Created in 1981 It’s Knot Easy! is part of Milton Bradley’s line of puzzles. In It’s Knot Easy! you have twelve different pieces that feature a section of a rope. You have to arrange the pieces into a 4×4 grid to create a single continuous uninterrupted rope.
My Thoughts on It’s Knot Easy!
Last week I looked at Milton Bradley’s Drive Ya Nuts. Of the two I would say It’s Knot Easy! is the better puzzle. I would say that I prefer It’s Knot Easy for a couple reasons. First the puzzle is much more visual. Drive Ya Nuts just features numbers printed hexagonal pieces. It is not that visually appealing looking at numbers being placed next to one another. I just think it is more visually appealing to assemble the rope. I think the main reason that I prefer It’s Knot Easy! though is that you can implement more strategy in how you approach it and thus it doesn’t rely as much on trial and error.
I personally would say It’s Knot Easy! is a pretty simple puzzle. The puzzle has sixteen pieces but once you figure out the basic shape of the puzzle it becomes pretty easy to solve. I would say that it probably took me around 10-20 minutes to solve It’s Knot Easy! I can see the easier difficulty being both a positive and a negative. I like that the puzzle is not frustratingly difficult where you basically have to luck into solving it. On the other hand it doesn’t provide a lot of challenge which might be disappointing to people that were looking for more of a challenge.
One thing that I like about It’s Knot Easy! is that the game actually has several different valid solutions. While a lot of the solutions are going to look basically the same, I like that the game includes a little variety. I don’t see anyone wanting to try find multiple solutions at a time but it will make the puzzle more interesting if you try to solve it a different way the second time you try it.
While It’s Knot Easy! has some potential strategy in how you approach it, I would still say that the puzzle relies pretty heavily on trial and error. You can figure out what the rope’s shape is supposed to look like but you still have to try different combinations until you find the one that actually works. I can’t say that I am a huge fan of puzzles that utilize trial and error mechanics because they just don’t feel that satisfying when you solve them.
How to Solve It’s Knot Easy!
Before I talk about how I approached solving the It’s Knot Easy! puzzle, it needs to be pointed out that the puzzle relies quite a bit on trial and error. While there are ways to make it easier to find the solution, you will still be relying quite a bit on trial and error. In order to make the trial and error portion of the puzzle more efficient, I would recommend using a methodical approach. Start by placing one piece and then try every other combination while keeping that piece in the same place. Once you have tried all of the options with that piece in that position, you can either move that piece to a different spot or you can try a different piece in that spot.
I will now give you some tips I used when solving It’s Knot Easy!. If you don’t want any tips for solving the puzzle I would recommend skipping the rest of this section.
I would like to begin by talking about four unique pieces in the puzzle. Of the sixteen pieces included in the puzzle, twelve of the pieces feature a 90 degree turn. Only four of the pieces have the rope enter on one side and exit on the opposite side. These pieces are important since you can use them to create two straight lines. You can then place these straight lines on opposite sides of the puzzle to create a good start for the puzzle.
With the board being a 4×4 board, four of the pieces are in the center of the board which means you have to find a way to connect them to the edges of the puzzle. You can place the straight lines along two of the edges but the other two edges have to turn towards the center of the board in order to connect to the spaces in the middle of the board. Since the rope has to be a continuous rope, you end up creating two little loops in the middle of the board. One of the loops connects to one of the edges and the other connects to the opposite edge.
If you put the straight paths on two opposite sides of the puzzle and remember to have the other two edges turn towards the middle of the puzzle you have got the basics of the puzzle down. You then just have to try different combinations of the pieces to find one where all of the pieces connect to one another.
Should You Purchase It’s Knot Easy!?
It’s Knot Easy! is a solid puzzle. The puzzle relies on quite a bit of trial and error but it has more strategy to it than quite a few other puzzles. I would say that the puzzle is a little on the easy side though. Once you figure out how to approach the puzzle it is pretty easy to solve. The puzzle has multiple different solutions but I don’t know if it would be that entertaining trying to find different solutions for the puzzle.
If you are looking for a difficult puzzle, It’s Knot Easy! is probably not going to be for you. If you like these type of little puzzles though you can have some fun with It’s Knot Easy! If you can get a good deal on it, I think It’s Knot Easy! is worth picking up.
If you would like to purchase It’s Knot Easy you can find it online: Amazon, eBay
DEBBIE
Friday 9th of October 2020
I used to work for Milton Bradley in Massachusetts. I was a puzzle press operator. Really interesting place to.work. My 9 year old grandson just completed It's Not Easy.
Irwin Schuster
Tuesday 13th of February 2018
This package was designed and illustrated by ME!! ...Irwin Schuster now of Tampa, FL. The office I worked for at the time was A.R. Williams & Associates, Lynnfield, MA. W&A Designed for Milton Bradley and Parker Bros., as well as any number of other prominent brands, in sports, food and technical fields. These were truly fun projects!
Rebecca
Thursday 29th of August 2019
TELL ME THE ANSWERRRRRR...lol