Come and try it! If you can solve this "riding a donkey" puzzle, it means you are really good!

Author: Gongzi Xin

Speaking of playing games

The most popular among adults and children

Must be an interesting and fun puzzle game

The one I want to talk about today may be

The originator of Western puzzle games~

I guarantee that everyone who watches it will be excited!

First of all, I can’t wait to play!

Then go ahead and test others without stopping!

It is——

"The famous trick donkey"

Trick Donkey

It can be said that the 19th century

One of the masterpieces of puzzle game master Sam Loyd

Scientific American

Martin Gardner, author of the Math Games column

Call Sam Loyd

"America's greatest puzzle master and a true American genius"

The most interesting thing about the trick donkey is

It looks ordinary

But it's not that simple

Few people can figure it out right away.

Let’s look at the eye diagram first

(You might as well print it out now~)

Rules of the Game

Cut the card into 3 pieces along the lines.

(Two donkeys and their riders)

Random placement

Have 2 riders ride 2 donkeys each

Even if you win

Come on, give it a try!

(Print the above picture first and make preparations)

no?

Still not working?!

The History of the “Trickster Donkey”

In 1858, 17-year-old Sam Loyd came up with a puzzle card consisting of two donkeys and two riders: the card was divided into three pieces, and the player had to place the cards in a way that each donkey had a rider. He claimed that it took only 15 minutes to complete the creation. In 1871, he published it and named it "The Fancy Donkey Puzzle".

Original picture

PT Barnum saw an opportunity to promote his circus on this puzzle card and offered Sam Loyd $10,000 to change the name of the puzzle to "PT Barnum's Trick Donkey". Later, after Loyd offered the puzzle to other companies, it was renamed "The Famous Trick Donkey" and sold over 100 million copies. Today, Sam Loyd Company owns the copyright to the puzzle.

Later, many puzzles with similar game mechanics appeared, such as the "Dead Dog Puzzle" (two dogs lying on the ground, and two lines are drawn to make the dogs look alive instead of lying on the ground). In 2016, Sam Loyd also published commemorative cards in different languages. To this day, Trick Donkey remains a challenging and fun puzzle.

Fun, right?

You can also follow Loyd's design ideas

Make your own puzzle based on this principle!

The cover image and images within this article are from the copyright gallery (or copyright holder). Any reproduction or use may lead to copyright disputes.