Highlights
Recent releases
Silver anniversaries
Our hot stuff online
Other news
Old but still good news

Click on the links for full descriptions. (Links open in new window.)

Highlights:

 
Swan Song for Perplexing Poultry...
After many years of offering sets of Roger Penrose's Perplexing Poultry tiles, we're sad to announce that they are no longer available, and we have just two sets remaining as of this writing. while they last. These sets have 65 fat and thin chickens that are stylized kites and darts, including their golden ratio proportions. They fit together in many intricate ways, without gaps, to form non-periodic tilings and fill their 15” handcrafted wood display tray with a nice symmetrical pattern to start with. Explore their endless fun! ...   More, and to order....

 
World premiere! OneStone (Spectre)...
Discovered by Dave Smith, the first human in the history of the world to prove it possible: a single shape that will tile the infinite plane non-periodically, thanks to its golden ratio properties. Yet that one tile, so strangely shaped, can also form stunning symmetry patterns, works of art. ...   More....

 
World premiere! Penta-Mosaik math and art...
Designed by Tick Wang from Shanghai, here is a wondrous mix of non-periodic tilings and symmetries, based on the golden ratio. Just three shapes of tiles, ten of each, offer endless fun and challenge for ages 6 to adult. ...   More....

 
World premiere! Garden Patch plants flower beds...
Sweet challenges by the hundreds, 3 flowers and 8 grass patches in marbled acrylic fill designs with octagons within a 5x5 square and free-style, too. Stores in pouch for convenient travel. Velour gameboard is nice to touch. ...   More....

 
World premiere! Lyn-Joy Marvel, a primer...
Developed by Jason Ancheta, a puzzle thinker from the Philippines, the 18 pieces are a super ensemble for learning and creating with the building blocks of the polyomino family of puzzles. Kadon has the widest range of polyomino puzzles developed over the last 44 years. Formulating Jason's collection as a primer, a detailed handbook for exploring polyominoes of many sizes and shapes, was a much-awaited project. ...   More....

 
World premiere! Rhombi JR., a tilting treasure...
Originally a limited edition designed for the 2006 International Puzzle Party, this set was named Boston T-Party and offered several T shapes to solve. Its rhombic grid made it an interactive junior brother of Rhombiominoes, and we couldn't resist adapting it as a permanent member of our polyominoes family. Explore—there's always more to solve with it. ...   More....

 
World premiere! Marco Supernova, polyhexes...
A fine example of playable art and recreational mathematics designed by our Philippine puzzle wizard, Jason Ancheta! The 28 tiles cover 73 hexagons with 2 or 4 colors, symmetry patterns, endless variety. Model large and small polyhexes, form constellations and black holes, make a supernova burst forth. This handpainted wood set in 9" acrylic tray is a creative joy!   More....

 
World premiere! The Crab (le Crabe)...
The brainchild of our French puzzle designer, Jacques Ferroul, the 27 permutations of curvy diamonds—he calls them "crabs"—form a wealth of colorful shapes and designs. Intersperse them with 18 "lens" particles that can frame or form kaleidoscope-like intricacies. A unique strategy game by Kate Jones, "Color Reefs", matches two players' skills.   More....

 
World premiere! A famous grid, Tri-Chex...
We've turned a famous quilt pattern into a polyform set of 53 all-different tiles with a special color system. Hundreds of wonderful puzzle designs to build, in and out of the 11x12" tray. We've even engraved the grid lines into the tray for easier assembly. A wild experience with an elegant medium, with over a year of research into its logical secrets. A visual extra: can you see the overlapping ovals in its pattern?   More....

Recent releases:

 
Pretty Tilings^TM — an 8-piece creative darling
This little set started as a limited edition goodie derived from a custom design made in 2021 for the University of Maryland's mathematics department for March 14, also known as pi day. It's such fun that we decided to keep it around for improvisational pleasure for ages 6 to adult. Makes a fine travel set, too.   More....

 
Our new toughie, Chunky-Octs...
Argentinian puzzler extraordinaire, Rodolfo Kurchan, proposed this 20-piece subset of Octominoes tiles as an independent brainteaser, and it was a brilliant move. These are all the octominoes that contain a 2x3 rectangle, with two squares attached in every different way. Oh, the wealth of challenges this set provides!   More....

