369 SD puzzle box

 369 puzzle box is a 3D-printed puzzle designed by CreativeWorkshopCA.

I already review Eye of Horus, the Tiger and the Cryptex. But 369 puzzle box may be my favourite one.

It's a sequencial discovery with several tools you need to use to make some progress during your puzzling journey :)

You should discover some tools are the very beginning but you may be soon confused with how you should use them. That's not that obvious, but you need to experiment even if you think this is a stupid idea.

At some point I was blocked and I really wondered what to do. Basically the puzzle needed a bit of shaking (not necessary normally) because the official solution proved to me that I was right withmy ideas and that it should be opened. But again the puzzle does not need any force nor tapping. A slight shacking won't damage anything though and may be a bit useful.

It's not a big puzzle but still have many things inside its body and this is what I like. You don't need to have a big puzzle to have many things going on inside. And usually the biggest puzzles don't have (proportionnaly speaking) so many things inside.

I do recommend it at 200%. You will have a nice challenge with a satisfying solution for pretty cheap and for a top quality !!

You can buy it on ETSY

Many cast puzzles in a row !

In this post, I will quickly review some cats puzzles by Hanayama. Many of them are not that difficult, but all are enjoyable !

Cast Diamond

The seemingly easy puzzle that will puzzle you for some time. As with this kind of puzzle, I am sure you will be able to solve it, forget how you did, then solved it again....process should be this for some time.

A perfect puzzle to torture a beginner and to challenge an experienced puzzler!

Cast Key II

It's an interested maze-like puzzle. Well it's not a maze in the proper sense of the word. But it's a path-finding as you will move one key on the path of the other, with different kind of moves. I feel this is a must-have in any cast puzzle collector. I mean it !

Cast Marble

Long time ago it was rated as 4 and now it's 5/6. I pretty mcuh agree with 5/6 rating.

The goal is to separate the 4 parts of the puzzle: there are 2 part for the ball and 2 parts for its cage.

And to do so, you will have to find the perfect alignment. The disassembly move is very satisfying and unexpected!

This is a perfect level 5: it's challenging, but you should be able to reasemble it easily and quickly if you remember the trick. It's not going to take forever like it ca with some level 5/6 cast puzzle.

Go for it !!

 

Cast Loop

This embodies the perfect level 1 cast puzzle with very clever twist moves. I am sure you will love it.

Cast Harmony

This gorgeous looking puzzle is not that difficult bt still interesting: you need to navigate the music notes along each other. Personally I think the link is more interesting than the solving process, but the solve is still nice.

 

Cast Love

One of my favourite puzzle. The 2 halves go together is a loving twist move. It will need you some thinking on how to approach the puzzle. And once solved, you will want to solve it again and again like a fidget toy :)

 

Cast Slider

A very weird looking puzzle composed of 3 parts, all of them dancing like a fidget toy. You will understand once you've played with it. I would say the most original cast puzzle from this post. For only this reason you have to buy it. Of course, the solve is nice!

Cast Diamond, Cast Key II, Cast Marble, Cast Loop, Cast Harmony, Cast Love and Cast Slider can all be bought from Puzzle Master webshop.

Note that Puzzle Master also sells sets of puzzles for discounted price! The best way to start of complete your cast puzzle collection for a reduced price!

A set of 58 Hanayama puzzles

A set of 33 puzzles with level 4-6

A set of  23 puzzles with level 1-3

More chess pieces

I already reviewed a chess piece by Hanayama in a previous post and this time I will review all the other ones from the same series.

All these puzzles were initially designed and made by Marcel Gillen long time ago and since then mass-produced by several companies.

The mechanism are somewhat a little bit different from the original pieces in the way that the original pieces were a bit more difficult. Resulting in these recent ones being pretty easy. But it depends on the experience you have with solving puzzles!

 

The knight is the easiest one in the series and should not take you that long. A nice starter for the whole series.

Let's continue with the rook: a nice one with another trick. I like the design of it with the star on the top!

What about the pawn? In my opinion, this is the best in the series. I like the implementation of the tricks, pretty clever!

The queen is a bit like the king (well they love each other, don't they?) in the solving process. Does not mean the same ;)

And to finish: the bishop. It gave me a bit of difficulties. I would rate it the most difficult in the series. The solving process is satisfying. Don't break his head :)

In my opinion, the mass-produced version are an affordable way of playing with these very famous puzzles. I do recommend them if you're a metal puzzle lover or an hanayama puzzle collector.

If you're really looking for challenging puzzles, then they may not be your cup of tea: they are rather easy.

You can find them on Puzzle Master webshop and if you buy the bundle with all the pieces, it's cheaper.

Don't get fooled by the color: black, silver, gold or any possible color it does not matter. The solving process is the same!