DIGITS IN A BOX is one of those puzzles for which it is very easy to explain what you are supposed to do; actually doing it is the hard part.

There are ten plastic pieces (each shaped as one of the digits 0-9).

You simply take them out of the box (don't memorize the configuration as it come out -- that's no fun!), separate them (maybe put them in numerical order), and then try to get them back into the box so that the lid closes shut.

There will be spaces in the box when you find a solution, you are not trying to build a solid cube.

Additional challenges:

16×8×1 Box. Essentially, keep the pieces flat on a tabletop and try to fit them into a 16×8 unit rectangle. This is not as hard as the original puzzle challenge, but it may still take some work. All of the solutions I have seen to this challenge have required at least one of the pieces to be flipped over, but I have not ruled out the possibility that it could be done with all of the numbers "solid face up".

7×6×3 Box. With a volume of 126 (one larger than the 5×5×5 original), this challenge should not be too tricky.

6×5×4 Box. Similar to the original challenge, but the target volume has slightly altered dimensions. Surprisingly, even though this volume is smaller than the original 5×5×5 one, this is an easier challenge to solve (you'll probably quickly figure out why when you get the answer).

5×5×5, Sequentially Adjacent. This is a much harder variation of the original task. Try to find a configuration that fits within the 5×5×5 volume such that the "0" touches the "1", the "1" touches the "2", the "2" touches the "3", and so on, all the way, so that the "9" even touches the "0". It can be done, but I do not know in how many distinct ways.

5×5×5, One-At-A-Time. There a good chance that if you found a solution to the original challenge, you did it by assembling most of the pieces outside of the box first, and then placing them in the container when complete. Try to find a solution whereby you place one piece in the box at a time; once in the box you cannot take them back out. Can you still find a way to get all ten pieces inside so that the lid closes?

Game designed by Eric C. Harshbarger

Over 4000 possible solutions.

Brand: Popular Playthings
Ages: 8+