Gear Orbit City - Black Body (1/4 Space Capsule)

A planetary‑gear twisty puzzle designed by Sam Jiang

The Gear Orbit City from Calvin’s Puzzle is a striking mechanical creation that blends artistic engineering with serious puzzling challenge. Designed by Sam Jiang, this model showcases a fascinating planetary‑gear system housed within a bold black‑body exterior. For this special version, the top center cap can be opened, allowing you to display the internal mechanism.

Crafted from durable ABS plastic with vibrant PVC stickers, the puzzle weighs approximately 150 g and comes packaged in a compact clear display box.

Development began in 2019, and after multiple design iterations and mold refinements, the team finally perfected a functional, reliable gear system. The result is a puzzle that turns smoothly while revealing the beauty of its internal engineering.

The Gear Orbit City combines 2D and 3D rotational geometry in a way few puzzles do. At its core, it functions as a 3×3×3, but each face features four small gear circles that rotate in sync with every turn. A 90° turn of any face causes the corresponding circles to rotate 90° relative to that face, creating mesmerizing motion and deeply complex scrambles.

Inside, a stationary sun gear drives the surrounding planetary gears. Removing the center cap reveals this hidden mechanism and also provides access for tension adjustments—useful when gear alignment shifts during heavy solving.