 
Gorgeous! Math jewelry, Moebius Pendant...
A Moebius strip is a unique geometric phenomenon that's 3D overall with a single two-dimensional surface. Our exclusive pendant designed by Joe Marasco is a 3D-printed track on which a closed loop of sparkling, colorful beads forms a movable Moebius structure. It demonstrates fascinating mathematics and is a joy to wear.   More....

 
A treasure... The Game of the Dragon...
A delightful new artistic embodiment of one of the world's oldest board games (the Royal Game of the Goose), and one of our most popular attractions at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, Katrina Weidig's adorable dragons lend their personalities to the race to the center of the board. Backed by the classic Viking game of Hnefatafl, the Game of the Dragon is our grandest entertainment. You'll love the custom-made miniature dragon figurines as playing pieces.   More....

 
An instant hit! Our new game, LineDance...
It was love at first sight of how lively and beautiful this game turned out. Designed by our own resident mathematician, Elijah Allen, LineDance has 16 large hexagonal tiles, each hand-inlaid with three different colors of paths. The tiles played onto the white vinyl game grid form the "board". Up to six players can participate, each with three color-coded pawns, the "travelers". The strategy: your three travelers can only use matching paths.   More....

 
Here's the buzz! Our lively puzzle, Birds and Bees...
Created by our dear, long-time friend, math professor Andy Liu, this sweetheart of a puzzle with 28 tiles is made of combinations of hexagons, squares, and equilateral triangles. The birds and bees (and a couple of worms) appear in opposite, mirror image pairs, with 14 other symmetrical shapes. They nestle on a special, famous periodic grid. Build countless designs in and out of the triangular tray. The solution shown happens to have all the matched bird pairs on opposite sides as well. Three grid cards and a nice little workbook are included. It even plays two unusual games for two players. The three colors divide into groups of 9, 9, and 10 pieces.   More....

 
Endlessly varied designs! Tangled Triangles...
With 50 triangles, divided 12-16-20 among three colors (plus two as accent colors), create the most beautiful patterns. Every design will please, as each time you create a new work of art. Symmetries are especially attractive. Send us photos of your grandest creations.   More....

 
Imagine it and build it! Our art puzzle, Handy-Octs...
A mere five pieces, each a different octiamond (made of 8 equilateral triangles joined), are your tools for a most satisfying activity: "Imagine it and build it." Form them into countless artistic and recognizable shapes. Relaxing like meditation, rewarding with creative results.   More....

 
"Fences"...elegant partners for La Ora Stelo...
La Ora Stelo's inventor, Jacques Ferroul, has designed an exciting collection of special shapes with golden ratio properties that form borders around any combination of La Ora Stelo's tiles. These nine fence shapes, a total of 142 black pieces, come in three groups or kits, each kit for certain combinations such as convex and concave figures and even beautiful stars. Build a border, then fill it. Or form a shape and then construct a border around it. There is an amazing partnership between the golden ratio tiles of La Ora Stelo and the fence segments whose dimensions are carefully calculated for the golden ratio and proportions of La Ora Stelo. If you already own La Ora Stelo, add the fences next. You'll be glad you did.   More...

Silver Anniversaries!

We're celebrating these games on the 25th anniversary of their first publication. They have been continuously in print, 1999-2024. Click on their pictures for full descriptions and to order. See their background stories in our historical notes, 1999: Finding Kindred Spirits. Here are sets we produced that were inspired by other puzzle designers' ideas. These were our 1999 crop:

Cubits^TM
Created by our dear friend Anneke Treep from the Netherlands, the 16 differently shaped tiles with 3 colors mingle to form the look of cubes. Hundreds of challenges will entertain you for years.

Quintapaths^TM
Created by renowned puzzle inventor and computer genius Scott Kim when he was only 14, the start of a lifetime of technical innovations, Quintapaths' 20 white acrylic strips of 5 squares, each with a different pattern of black squares on top, become a playable work of art. Among Scott's other artistic specialties are "ambigrams", words formed to look the same straight and upside down.

Grand Snowflake^TM
This grandest version of our Snowflake series has 70 all-different acrylic tiles, gracefully interlocked with hearts. Compose designs in thousands of ways, each a dramatic art accent to display in any room. Only for hardiest solvers.

