Puzzle Box

This box was a gift for a keen puzzle enthusiast and lover of room escape puzzles. Lockdown has put a halt to room escapes so this "box entry" puzzle was in the style of a room escape with associated narrative and even some online content to deliver clues! I really enjoyed making this box. Elements of this box are inspired by Japanese puzzle boxes and I've also taken inspiration from the Lockpicking Lawyer!

The top of the box is maple veneer with a resin inlay. The sides box is made from an alternating solid oak/maple laminate, partly to help disguise the first lock. The box also doubles as a dice box. There are 4 levels of puzzle / lock on the box itself.

1. Sliding Lock
Once you remove the pins from the corner of the box the sliders at the end are free to slide from side to side and reveal a numeric code beneath them. Once you've set the 3 digit code the whole end slides down to release the top lid which can then slide back. The lock includes false gates which make this a difficult one to crack if you don't have the right code.

2. Musical Lock
The 7 holes represent musical notes. To progress you have to push a pin into the correct holes to allow the lid to slide back a row. There are 3 rows each with two notes. 
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3. Dial Lock
The Sun, Moon and Earth are represented in round dials which need to be set to the correct angles to proceed.  When set at the correct angles the whole lock will lift away when a pin is pressed through a hole in the panel. Again this lock has false gates on the discs to make cracking it a little more difficult.

​4. Binary Lock
The last lock is a series of binary sliders which represent the age of the puzzler! Once the code is set the whole lock slides to the side and the panel can be removed.