Wooden Toys : the Mini Game "Blocks" From "The Secret Society - Hidden Mystery"

"The Secret Society - Hidden Mystery" is an hidden objects game from G5 entertainment and many of us have enjoyed playing it. "Blocks" is one of the mini game inside the Secret Society, the object of which is to bring out the target block from the puzzle area by moving the other Blocks left-right and up-down.

The Layout of the puzzle area

• The puzzle area is a square which you can divide into six equal parts on either side. The third part from top on one side (here it is the right hand side) has an opening, through which the player needs to bring out the target block by moving the other blocks.

There are three types of Blocks in this game

• The Yellow target block : It is one part wide and two parts in length. This block can be moved left or right, straight along the path of the opening on the right hand side of the puzzle area.
• The long Blocks : There are three (Some times four) long Blocks which are one part wide and three parts long. These blocks can be placed vertically or horizontally blocking the path of the target block.
• The Short Blocks : There are maximum of 8 short blocks which are one part wide and two parts long. These blocks can also be placed vertically or horizontally blocking the path of the target block same as the long blocks.

Placement and movement of the Blocks

• The long and short blocks can be placed vertically or horizontally on the puzzle area.
• The vertically placed Blocks can move only up and down and not left to right
• The horizontally placed Blocks can move only left and right and not up and down
• You can not place the Blocks blocking the path of the Target Block as shown in the last two pictures above

Here I have reconstructed the puzzle as a wooden toy using a piece of plywood leftover from an earlier home improvement project

• 3/4" thick Plywood of size 12 inches by 12 inches square
• 2 mm thick Acrylic sheet of same size as that of Plywood (12" x 12")
• Suitable Epoxy Adhesive for gluing the acrylic sheet with the plywood
• Poster colors. You need 3 different colors. Here I have selected yellow for the target block, green for all other blocks and blue for the puzzle area frame.

• A Jigsaw for cutting plywood. Here I have used the metal cutting blade to have a thin cut line
• A Rotary tool with 1-1/2" dia cutting blade
• 3 or 4 'G' clamps
• A measuring scale
• Marker pen
• A Drawing Square

As I said earlier, we need the puzzle area of six equal parts and also have enough thickness left on all sides for the frame covering the puzzle area. We have 12 inches x 12 inches square piece of plywood with us which can be divided into 8 equal parts of 1-1/2 inches each. Mark the area to be cut accordingly on the plywood

We will cut and remove the central portion of the area marked on the plywood

• Clamp the plywood firmly with the work bench using 'G' clamps
• Cut a notch along the marked line at the center
• Using a hacksaw blade, make enough space for the Jigsaw blade
• Make these notches on all four sides of the plywood

• Now with the Jigsaw, using the notches we already made, cut along the marked lines on all sides and remove the central portion. This portion can be used for making the blocks, so keep it aside safely.

There needs to be an opening on the right hand side of the frame for taking out the target piece.

• Measure 3 inches (Two parts) from top inside of the frame on right hand side and mark the cutting line on the frame
• Measure another 1-1/2 inches down and mark the cutting line
• Cut and remove the piece for the opening as shown in the last picture

The bottom portion of the puzzle area needs to be covered to hold the puzzle blocks. we will use 12" x 12" size Acrylic sheet to cover the bottom.

• Mix required amount of resin and hardener of epoxy adhesive
• Apply the adhesive on the underside of the plywood frame
• Attach the acrylic sheet to the bottom of the frame and tighten with 'G' clamps
• Leave the assembly overnight for curing
• Remove the clamps next morning. Now you have the frame for the puzzle area ready.

The central portion we cut and removed from the puzzle area frame can be used for making the blocks. We need 3 long blocks of size 1-1/2" x 4-1/2", eight short blocks of size 1-1/2" x 3" and one target block of size 1-1/2" x 3".

• Mark these dimensions of required blocks on the plywood piece and cut with Jigsaw
• The cut edges can be polished and lightly bevelled using sand paper as shown in the last picture.

• Using poster colors, paint the frame and blocks. Here I have used blue color for the frame, green color for the blocks and yellow color for the target block.

Once the paint dries, you can assemble the blocks and start playing the game. But I found that the target block is not moving along its desired path properly. So, I used 1 mm thick plain glass pieces on both sides of the path of the target block and glued them to the frame as you can see in the pictures above.

Let us make a puzzle by arranging the blocks in the puzzle area and solve it

The first picture shows the puzzle. Here I have numbered all the green blocks for easy understanding of the movement

• Picture 2 : Move Block number 2 one part towards left
• Picture 3 : Move Block number 3 one part towards left
• Picture 4 : Move Block number 6 two parts up
• Picture 5 : Move Block number 7 one part left
• Picture 6 : Move Block number 8 three part left
• Picture 7 : Move Block numbers 4 and 5 one part down

Now the puzzle is solved and the yellow target block can be moved out of the puzzle area through the opening

The number of puzzles you can make with this toy is endless. You can arrange the blocks in many different ways each time after solving a puzzle. This puzzle game is also suitable for young children as well as adults as the number of green blocks can be adjusted based on the skill level.

Enjoy this puzzle game with your family, friends and children.