QuickenBrain

Paper folding puzzles

Follow the diagrams as a 4 × 4 sheet is folded and punched. Then unfold it in reverse, reflect the holes across each crease, and choose the final hole pattern.

Eight levels with diagonal folds, mixed folds and punches through overlapping layers.

One straight fold · One punch

Six questions · Five choices · Take your time

Example

Follow the fold, then punch through the stacked layers.

1. Fold left
Punch through all layers

How to play

Read the diagrams from left to right. A left fold moves the right half onto the left half; an up fold moves the bottom half onto the top half. A punch goes through every layer. Unfold in reverse order, reflecting each hole across each crease.

Select one of four answers, then choose Check answer. You can change your selection before checking. Read the explanation and continue when ready. Keyboard: Tab to the answers and use the arrow keys to change your choice.

Solving time excludes setup, explanations and background tabs. The optional challenge gives you two minutes of solving time across six questions. When time runs out, unanswered questions count as incorrect. Timed and untimed results stay separate.

The browser loads a complete six-question round from the server when you start or restart. Completed rounds and timed-out challenges are saved when browser storage is available; ending early is not saved. Your individual answers are not uploaded.

This is a practice activity, not a standardized or diagnostic assessment. Results describe only this activity.

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About this practice

How it works

Follow the folds and punches. Choose how the holes look when the paper is completely open.

Only a completed round is saved.

These practice levels describe puzzle complexity. They are not a calibrated measure of intelligence.

Each question shows a 4 by 4 sheet being folded, then punched through every layer. You choose which of four open sheets shows where the holes land. A left fold moves the right half over the left half. An up fold moves the bottom half up over the top half.

What it measures, and what it does not

It asks you to hold a folded sheet in mind and undo it one crease at a time. It does not ask you to turn a solid or picture a cut, which are separate practices here. Six questions make a short sample, so one score moves around.

What each level changes

  • Easy: one fold, right to left or bottom to top, or two crossing folds. Always one punch.
  • Standard: two folds the same way with one punch, or two crossing folds with two punches.
  • Challenge: three folds, two one way and one the other, with one punch, or two crossing folds with two punches.

A worked example

From the Standard level. Fold the bottom half up, then the right half over to the left. Then punch at row 1, column 2 and at row 2, column 1.

1. Flat paper
2. Fold bottom half up
3. Fold right half left, then punch

The four choices

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D

Open the folds, last fold first

  1. The punched stack, with two holes.

  2. Open the fold from drawing 3. Mirror each hole across the crease between columns 2 and 3: two holes become four.

  3. Open the fold from drawing 2. Mirror each hole across the crease between rows 2 and 3: four holes become eight.

The answer is C. The eight holes are in row 1, columns 2 and 3; row 2, columns 1 and 4; row 3, columns 1 and 4; row 4, columns 2 and 3. Two punches through four layers make eight holes.

What your result means

The score is the number right out of six, with an explanation after each answer. Solving time counts only while you are solving: setup, explanations and background tabs are left out. The optional two-minute challenge counts unanswered questions as wrong, and timed and untimed results are kept apart.

For four more worked examples and the common mistakes, read the guide Paper folding test: how to unfold the holes. For the method, try the lesson Unfold in reverse order.

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