IQ-Noodles bears a resemblance to many puzzles inspired by Celtic knots, but that wasn’t my intention when I began designing this game. The final result is a great example of how the development process can sometimes lead to something that looks completely different from the original concept. Serendipity at work!
Although IQ-Noodles is now part of our standard square IQ-game series, alongside games like IQ-Stixx and IQ-Gears, it originally started as one of the concepts for the IQ-Deluxe series (more on that in later topics). For the Deluxe line, I developed several puzzles based on geometric shapes like circles, squares, and pentagons. This particular concept started as a game using octagons. However, there were a few problems with this idea. First, the octagonal game board ended up looking very similar to the hexagonal board we’d already used. Second, I struggled to create an interesting grid for positioning the octagonal pieces. It always resulted into a square grid, which felt unoriginal and better suited to something like IQ-Square. Lastly, the octagonal pieces resembled gems, but we already had a much more visually striking game with that aesthetic. To make the design more unique, we began by cutting some of the octagonal segments into halves. While this made the game slightly more original, it still bore too much resemblance to IQ-Pentagon. At one point, we decided to abandon the idea of including this game in the IQ-Deluxe series, as we already had enough, stronger concepts for that new category. However, we didn’t yet have a new IQ-game for the standard square format planned for 2025. And I never completely discard an idea—there’s always a way to adapt it into something else. To fit the much thinner format of the standard IQ series, we transformed the octagons into flattened circles. This design made the game board look like it was filled with Smarties (pun not intended). However, this version looked visually uninteresting in 3D, so we experimented further by adding a hole in the center of each circular shape. This small change significantly improved the design, making it cheaper (less material) but also giving the puzzle a completely new identity. Rather than focusing on combining half-shapes, it now resembled a connection game with strings and loops. Initially, the flow of the connecting lines was visually disrupted too much by the different colors of the puzzle pieces. To address this, we added ridges to the top and bottom sides of the pieces, creating the illusion that the ropes overlapped, weaving over and under at every crossing point. And just like that—almost by accident—we ended up with a design that looked like Celtic knots, even though that was never our initial goal. Similar to IQ-Waves and IQ-Hexagon, the pieces for IQ-Noodles are made from TPR, a soft, rubber-like material that’s satisfying to manipulate. This material also reduces noise, unlike puzzles made from harder ABS plastics. Most levels in the game provide hints by showing the positions of some puzzle pieces, but the MASTER level only shows the outline of the complete solution, without revealing the colors or positions of the individual pieces. Although IQ-Noodles isn’t an easy game, it often looks more complicated than it actually is. The open ends of the puzzle pieces make it easier to spot whether you’re on the right track or not.
from left to right: evolution from octagons to rings and finally to “celtic knots”
Example of a JUNIOR challenge (left) and solution (right) of IQ-Noodles
Example of a MASTER challenge (left) and solution (right) of IQ-Noodles that only shows outlines.
GAME RULES IQ-NOODLES
1) Choose a challenge from the challenge booklet. There are two types of challenges:
A. Most challenges show the final position of one or more puzzle pieces on the game board. Place these pieces as shown in the challenge. Their position cannot be changed!
B. Challenges in the MASTER level show only the outline of the complete solution, without revealing the position or color of individual pieces. In these challenges, you will start with an empty game board.
2) Place ALL (remaining) puzzle pieces on the game board. Open ends of puzzle pieces must always connect to open ends of other puzzle pieces. Loose ends are prohibited. All pieces are double sided.
3) There is only one solution for each challenge, which can be found at the end of the challenge booklet. Carefully check if the solution matches the challenge, especially for the MASTER level with outlines.
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