The (Rialto) Bridge between 2 nice things

If I remember correctly, I already post something (it must have been few years ago!) that was not 100% puzzle-focussed and I will repeat again.

 

Why should it be 100% about puzzle? Nice things always deserve to be highlighted. 

The title of this post ambodies perfectly the 2 topics I am going to speak about. Hopefully you understand the title and the intended pun :)

 

So first let's speak about puzzle. The Rialto Bridge puzzle was designed, made and exchanged by Brian Young for IPP26. Only 212 copies exist. I like palindromic numbers!

 

 

The best description of Brian's puzzle is from him, so I better copy-paste the below: 

This puzzle fits into a couple of different categories of puzzle. Brian calls it a sequential move puzzle. There are items to find and get out of the puzzle so it could be called a puzzle box in a way.
But Brian does not consider it to be a Sequential Discovery puzzle.

Goal: What you have around the Rialto Bridge is gondolas and gondoliers, right?
So you have to find the gondola and gondolier inside the puzzle. As well as his oar (pole) and the ballast (we jokingly said that was the paying tourists sitting in the gondola).

While it is possible to complete the puzzle with dexterity (read: lots of frustration😣) a better way is to find the elegant and repeatable solution to all the steps without dexterity involved. The only dexterity necessary should be on the reset of the puzzle and that’s very minimal.

 

Now, my thoughts. I can still call it a SD puzzle. There are not a lot of tools, but there are!

It is fascinating how many steps can be involved in such a little puzzle and the cleverness behind each of them. Dexterity is not involved and should not be used unless you can to damage the puzzle. I guess you will understand which kind of dexterity you could be tempted to use when you're at the specific step. 

So far, I have not been able to reset the puzzle even knowing how to do...am I the only one in this case?

 

Brian retired few years ago (or maybe month, sorry I cannot remember), but it's great to see that he is still in the game!

 

And now the link between the puzzle and the items.

Bridges make the link between 2 places, right? So that was the perfect puzzle to make the transition / link with the products by Gemloader. I had some trading cards a long time ago (unfortunately none of them are worth any penny!) and I thought I should protect them from any damage and direct sun, as you may protect your puzzle is display shelves.

In my opinion, they are the best in the market in terms of protection your cards, no matter the card collection is from. The quality is top level, the delivery is astonishingly quick and for European guys, you won't get any custom fees.

I am not paid to say good things about them / their product, but when you like something I am sure you also advise these to other people, don't you?

Plus, I am sure many puzzle collectors don't only collect puzzles: you're usually not into collection, but collections :) 

They have everything from binders to sleeves. I guess the best way for you is to have a look at their website.

Now, the good news for you is that I have a code that will grant you 15% discount without any minimum amount spent, you can use for any product they're selling and how many times you want. 

 

Use:  PUZZLINGWL15 to get 15%

 

A new Australian puzzle designer

Yes, you read it right. It seems there are more and more puzzle designers coming from Australia and obviously we won't complain!

Let me introduce you Nick and his SD white puzzles made with 3D printers. Nick will launch them on kickstarter soon and so I thought that it would be a nice idea so that then you can decide whether it's for you or not a bit in advance.

 

Nick designed a series of several puzzles called Entity Containment Device or shorter as ECD. The first one is ECD-001.

 

At a first glance, the puzzle looks neat and with a pure/esthetic design. But don't get fooled, it does not mean that it has nothing in its body. And that appearance makes it wonder "where will I start?".

 

ECD-001 is a Sequential Discovery puzzle which means that you will have to find tools and use them to make progress in your puzzle journey.

But I was wondering where can I find and use them because from the outside, there are no holes, no tools, nothing. But trust me, it will be clearer later during your puzzling journey. The solving process is pretty smooth and should not frustrate you too much, just pay attention to all the details as they can give you some clues...just saying.

All things work as expected and no force is required. And honestly, the puzzle is sturdy enough, so you're unlikely going to break it. 

You know that you've solved the puzzle when you find the token.

The solving time is mentioned to be around 50 minutes based on an average solving time from several people. Personally it took me less than 30 minutes. But it really depends on everyone, so don't be biased by me.

