10 matchstick puzzles with answers
10 matchstick puzzles with answers
Puzzles with matches are one of the most ancient types of logic exercises for both children and adults. The original version using bamboo sticks appeared in ancient China about 4 thousand years ago. The sense of these tasks is that you need to move one or more matches until a given condition is true. Let’s figure out the advantages of “matchstick puzzles”, what influence they have, what kinds they can be, and how to solve them.
What are matchstick puzzles good for?
Working with such puzzles develops a number of abilities such as:
Thinking
The main feature of match puzzles is that the answer is usually not obvious. Moreover, sometimes at first glance, it seems that it is impossible to get the answer at all. You usually need at least a few minutes to think or even try to solve the task with a pencil. Such exercises are surely useful for “pumping” logic and spatial thinking.
Imagination
Here, everything is obvious: figuring out what will happen if you move some of the matches, one trains the “center of imagination” in the brain.
Short-term memory
This is especially true for people who solve such tasks mentally, memorizing intermediate results.
Attention and patience
You can’t solve matchstick puzzles without focusing on them.
Decision-making ability
Here, everything is clear again as people with good logic and imagination are usually able to solve almost any problem, including non-standard ones.
Fine motor skills
This advantage is mostly important for children. Small precise movements with the use of hands and fingers develop the speech center, improve visual memory and physical coordination.
Self-assessment
At first, one would never keep that in mind, though the correlation here is immediate. After solving a difficult problem, people start feeling more confident and don’t give in to difficulties anymore.
What are the advantages of such puzzles?
Availability
You don’t need to buy anything or even surf the Web as almost everyone has a matchbox at home. To solve such problems, you don’t need special conditions except for a flat surface.
Versatility
“Matchbox puzzles” come in different difficulty levels, so they suit both adults and children.
Rationality
While metal or 3D puzzles bought or purchased at the store eventually get bored and then kept on the shelves, since they are no longer good for anything, matches have a certain practical purpose. Still, they also can be reused for puzzles.
How to solve matchbox puzzles?
It is obvious that the solutions are different in each case, even though there are some common recommendations.
The tip can often be found in the primary statement, so you need to read it very carefully. Analyze if there is some “double bottom” or catch.
Get ready for a non-trivial solution; otherwise, the task would not be called a puzzle. Keep in mind that matches can be superimposed on one another by default (unless otherwise stated in the conditions), moved in any direction, and turned over.
You can often see a task to shift just one match so that some figure or a certain number of figures is obtained. Don’t forget: several small shapes (for example, squares) can make up one big one.
Do not hurry. Don’t try to get through the exercise faster. Go step by step. Hurrying won’t make it good for you.
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