many other shapes possible besides the cube and Qbert-like pyramid shown. The book "Origami, Eleusis, and the Soma Cube: Martin Gardner's Mathematical Diversions," by Martin Gardner (also on Amazon) has a chapter describing the history of the cube and provides maybe two dozen other shapes (e.g. a bed, a battleship, a fountain) that are a fun challenge to build. This is a high quality, nice piece of woodwork and logic, and pairs well with the book.

This is an excellent version of the Soma cube -- it's much better quality than the photo suggests. The cube includes a nice wooden storage tray and wooden cover (not shown in the photo), so you can carry the cube around without worrying about it falling apart. The included instructions show one solution for re-assembling the cube for storage, along with a chart of 35 Soma forms you can try to construct. You can also download a PDF of the instructions from the manufacturer's Web site that includes a total of 100 Soma forms. (Note, however, that forms 024, 029, and 033 on the instructions are impossible to create!)

For more background on the Soma cube, see Martin Gardner's "Mathematical Games" column in the September 1958 issue of "Scientific American", reprinted in The Second Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions and in Origami, Eleusis, and the Soma Cube: Martin Gardner's Mathematical Diversions (The New Martin Gardner Mathematical Library).