From isaacs@hpcc01.corp.hp.com Mon Mar 18 18:46:45 1996 Return-Path: Received: from paloalto.access.hp.com by life.ai.mit.edu (4.1/AI-4.10) for /com/archive/cube-lovers id AA22316; Mon, 18 Mar 96 18:46:45 EST Received: from hpcc01.corp.hp.com by paloalto.access.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.16/15.5+ECS 3.3) id AA006382803; Mon, 18 Mar 1996 15:46:43 -0800 Received: by hpcc01.corp.hp.com (1.37.109.16/15.5+ECS 3.3) id AA121182802; Mon, 18 Mar 1996 15:46:43 -0800 From: Stan Isaacs Message-Id: <199603182346.AA121182802@hpcc01.corp.hp.com> Subject: Re: Orbix To: din5w@cs.virginia.edu (Dale Newfield) Date: Mon, 18 Mar 96 15:46:41 PST Cc: cube-lovers@ai.mit.edu In-Reply-To: <31487128.68F9@cs.virginia.edu>; from "Dale Newfield" at Mar 14, 96 2:19 pm Mailer: Elm [revision: 70.85.2.1] > > I just saw a commercial for a puzzle called "Orbix." It was a sphere > covered with (I think) 12 colored reflector-like circles, each with a > button in the center. They said that there are 4 levels. It seemed to > be much like "luminations." I'm sure that I will buy the first one I > find. :-) > -Dale Newfield No, its more like "Light's Out", on a sphere. It's a nice puzzle (although the first one I bought had a broken button, so I had to exchange it.) It cost about $20 at Toys-R-Us. The surface of the sphere has 12 lights/buttons, dodecahedrally arranged. When you push one, in the first puzzle, the 6 surrounding lights change their parity - if they're on, they go out and vice versa. The goal is to get all the lights on, after some random starting pattern. The other puzzles have a different combination of which lights go on when you press a light: I think the second turns out the 6 on the opposite side from the one pressed, and only do so if the pressed light was orignally off (or something like that). Obviously, I haven't had time to study the details much yet. The puzzle feels nice, looks good, and should be worth the $20. -- Stan Isaacs