Drive Ya Nuts is a puzzle game created by Milton Bradley in 1970. The objective of Drive Ya Nuts is to arrange the seven pieces so the numbers on each piece are situated next to the same number on the pieces that they touch.
My Thoughts on Drive Ya Nuts
After solving Drive Ya Nuts I have to admit that I don’t really have strong feelings either way about the puzzle. I had some fun with Drive Ya Nuts. I like that the puzzle is straight and to the point. You basically just place the pieces on the board in a way where all of the numbers that touch are the same. Drive Ya Nuts is one of those puzzles that you can pick up and work on when you have a few minutes to kill.
The problem with Drive Ya Nuts is that like too many puzzles it relies almost entirely on trial and error. Before resorting to trial and error I tried several different approaches in order to eliminate the trial and error element and yet none of them really worked. This basically leaves you with the option of trying different combinations until you find one that ultimately works. The thing I like most about puzzles is the sense of accomplishment you have when you figure out how to solve them. Drive Ya Nuts doesn’t really have that sense of accomplishment since to solve the puzzle you just rearrange the pieces until you find a combination that works.
Another potential problem with Drive Ya Nuts is with the components themselves. While the gameboard and pieces are sturdy, the same can’t be said for the numbers on the pieces. The numbers are just painted onto the pieces. This wouldn’t be a problem except that they tend to fade off quicker than you would expect. This will eventually lead to a problem where you won’t even be able to do the puzzle if you can’t see the numbers on all of the pieces. If the numbers start fading off you have to find some way of writing the numbers back onto the pieces.
How to Solve Drive Ya Nuts
I will admit that there isn’t a lot of advice that I can give to help you solve Drive Ya Nuts. There really isn’t a strategy to solving the puzzle since Drive Ya Nuts mostly relies on trial and error. Basically you have to keep attempting different solutions until you find the correct solution.
I knew that Drive Ya Nuts was going to rely heavily on trial and error so I tried to come up with a way to limit the amount of trial and error. What I did was analyze each piece to see all of the different combinations of numbers appearing next to one another. I thought I could use this information to see what combinations were most prevalent which would give me some idea of what options would be best to start with. Through my analysis I determined the combinations 1, 3; 1, 6 and 2, 6 don’t appear on any of the pieces (at least for the 1970 version). Other than knowing what combinations could never work when placing pieces, I didn’t really learn anything from this analysis.
Since there really isn’t much of a strategy to the puzzle, you might want to just approach it by randomly placing pieces hoping to get them all in the correct positions. Unless you are lucky though this is likely going to lead to a long and frustrating process. The best advice that I can give you is to approach the puzzle with a methodical process.
I approached Drive Ya Nuts by first placing one of the pieces in the middle of the board. I thought this was the best way to approach the puzzle since you could then add try to add one piece to each side of the piece in the middle. I started with matching a piece to the one side of the middle piece and then going clockwise around all of the sides. When I ran into a situation where I couldn’t proceed I removed one piece at a time counter-clockwise until I got to a situation where I could try a different piece. Once all of the potential options for the middle piece had been tried, I put a new piece in the middle. Using this process I eventually came to the solution. I would recommend that you come up with some way of keeping track of which pieces you have already tried in order to avoid trying the same pieces over again.
Unless I missed a potential strategy, Drive Ya Nuts is basically a puzzle built around trial and error. You might be able to luck into the right answer quicker but the best strategy is just follow a methodical process trying all of the different options until you find the one that actually works. If you are stuck and can’t find a solution, here is the solution for Drive Ya Nuts that I came up with. I don’t know if there are other solutions to the puzzle.
Should You Purchase Drive Ya Nuts?
I am not exactly sure what I think about Drive Ya Nuts. The puzzle is easy to pick up and try. The concept is straightforward and is kind of fun. I have never been a huge fan of puzzles that rely almost entirely on trial and error though. Basically the only strategy you can implement in Drive Ya Nuts is to use a methodical process where you try every possible option until you find the actual solution. Unless I am missing something there really is nothing you can do to further speed up solving the puzzle other than getting lucky and finding the correct solution.
