Jammed Again - It's a Gem!

Jammed Gem Again 3D

Allard reviewed this last week which motivated me to get to it as well. Cutting to the end of his review - it's great and you should buy it! The preorder is currently sold out but maybe Tye will have pity on you and open it up again if more of you request it.

This is the 3rd in the Jammed series by Frederic Boucher (Jammed Gem, Jammed Gem Again and, earlier this year, Jammed Coin) and has been heavily influenced by the amazingly talented Josh Clouser. The original Jammed Gem (pictured left was made by the late and dearly missed Eric Fuller in collaboration with Frederic. I have owned this since it was released in 2022 and have singularly failed to solve it. I have obviously completely missed a crucial feature which was a common feature when Eric made a sequential discovery puzzle. I have literally gotten nowhere and actually ended up putting it away. I think I will now have to go back to it. 

Frederic wanted to make a sequel and did so in 2024 where it won a Jury Honourable Mention award in the design competition - it was called Jammed Gem "Again" and was beautifully made from wood. I am not sure who created that one but it was never made generally available for purchase. Just recently, Josh recreated it in PLA, and Tye Stahly (let's not forget Amanda Stahly) put it up for sale on his Nothingyetdesigns store. Whilst it is not as gorgeous as the wood version (I am always biased towards wood), it is still a very attractive puzzle and is very pleasant to look at and hold. I did say to Tye that it doesn't feel 3D printed - it has a lovely texture and feels much more solid than many 3D printed puzzles. There are also quite a lot of other parts inside including magnets and various other metal parts. 

It comes with some very "helpful" instructions. Allard posted my copy to me when I notified the MPP group that I had to work during the last puzzle party. It consists of one of Frederic's usual Minima style boxes (2x2x3 internal dimensions with holes in the sides  and some panels that won't move at all. After I admired it, I set to work and realised immediately that none of the interior shapes would move at all. I obviously needed to release something first. easier said that done! Playing with it quite quickly got me a couple of tools including a broken key chain. The first step in releasing the interior was quite quick after this discovery except it didn't release the interior. I had a hole I had something to put in the hole and nothing happened. Damn! I'm not very good at puzzles. 

I got stuck at this point for a day or so. There were a number of interesting features where magnets attached to metal but this didn't seem to do anything. Eventually I decided to use a torch (flashlight for the Yanks) and suddenly something was visible (had it always ben there? I had no idea but it wouldn't go away until a bit later it was missing. WTF! At this point I had a little thought© and noticed something special. Oooh, that's very clever! I was now able to do other stuff. 

Frederic has put some of his tricks from other puzzles into this and the sequence of discovering new parts, new shapes and new moves is a wonderful journey. It rapidly got so complex with a steadily enlarging pile of pieces and potential tools that I felt the sudden urge to take notes. Gradually, I made progress using various combinations of pieces and suddenly I found the first gem (very nicely hidden (or even "jammed") and then I got stuck again. I was stuck with one gem and no obvious progression for quite a while before contacting Tye to tell him of my progress and asking whether I had missed any pieces in my path. He acknowledged that everything had gone as planned and I needed to look at the puzzle properly to find the next step. Hmmmm!

I looked and looked to no avail until I looked in the right place. There was something very interesting inside but my goodness it was a long way out of reach. Time to think© again and create the biggest tool I had ever seen in an SD puzzle! Suddenly I had what was needed to complete the challenge. I had the inspiration, the second gem and my number (mine said "Test" rather than a number. Absolutely BRILLIANT! There are a LOT of parts in this - I laid them out for a photo and counted 16 pieces that had been removed from the box plus 3 that are captive inside it. It had taken me a  few days to complete. If you haven't pre-ordered it from Tye then you should have. Badger him to see whether there is any chance of extras.

The reset is easier than the solve but you still need to remember what you had done and what went where. This beautiful creation is a definite candidate for my top ten(ish) of 2026. I intend to take this to work and show it to some of my more mechanically minded colleagues. I am definitely going to have to go back to my copy of Jammed Gem and also my Jammed Coin. Frederic is just a genius!

Jammed Coin (wood version)