Tri-Jazz^TM
Designed by close-up magician Ward Hollins and developed by Kate Jones, Tri-Jazz pieces are "rhombdominoes", the shape of two squares joined and tilted into parallelograms. Each of the 54 tiles holds 3 differently proportioned and color-mixed triangles. Simply magnificent when assembled in various symmetrical patterns. Every set is handmade.

Our hot stuff online:

We have a grand poetic presentation
dedicated to the International Symmetry Festival in Pisa, Italy, 2024, titled Leaning Symmetries and featuring seven of our most artistic "tilting" puzzle sets.

Our poetry entry at Bridges 2024 presentation
titled Penta-Mosaik, Golden Ratio Magic, showing dozens of its amazing and beautiful tilings. Takes only about four minutes to read.

We have an InstaGram page!
Thanks to our dear friend, Violet LeVoit, there is a colorful and growing display of Kadon gamepuzzles and scenes on Instagram.

 
We have a YouTube channel!
Our fledgling YouTube presence has a growing number of videos you can watch, and we'll be adding more to demonstrate interesting aspects of our gamepuzzles. See our 6-minute tribute to Rubik's Cube's 40th anniversary and an overview of several of our bestsellers as part of a 5-minute salute to the Gathering4Gardner Foundation. Kate Jones does the narration in rhyming couplets, filmed and edited by Hans Weidig IV. We've also added excellent videos demonstrating our strategy games—Power of Two, End Point, and Ternion Factor—written, filmed, and narrated by Art Blumberg, who is also the inventor of these games. Take a look!

 
John Greening's Dodekiamond masterpiece!
Solved by hand over a period of two years, here is the amazing solution by John Greening of the 3,334 different dodekiamond pieces, each piece being the size of 12 triangles joined. With 102 of the pieces containing a triangular hole and six pieces enclosing a diamond that is two triangles in size, John managed to arrange all those spaces in a symmetrical pattern. It's beyond awesome.

 
Hexdominoes on YouTube!
At last, our amazing Hexdominoes has been animated with a kaleidoscopic progression of designs transforming, done by our artist friend from Slovenia, Teja Krasek. The lively musical background is a composition by another friend, piano virtuoso Sergei Novikov. You'll want to see it more than once. More....

 
Video of one Super Quintillions solution now online!
Watch a piece-by-piece assembly of how the 18 superquints build into a tower that will then slide into its box, starring Krystal Goodrich's talented hands. Filming by Elijah Allen.

 
Our Tricolor Stomachion now on YouTube!
Joe Marasco has created a fascinating video documentary about our Archimedes' Square puzzle, also known as the Stomachion. You can watch the amazing story of the origins and development of this 2200-year-old treasure and its many solutions as Joe explains its inner secrets. See the Tricolor Stomachion.

 
Simply beautiful... Flashes of Life
We offer, as a small departure from physical puzzles, a book of breathtaking photography by Robert L. Steinberger, Ph.D., each image paired with a haiku by Kate Jones. Flashes of Life, The Flower Collection comprises over 100 pages of digital photography, poetic interpretations, and stories. It's the first in a series of volumes on different subjects by this great visionary whose legacy will live on in the "flashes of life" he captured during a lifetime of passionate photography. You can preview the whole book at the publisher's website, and you can also order it from us as a lifetime treasure, in the best archival quality and now also in a more moderately priced hardcover edition. More...

 
World's best music... The Caranza Collection
Caranza is the stage name of Patric Hale, a phenomenal Meistersinger who has achieved both tenor and baritone mastery of 12 genres of music in 7 languages, with moving emotional sensitivity and blow-you-away power of delivery. He has a repertoire of hundreds of recorded songs, available on 22 CDs, ranging from Elvis, Sinatra, Tom Jones and Billy Joel to Broadway tunes, German songs, Italian and German opera, and more. Here are links to four audios to give you a start. Then visit our showcase of the entire collection and order his CDs to enrich every day of your life.

