L-I-Vator 2

I did not have time to write a review last week, so I will publish my Thursday review a bit in advance.

I have already reviewed the puzzle L-I-Vator designed by Laszlo Molnar and crafted by Brian Menold. And this time I will review another puzzle in the series of the L-I-Vator puzzles (maybe there will be some more?....)

So what's the differences between L-I-Vator 1 & 2 ?

The size of the new puzzle is a bit bigger and you can also notice that the bottom of the box aligns perfectly to the box for the first version and not for the second version, but it's normal!
The woods are truly wonderful for both but I still prefer more the colors of the second version.

The pieces are not the same (but this is pretty obvious) and for the second version they are pretty weird, I like them!

Maybe you've guessed that you will need some rotations? No? Now you know :-)

All Lazslo's puzzles so far need rotations to be solved and that's what make them so special.

There are fewer possibilities than the first version to make a cube with the given pieces, but that does not make the puzzle easier, and Laszlo considers it as being more difficult. But it's still less difficult than the triagonal agony (his most difficult puzzle so far!).

With packing puzzles you try to put one piece and try to fit the remaining pieces, but with these puzzles you also need to consider rotations. So you can try to see which pieces can rotate, which cannot, that reduces some possibilities. Also if you manage to make a cube outside of the box (which is advised to have a better view), you can check if you could have taken one piece of the cube out of the cage (if the cube was in the cage). If you cannot take out any, then rotate the cube and do the same process again. That will allow you to eliminate the wrong possibilities but leave enough to puzzle you for some time! :-)

This is definitely a challenging puzzle but with nice sequences of steps and a satisfaying solution. Give it a try if you can!

To better appreciate this puzzle I would advise to begin with the first version, and to get used to these puzzles by starting with the easiest: No holes barred > L-I-Vator 1 > L-I-Vator 2 > Triagonal agony.

You can find Brian's puzzle HERE, but be quick because they are usually sold out fast!

And these puzzles are only made by Brian, another reason to throw some cash to Brian :-)