In the hype of the London Olympic Games’ a different game from Hungary was left out of sight. During the 32nd Meeting of the International Puzzle Games (IPP) - which is the equivalent of the logical Olympics games - this year's grand prize went to a Hungarian designer. The Smart Egg is now referred to as the next Rubik's Cube - congratulations to Andrew Zagyvai!
The winner product is a wooden egg, which entails a moving maze. It may sound strange, rather than interesting at first. However, if you give it a go, you will see what an exciting, amusing game is the Smartegg. The three-dimensional game design received the highest recognition at the competition held in Washington and won the prestigious Nob Yoshigahara award and gained world wide recognition.
A game, a designer product or a piece of art?
" In November 2007, the game idea of the game was born and we immediately started working on the realization ", - says Andrew Zagyvai , Hungarian designer, then adds: "In the beginning we did not really know how to define this product . " The smartegg is not only as a game , but its design can be also classified as a piece of art. The debut of the Smartegg supports this idea – before its first official appearance on the Washington Logic Games competition, two Smarteggs were sent to the Governors. It was an encouraging sign that even before the announcement of the results one of the eggs were purchased by one of the judges , while another ended up in the museum collection of Jerry Slocum – the father of IPP. The Hungarian invention was recognised by the International Patent and Trademark group, supporting its originality, positive impact, uniqueness and it’s industrial value.
Three-dimensional padlock
The Smartegg is basially a three-dimensional maze game where the players guide a stick through the layers of the egg. The level of difficulty depends on the number of layers. The game is suitable for all ages. The simpler versions provide an entertaining way for the little ones to develop the dexterity, logical thinking and spatial vision. The challenging multi layer version may be suitable for mathematicians or those who enjoy the challenging their logic mind.
„In order to get the sticks out of the eggs, one needs logical thinking, ability to see spaces, and the ability to memorise the inner areas of the egg" - says the inventor who first tested the product on his children.
All dead-ends will take you further
The uniqueness of the Smartegg is that there is not only one right solution to succeed. Every dead end road and step we take is important in the process of getting out of the maze.
"Essentially, this system is directly applicable to life" - explains the world acclaimed Hungarian inventor. "We live in a dynamic environment that is constantly changing. We must constantly adapt to these changes and make decisions - of course we always try to make the best decision, but many times we come to a dead end. However, these negative experiences may be turned into an advantage later in your life " In a way the Smartegg is just like this. The dynamic environment that is our lives lies inside the egg – the decisions and actions we take are similar to the ones we make in real life – right, left, success, failure and the unavoidable dead ends.
Hungarian invention breaks into the world market
The inventor often found himself in dead ends during the development of the product. However, he later managed to turn these phases into positive experiences and to gain inspiration to work on different new products and prototypes of the original invention. The entrepreneur Andras Zagyvai is eager to work on new ideas for further development. The Smartegg is currently only available in Hungary, but investors from Japan, Canada and America have already contacted the inventor with offers to purchase and manufacture the product However, Zagyvai is determined to find a Hungarian manufacturer to collaborate and to break the product into the global market.
"I would really like to see this product to be managed and financed by a Hungarian company. I am certain that there are organisations here that could effectively do this job and gain world recognition for Smartegg with the quality of their production.