Kadon Gamepuzzles® Universe... our fan site!
To our great surprise and delight, one of our puzzle-loving customers and fans, Andrzej Lewicki, created a Facebook page devoted entirely to discussions and solutions of our puzzles. His little icon, a famous sleuth, showed up now and then to add stories and smarts to the solving. Administered by a long-time fan and puzzle lover, Lee Luckeydoo Dreese, the site is open to the world, featuring any of our games and puzzles. This enthusiastic Facebook group brings out the best of art, math, and imagination, and sparkles with "the joy of thinking". It's free to join, and you can share pictures of your own solutions, and even play games with your best strategic moves. Visit, become a member, and share in the fun.

 
A Periodic Table of Polyform Puzzles is now on YouTube!
On March 21, 2021, Kate gave an illustrated presentation on this topic online as part of the Gathering4Gardner Celebration of Mind. It was an amazing coincidence that the talk, which is in rhyme, was given on national poetry day. The video is about 24 minutes long, followed by a half-hour interview with the host, Tiago Hirth, digging into Kate's history of starting a puzzle business and developing it into a "playable art" form of math as art. A lovely musical background by Sergei Novikov accompanies the presentation. Easy to view on G4G's YouTube channel, no need to download a large file. Let us know how you like it!

 
Great app! Blockout for Windows Phone
Paul Thomann in Switzerland has written a great new program to play classic Blockout on the new Windows Phone, versions 7.5 and up. Get your copy from the Windows store, Blockout for Windows Phone, under license from Kadon.

Gamepuzzles on Facebook!
Kadon has its own Facebook page for wider contact with our friends and fans. It's warm and fuzzy to see how many "likes" are coming our way. Have you "liked" us yet? Please do. And we're able to share things there that don't have a place in our formal website. Check in now and then to see what other folks say. Our thanks to Elijah Allen for launching the page and helping to administer it.

So come and talk to us there! The permanent link is on the homepage (look for the blue button). Any questions about our puzzles, praise and kudos are happily received. Join the conversation and look for special features from time to time. There will be no selling, only telling, in our Facebook lounge. For ordering please come to this main gamepuzzles site, where you'll find everything we make and an easy-to-use, secure shopping cart.

 
Pentacube Videos on YouTube!
Our friend and fellow polyomino lover, Donald Kern, has created four delightful, and impressive, videos showing the "complete" set (35 one-sided pieces) of pentacubes forming amazing and difficult solutions by Don. You'll want to see these more than once:

Regular 5x5x7 Block
Two-Sided Staircase
Jagged-Edge Block
Chichen Itza Pyramid

Other news:

Kate has written a unique time travel tale that you can read online here: "When are you?", providing a fictional background to some of our historical games. All the people are real; only the circumstances of their appearance are imaginary and coincidental!

A highly condensed printable catalog has been updated and is available online as a PDF file. It has 24 standard pages plus an order form, in full color, although it works just fine printed in gray. Feel free to download as much of it as you want, and you're welcome to print it out for Web-deprived friends, too.

 
Archives expanded
If you've missed previous announcements or mailings, you can still track back to see what's been happening with us by browsing through our archives, especially the annual newsletters that sum up our year's doings. Here's the Archives index.

Old but still good news:

Check out unsolved tough challenges on the Contests page. Open to the world, with prizes to be won. Happy puzzling!

If you would like to receive copies of our very rarely issued bulletins or newsletters, please send us your email address and we'll add you to our confidential mailing list. We never give out our list; your privacy is safe with us. You can also subscribe and advise us of any address changes through the Contact Us page.

Here's a recap of all the gamepuzzles added to our website most recently, in case you missed their first announcement.   OneStone (Spectre) .... Marco Supernova .... LineDance .... Birds and Bees .... Pretty Tilings .... Tangled Triangles .... Handy-Octs .... Tetra-Tray .... Chunky-Octs .... Tri-Chex .... Harrybourne Shape Puzzler .... Lyn-Joy Marvel .... The Crab .... Rhombi JR. .... more to come soon!

Blooper Bounty — This is a standing offer:  we'll send a small prize to the first person who advises us of a mistake in this website, whether a typo, broken link or other goof. Each blooper gets a separate prize. Email us and provide your ground address, so we can mail you your prize. And thanks!

Our hot-link icons are listed, along with some surprises and hidden prizes, for those of you who care to read directions for getting around this place. For the others, there's always logic, intuition and serendipity.