Awesome Unique

We’ve seen time and again that humans aren’t done inventing new musical instruments. Musician and inventor Fron Reilly shows off his fron2, a stringed instrument that spins like a hurdy-gurdy but is played with a bow or other object to create warm, ethereal sounds. Contact Fron on Facebook if you’re interested in having one built for you.

This unique wooden puzzle kit combines a jigsaw puzzle with an escape box. Completing each of its four puzzle sides enables its mechanisms to move and its locks to be opened. In addition to its base Pyramid of the Sun puzzle, expansion packs offer new jigsaws to assemble that sit atop its Aztec-inspired structure.

You know that soothing, ambient music they play when you’re getting a massage? Musician Daniel “RootFlute” Hansen’s performance shows how meditative music like that gets made. His self-made instruments include custom flutes, a shell harp, a clarinet made from antlers, a mammoth tusk, and ten Tibetan bells he plays with foot pedals.

VACO’s convenient hand tool lets you carry six socket wrenches in your pocket. It has a durable metal shaft that holds three double-headed sockets, including 1/4″, 5/16″, 11/32″, 3/8″, 7/16″, and 1/2″ sizes. The sockets stay in place using strong rare-earth magnets and its shaft doubles as a 1/4″ bit driver that can also be used on a power drill.

Inspired by Bernard Werber’s eponymous fantasy novel, Empire of the Ants is a photorealistic real-time strategy game. You play as 103,683rd, the heralded savior of their ant colony. Build and expand your anthill, conquer other territories, and befriend and fight other forest creatures. Coming to PS5 in 2024.

This fast-paced arcade game asks players to control a flower and a wasp to fight off various enemies in their otherworldly ecosystem. Caleb Wood, one of the concept artists behind the exceptional sci-fi series Scavenger’s Reign, created the game. It’s out now on Steam for Windows and supports single-player and local co-op modes.

This unique stainless steel pen features a design reminiscent of an airbrush. Its cap is held in place with a satisfying click, while an exposed spring in its middle gives it a cool industrial look. We were hoping the spring was part of a retracting mechanism, but it’s purely decorative. It accepts G2-compatible refills.

The Lucid Bazaar Company and designer Joe Zado make a variety of unique geometric lamps that cast colors and shadows. Among them is this beehive-inspired light with honeycomb cutouts that project hexagonal patterns on walls and ceilings. We also dig their squiggly Brain Coral Shadow Lamp.

Inventor and musician Nicolas Bras continues to expand his collection of unconventional musical instruments with a gizmo that looks like a guitar had a chunk taken out of it. Nic assembled a pair of bass guitar pickups and eight lengths of piano wire on a wooden block, resulting in a wonderfully weird and unique sound.

Unidragon enlisted the illustrators of Japan’s IC4 Design to create detailed images that challenge puzzle builders to participate in a variety of quests. Adding to the design are unique puzzle pieces cut to match the outlines of the illustrations. The first four Quezzle puzzles can be combined to form an even larger world.

The Neozoon is unlike any light we’ve seen before. Its soft silicone shade doubles as a suction cup, allowing the lamp to stick to any smooth surface. It’s just as easy to detach and move and offers stepless dimming. It runs for 6 to 12 hours per charge depending on brightness setting.

These from Peru’s D.A.R. Proyectos are made from a unique combination of gemstones, cut to form interlocking shapes. Stones include rhodonite, celestine, serpentine, and jasper, which come together to form a colorful 1.75″ cube. Since each stone is real, every puzzle is one-of-a-kind.