1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to stacking puzzles and methods for playing stacking puzzles. More particularly, the invention relates to stacking puzzles and methods of playing same wherein an object of the puzzle is to displace a plurality of stacks of playing pieces from an initial position to a final position in a minimum number of moves.
2. The Prior Art
Various stacking puzzles or games based on the traditional “Towers of Hanoi” and “Reve's Puzzle” methods are known.
Known Towers of Hanoi puzzles typically include three pegs extending upwardly from a base and a single group or stack of playing pieces or disks (usually seven or eight) of incrementally increasing diameter. Each disk may have a central opening for sliding it onto a peg. Initially, all of the disks are stacked on a single peg, arranged by size, so that the largest disk is at the bottom of the stack and the smallest disk is on top. The object of the puzzle is to move all of the disks from the first peg to the third peg in the least number of moves, while observing the following two rules: 1) only one disk may be moved at a time (i.e. the topmost disk is taken from a stack and placed on another peg, either starting a new stack or on top of the disk or disks on a second stack); and 2) no disk may be placed on top of a smaller disk.
Reve's puzzle is a variation on the above-described Towers of Hanoi puzzle, wherein four pegs instead of three are provided. The additional peg in the Reve's puzzle decreases the minimum number of moves in the Reve's version, but complicates achieving the minimal solutions. A fifteen disk Reve's puzzle with four pegs would take a minimum of 131 moves to solve and a fifteen disk Towers of Hanoi type puzzle with three pegs would take a minimum of 32,767 moves to solve. The seven disk Towers of Hanoi puzzle takes a minimum of 127 moves to solve and these are easier to execute than the 131 moves of the fifteen disk Reve's puzzle.
The following references, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, relate to various stacking puzzles or games and puzzles based on the traditional Towers of Hanoi method.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,320 to Chorba et al. shows a three-dimensional game including a flat base having a plurality of upwardly extending elongated pegs for receiving playing pieces. The playing pieces each have a central opening for sliding the individual piece over the peg and may include a group of black pieces and a group of white pieces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,561 to Stepansky shows a Towers of Hanoi-type puzzle with a base, five upwardly extending pegs and a single set of graduated size markers. Each of the markers has a number indicated thereon and three of the pegs correspond to a subset of the numbered markers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,605 to Garcia et al. shows Towers of Hanoi and Reve's puzzle games which incorporate an electrical circuit for illuminating a light to indicate that the puzzle has been completed. The games include a single stack of disks wherein the disks may be sequentially numbered or provided in different colors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,851 to Ajtai shows a mechanical puzzle based on the Towers of Hanoi game, wherein the traditional game rules are automatically implemented as a result of the mechanical structure of the game. The game may include two sets of disks with different color schemes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,526 to Currie shows a three dimensional game apparatus including a game board with a plurality of upwardly extending pegs and two sets of magnetic disk-shaped playing pieces. The object of the game is to arrange three playing pieces from a particular set in a row, either horizontally, diagonally or vertically up an individual peg.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,979 to Dalton shows a disk transfer game having a triangular base with four upwardly extending pegs and a single stack of disks. The disks are adapted to nest into one another and the base includes cavities for storage of the disks and pegs.
U.S. Pat. No. 983,730 to Leach shows a puzzle including a base, five upwardly extending pegs and four conical stacks of disks. The object of the puzzle is to invert each stack on the peg where the stack originally stood, by moving a single disk at a time.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,595,938 to Grant shows a Towers of Hanoi-type puzzle having rectangular pieces which form a truncated pyramid shape when stacked.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,585 to Shackelford et al. shows a toy stacking game for pre-school children including rings of various colors stacked on upwardly extending posts.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D359,083 to Engelbrecht et al. shows an ornamental design for a Towers of Hanoi-type game having square-shaped disks and truncated pyramid-shaped posts.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D225,543 to Hardesty shows an ornamental design for a Towers of Hanoi-type game having triangular disks and pegs and a base having triangular projections.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D135,848 to Drueke shows an ornamental design for a Towers of Hanoi-type puzzle with rectangular disks.
U.S. Pat. No. 303,946 to Ohlert shows a Towers of Hanoi toy.
Although a number of stacking puzzles are known, a need exists for a novel stacking puzzle based on the traditional Towers of Hanoi method. In particular, a puzzle and a method of playing a puzzle according to embodiments of the invention provide for greater player interest and increased complexity by incorporating multiple stacks of playing pieces and additional restrictions on placement of playing pieces over one another and on particular pegs.