 

To conclude: I really enjoyed the puzzle and look forward to playing with the others in the series that I am sure will be as good as this one!!

Should I advise it? Of course!

You can put the project on your favorite and be ready on the D-Day!

 

 

 

Chess castle by Archimaze Puzzle

Marc, the founder of Archimaze Puzzle, is a new puzzle designer who did an amazing job for this first design, with the ambition of becoming part of the world's top designers.

Let me explain more in detail.

Here we are with a big puzzle box containing written riddles and hidden mechanisms. The puzzle itself is very big, way bigger than what I expected. But honestly it would not do justice to a king living in a small castle, right?

In addition to its generous size, this 3D-printed puzzle is very carefully designed and you will notice a lot of effort put into the details. All the aspects of a real castle are there.

As just mentioned, you will have some riddles. They are part of the experience and they are not that easy. I am not very good at riddles, but I am not against them as well especially when they play a role in the whole story like here. Yes, there is a story all along your puzzle journey! You will have to read a little bit (I promise) and from the start to the end, the story will make sense to you.

The story is focused on the game of chess: you're the player in the chess world and you need to reach your goal (I won't tell you what it is!). You don't need to know how to play chess to enjoy the puzzle, and that's the good point with it. Personally I like chess and I know how to play chess. Also, I have never seen a mechanical puzzle based on chess. So I can only have a good first feeling about the puzzle :)

What about the mechanical side?

The Chess Castle is a mechanical puzzle meaning that you will have to use some tools (so yes, it's a SD puzzle as well!) in some creative ways! Trust me, Marc has a devilish mind !! Usually a new designer starts slowly, but here it's not the case. For your greatest pleasure of course :)

No force, gravity or banging are needed, only gentle moves. (By the way, be gentle with any puzzle!)

I loved many moves and their consequences. I don't want to spoil it, but everything is spot on. When these things happen, you will enjoy them without a doubt.

 

What about the riddles?

They are fully integrated to the puzzling experience. I would say it's 50% riddles and 50% hidden mechanisms. But the riddles help to make progress on the mechanical parts. When I say "riddles", it means here that the chess pieces that you will encounter will speak to you, giving you clues and encrypted messages that will help you move forward during your journey.

You have to analyze their words very carefully. The hidden meanings will be useful too.

You could be tempted to bypass some elements like forcing the cryptex on the top which is taunting you from the beginning. Don't do that! You could be cast into the oblivion in the very depths of the castle dungeon! Plus you will miss some interesting stuff. So I would advise to keep on trying and also to take notes: you will discover a lot of elements and pieces and you may need to track what you've found so far. If you don't do that, you will be forced to do it anyway, so better to start at the beginning of your journey.

Some riddles were a bit too hard for me I must confess. But again, I am not used to that. So maybe it will be easier for you? No need for any specific knowledge by the way.

I would say that the riddles are somewhat around a difficulty of 8 to 9 over 10 and the mechanical aspect around 7 and 8 over 10. But at the end I would give a total difficulty of 8.5/10 I guess. 

The price can be considered as high, so now the key question: 

Is it worth the price?

Yes, Yes and Yes!

Why? First there are a lot of things to discover, many tools and other interesting stuff. Marc put a lot of effort on the story and the game design, and they make your puzzle journey full of surprises. On the detail and look of the puzzle, nothing is missing, nothing was neglected. Regarding the size: you will have a big beautiful puzzle to display in your puzzle cabinet.

Remember that you pay not only for a finished product but also for the joy and thinking behind it (no, I have not been paid to say that!). And I guess it's the same for all puzzles: there are a lot of hours and nights spent on designing a puzzle and avoiding flows. 

If you're into chess, mechanical puzzles, SD puzzles and riddles, no doubt: go for it. If you're a bit less into riddles or chess, honestly, you should give it a try. I am sure you will enjoy it a lot.

It's a limited edition puzzle: 100 puzzles crafted and no one will ever be made again in the future. Marc will move into other puzzle projects. So don't wait too much or you will regret it. Just saying....

 

The box you will receive containing the puzzle is not super heavy but it's big! Take that into consideration if you need to go to the post office to pick the package up!

How to buy it? Just click on this link!

