Shuffling puzzle
As in transport puzzles, in
shuffling puzzles no piece is ever lost or added.
Typically all pieces are given at the outset as a specific board situation. The payer has to achieve a certain end configuration though swapping of sets of tokens (like two rows or two columns) or moving them from one place to another.
In contrast to transport puzzles, however, there are no routes given on a board that have to be followed. Tokens can be lifted off the board and placed at positions far away and without any visible connection to the from-position.
Many shuffling puzzles are essentially two-dimensional in nature, apart from the fact that the tokens have to lifted off the board during the swaps.
Even shuffling puzzles that are represented as a three-dimensional game (like Tower of Hanoi or card shuffling) can be easily represented in two dimensions.
The group of shuffling puzzles includes various solitaire card games,
which have a long tradition.
Examples of shuffling puzzles