Are these really from the original patents?

Yes · every toy is redrawn from its real U.S. patent filing (patent drawings of that era are public domain), and each round’s reveal cites the exact patent number and year. The figures are simplified re-drawings in the site’s own style, not reproductions.

How do I know which piece is right?

Drag each loose piece from the tray onto the place it belongs in the drawing. On the easy levels every gap is marked with a dashed outline; from medium up the drawing shows nothing and you have to read it.

What does this train?

Part-whole visual reasoning and attention to structural detail · seeing how a familiar object decomposes into its working parts · plus a little history of the toys themselves.

Can MemPi help me study and practice this game?

Yes! Click MemPi in the header or on the game board to summon him. He observes the board, thinks out loud, and can demonstrate moves or guide you through tricky steps.

Toy Assembly

Famous toys redrawn from their real patent filings, taken apart · drag every missing part back into place

About Toy Assembly

Famous toys redrawn from their real patent filings, taken apart · drag every missing part back into place

Toy Assembly shows a famous toy, redrawn as simplified line art from its real U.S. patent filing. The drawing comes apart, and you drag each loose piece home.

The toys are the LEGO brick, the Rubik’s Cube, the Slinky, the Etch A Sketch, the yo-yo and the Frisbee.

Every object cites the actual patent it was redrawn from (for example the LEGO brick’s U.S. Patent 3,005,282 from 1961, or the 1866 “whirligig” patent behind the yo-yo), and the reveal after each answer shows that citation · so every round teaches a small piece of design history.

Every round is generated deterministically from a seed. Runs entirely in your browser and works offline as a Progressive Web App.

Book Recommendation

Language: English

Want to deepen your skills in Toy Assembly? Recommended reading: Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel .

Harvard University Press definitive work on retrieval practice, cognitive retention, and turning working memory into permanent recall.

📖 View Book

🎓 Educational Account

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FAQ

Are these really from the original patents?

Yes · every toy is redrawn from its real U.S. patent filing (patent drawings of that era are public domain), and each round’s reveal cites the exact patent number and year. The figures are simplified re-drawings in the site’s own style, not reproductions.
How do I know which piece is right?

Drag each loose piece from the tray onto the place it belongs in the drawing. On the easy levels every gap is marked with a dashed outline; from medium up the drawing shows nothing and you have to read it.
What does this train?

Part-whole visual reasoning and attention to structural detail · seeing how a familiar object decomposes into its working parts · plus a little history of the toys themselves.
Can MemPi help me study and practice this game?

Yes! Click MemPi in the header or on the game board to summon him. He observes the board, thinks out loud, and can demonstrate moves or guide you through tricky steps.