Spin•Out® The Spinning,
Sliding Brainteaser Challenge
A new spin on a
ThinkFun® original! Spin•Out® is the spinning, sliding,
mind-challenging puzzle with a whole lot of twists guaranteed to unlock
hours of fun! It was one of our best-sellers and it’s back, better than
ever, with a new and improved easy reset feature.
To play, simply start at the designated spot as shown, then one by
one turn each disk sideways to form a straight line. The object is to
line up the disks in order to release the slide. Twist by twist, turn by
turn players build logical deduction, concentration, and problem-solving
skills as they unlock the secret to removing the slide. Once Spin•Out®
has been solved, it’s easy to reset with the new hinge design!
Guaranteed to make the mind spin for hours. Anyone who loves a fun
and fascinating challenge will be drawn to this exciting new
brainteaser.
About The Inventor
Spin•Out® was invented by William
Keister, a pioneer in telecommunications switching-system theory and
design while serving as director of Computing Technology Center at
AT&T’s Bell Laboratories.
Fascinated by puzzles as a young boy, Keister began a lifelong
hobby, while still in grade school, of making classic Chinese Ring
Puzzles. Keister also designed a number of other unique and
challenging puzzles. “I wanted to create a series of puzzles that
would show some of the principles of logic that I spent my career
working on. My main requirement was that any puzzle should be
visually appealing and intellectually interesting enough to entrap
people at a cocktail party or similar social gathering. I think
Spin•Out® is quite satisfactory in that regard.”
Solution Principles
Spin•Out®’s solution sequence
follows the same pattern as that of the Chinese Ring Puzzle, a
puzzle which may have been invented as early as A.D. 200 and has
been popular for centuries. For both puzzles, the solution involves
a sequential movement, binary code pattern. Put simply, this means
that each piece of the puzzle can be placed in only one of two
positions at any given time. The word “binary” means two.
Interestingly, the solution code for these two puzzles is exactly
the same as the Gray Binary Code, a binary-based counting system
named after Frank Gray, a colleague of Keister’s at Bell Labs. Gray
created this code in the 1930s to provide an error- correcting
technique for electronic communications. It is still used today as a
basis for electronic switching and for computer logic.
Kids and adults alike look to ThinkFun® to create hands-on,
thought-provoking games that provide hours of fun-filled challenges.
ThinkFun® is committed to high-quality, innovative games that help
people of all ages develop thinking skills through play. To learn
more, please visit our website: www.ThinkFun.com.
