Nintendo tumbler puzzle Nintendo tumbler puzzle The Nintendo tumbler puzzle, also known as the "Ten Billion Barrel" in English and originally in Japanese, is a mathematical puzzle in the style of Rubik's Cube. It was invented by Gunpei Yokoi of Nintendo in 1980 and was covered by (until the patent expired in March 1995 due to non-payment of a maintenance fee). It consists of a "cylinder" of transparent plastic divided into six levels, together with a black plastic "frame". The frame consists of upper and lower discs that are joined together through the middle of the cylinder. The top and bottom levels of
Altekruse Puzzle Altekruse Puzzle Altekruse Puzzle is a puzzle invented by Austrian inventor William Altekruse. The puzzle was first released in 1890 and has proved to be very popular ever since. The Universal Book of Mathematics provides the following information about Altekruse puzzle: "A symmetrical 12-piece burr puzzlefor which a patent was granted to William Altekruse in 1890. The Altekruse family is of Austrian-German origin and, curiously, the name means “old cross” in German, which has led some authors to incorrectly assume that it was a pseudonym. William Altekruse came to the United States as a young man in 1844 with his