A three dimensional sliding element puzzle having a surface that is spherical in shape. The sphere is divided into longitudinal segments and latitudinal bands of surface elements. The puzzle is solved by rearranging the surface elements. The surface elements are rearranged by latitudinally rotating latitudinal bands of elements, and are rearranged by rotating hemispherical sets of longitudinal segments. The surface elements may have a pattern, color or numeric coding to indicate when they are arranged in a solution set. The surface elements may also be imprinted so that the solution is a map of the earth or another globe. The surface elements may also be designed to have a number of configurations forming a number of possible solutions.