I personally wouldn’t say that Drive Ya Nuts is a great or bad puzzle. If you don’t really care for puzzles that mostly rely on trial and error I don’t think Drive Ya Nuts is going to be for you. If you don’t mind trial and error puzzles though and can get a good deal on Drive Ya Nuts it may be worth picking up.
If you would like to purchase Drive Ya Nuts you can find it online: Amazon, eBay
Preston
Monday 6th of March 2023
Just found this puzzle at a friends place recently. The one logic based thing I found before also resorting to the same trial and error approach referenced here was finding the two nuts with 1-6 in order. One of them is clockwise and the other is counterclockwise. This means that when they’re touching they always have two of the same number facing towards the neighboring spaces. Since none of the nuts have a repeated number I could guarantee that those two weren’t touching and thus neither of them could be the center.
Richard K.
Monday 2nd of March 2020
I have always found this game easy to do, & we did get it back in the 70's, the puzzle I believe has always been the same answer, the colors have changed. I currently have the white on red version, but have never had it fade.
I am pretty much the only one in our home that enjoys working challenging/game puzzles, where as I grew up in a family of 8 kids, (but that is including the youngest, who was pretty much just getting into kindergarten). 3 of us were good, with 2-3 others finding them challenging, then the rest didn'teven care to try, but that's not actually a fair assessment, because as I mentioned earlier, the youngest of us was in Kindergarten as I was almost graduating. A year or 2 later he was able to totally disassemble a lawnmower & rebuild it to a brand new quality, so if he would have competed with us, we would probably have felt like the others did, when we whipped through the puzzle. I will say I very seldom did jigsaw puzzles then, but in the Elementary years I did, & loved them.
I never wanted to do the rubik's cube, it never intrigued me. I was dyslexic up to my 4th grade years, so there were many challenges for me for awhile.
I loved going to the restaurants, & playing the peg type games. I think it is how we were raised, &/or the opportunity to overcome as children with a hands on approach that made them interesting. I'm sure others would agree to disagree, just to be trolls, but some would have genuine replies. I know that I have wandered into a posting other than what its intended for, but it is my reply.
Just to bring it back full circle, I did it in less than 15 minutes, (while in a lot of pain, and on a lot of prescribed meds), but I have no idea at how long it was in the 70's, we didn't have all the items that you have now to track time. Just as you posted the picture of the completed puzzle, we didn't have the luxury of a camera, or the internet to see these results, or get hints.
To display the answer, you let someone else see it for a moment, & immediately wipe it out, so the challenge remains, & actually might even intensify a bit!
I wish you all the best on the challenging games, & let's do our best at keeping it a challenge for the next person or a child.
Here is something to think about. 'If the results came with the game', I'm sure it wasn't on the outside of the package for a reason. These days some solutions on the internet, should be hidden within a hyperlink, so it's not something that is easy to see, which you can't unsee easily. ((If you don't know how to do a hyperlink, I'm sure you can find out how on the internet!))
Basically, I am speaking on problem solving games, not health issues or instructions to things. Even though some health issues are different from one person to the next. Okay, I'm off topic again!
Well if you made it this far, then you do like challenges!
Have a good day, & do something nice to make a Stranger smile!
Eric Mortensen
Tuesday 3rd of March 2020
Thanks for the comment.
I took your suggestion and decided to hide the final solution behind a link to the picture.
Lu Herschberger
Saturday 6th of April 2019
Before I saw this post, I solved the puzzle and came up with the same solution you did. I also wondered if there are other possible solutions; perhaps not...
Dina
Thursday 29th of November 2018
Do you know of the pc game from late 90’s early 2000’s with this same game concept? I came preloaded on an old gateway computer that I no longer have. I’d love to find it in app form.
Eric Mortensen
Friday 30th of November 2018
Unfortunately I am not aware of the game you are talking about. Hopefully someone that sees this comment is familiar with the game you are talking about and can give you some more information.