Maker Faire 2016

Last Sunday I spent a nice afternoon at Maker Faire 2016 which was held on the grounds of the Singapore University Of Technology & Design. I was invited by David Ang of Cubewerkz to share his table to showcase some of my own puzzle designs. In preparation for this event, I had produced a number of copies each of five of my 2D packing puzzle designs plus one from Rex Rossano Perez. I also added two other designs I had produced from last year; Goh Pit Khiam's Triple Play (my exchange puzzle for IPP34) as well as my SG50 puzzle.

Clockwise from top right corner - Turtles, 4 Ducks & A Duckling (my IPP35 Exchange Puzzle), Digi-Hex, Jurassic Pack, No Pushing (by Rex Rossano Perez) and Double Happiness

From Left - Goh Pit Khiam's Triple Play and SG50

The table David had was rather small and he had piles of twisties for sale, including a number of scientific and educational toys as well. But I was extremely fortunate that the table next to ours was vacant; the vendor/maker who rented it had decided not to show up, so I gamely shifted my puzzles over and created more breathing space for both David and myself. 

The fair started at 10am in the morning and ended at 6pm in the evening. However, I had sold out all of my puzzles by around 4:30pm in the afternoon and had to "close shop" for the day. It was a very interesting day as I interacted with the folks who visited my table and tried their hand at puzzling. For many it was the first time they had come across mechanical puzzles, let alone 2D packing puzzles. 

Surprising (or perhaps not so surprisingly, the majority of people that visited my table and played with the puzzles were kids and youths, some as young as 4 years old. Many of the children were probably fascinated with the colourful pieces I had purposely created along the animals theme. Without doubt my Jurassic Pack was one of the most popular, a 4 piece packing puzzle with a dinosaur theme. Some kids stood in front of my table for over an hour tirelessly trying to figure out the solutions. In terms of adult puzzlers, there were very few, less than ten or so who showed any keen interest, including a 67 year old grandma who was rather intrigued by my 4 Ducks & A Duckling. Most of the adults who were there were there just to pay for my puzzles for their kids! Now I am now wondering if there is a kid's market out there for puzzles in Singapore? Something I will definitely look into.

I am currently producing more copies of the above puzzles to fulfill some back-orders I received at the fair. If anyone is interested to buy any of the above, please PM me.