About the puzzle

To my knowledge, the mechanism this puzzle works by is completely unique. Three brass rods turn, snapping into position with satisfying detents, each interacting with steel ball bearings trapped in races in between, making a puzzle that is even more elaborate than the sum of its parts. Designing new configurations of this mechanism with challenging and interesting solutions is quite difficult; I wrote a program based on a genetic algorithm to help me search for the best ones. This particular configuration takes about fifty moves to solve.

Want one?

The Mutex puzzle is sold out, and I do not plan to make more. Unfortunately, you have missed your chance to buy one. Sorry! I do hope to sell more puzzles in the future, but it will likely be some time until the next one is ready.

Get in touch

If you're interested, please send me an email at