 

Credit for the pictures goes for Marc's photographer: Bruno Marsone. He took very professional pictures and mine would not have been that good!

Your new metal puzzle designer is born !!

While more and more 3D-printed puzzles are popping up in the market, we were missing metal puzzle designers and my post will bring you an happy smile on your face!

With only 2 metal puzzles designed so far, I can you the level of skills behind the guy!

 

His name? Garrett Mathias

His website? CLICK HERE

Garrett designed 2 puzzles (OurGlass and Cogas) but I am sure he will come up with more ideas. From his first 2 puzzles, the future sounds very promising !!

 

Let's talk about the two puzzles now!

 

OurGlass

I hope you get the pun?

It can be considered as a fidget toy or a puzzle for the less experienced puzzlers!

It took me few seconds to solve and the mechanism is not new but the quality is so nice that, even if you're an experienced puzzler, you should buy it :) 

No need to mention that the shape is original and I have never seen a hourglass puzzle so far. Also you can use it as a display stand as well for a tiny puzzle (or a real hourglass?)

So I do advise you OurGlass puzzle (becoming MyGlass puzzle when you have it....ok sorry...lol) if you're looking for a nice small puzzle that will stand well in your puzzle cabinet.

Cogas

Now we can talk about "real" puzzle!

The look is nice and clean and may remind you of some famous Dutch puzzle designers. However there are many differences, the first one being the size.

So the goal here is to remove the lid, so far nothing special....but the lid does not move...and nothing seems to move. No external tools allowed, no saws!

What else can we say? There is like a small hole on the body of the cylinder. And unless I am blind there are no tools visible!

The puzzle can be classified as Sequential Discovery puzzle because you will get tools to use. This information can be spoilery but I am sure people like to know what puzzle they have in front of them :)

Cogas is perfectly made, it's amazing for a 1st puzzle from a new designer, really! And I have not talked about the mechanism and solution yet (don't worry, I won't spoil it)

The puzzle is a mix of already known mechanism and new ones, it's very very devilish and, trust me, this is a very challenging puzzle!

You may stare at his during long time.... I am pretty sure that you won't even understand the mechanism despite all being visible. This is definitively a super clever mechanism.

For me, among all the cylinder puzzles, this is the most interesting one and one of the cheapest.

Your ROI (Return On Investment) is very high with Cogas. As for puzzles, Return is measured in terms of how satisfactory the solution is, if it will bring you "ha-ah" moments, if you will want to solve it again, if you won't feel shame to show it to your friends, etc. The investment being only money, this one is cheap compared to other puzzles in the same category!

Cogas is on my favourite puzzle list for 2023, for sure!

You can buy them on Garrett website!

 

And if a good news does not come along, I have another good news: you can use my reduction code to get a discount on your total price to pay !!

Use PIW to get 5% off (puzzle for you: can you guess why "PIW"?)

 

 

The sequential discovery canon puzzle

In my opinion, this canon puzzle is a nice introduction to sequential discovery puzzles.

Well, there are some controversial talks about what is a SD (sequential discovery) puzzle. In my opinion, it's when you have several steps to open the puzzle and at least one tool to find and use to solve another step. Maybe there should be an even more difference between SD puzzles in the way that you cannot compare a SD with only one tool and a SD with many tools / secrets / steps.

So I would tend to classify as following: 

SD: puzzle with one tool to use and several steps

SD+: several steps and max 2 tools

SD+++: more than 2 tools and several steps

Now the difficulty would be to evaluate what is a tool and what is not, but that's another story.

So for this one it's a SD according to my classification, especially considering that it even suitable for beginners.

The goal of the puzzle is to find the cannon ball. What's nice with the puzzle is that it has a metal support, to try to look like a real cannon.

A not tool difficult but nonetheless nice puzzle that you should own and show to your guest (if they are not seasoned puzzlers!)

You can buy it on Puzzle Master webshop!

Some more 3D printed puzzles !!

Here are the latest 2 puzzles by Creative Workshop, a Canadian company specialized in 3D printed puzzles. I review several of their puzzles, have a look :)

So here comes the Arcturus, a spherical puzzle with many tiny bits inside. Not really a surprise from these puzzle makers!

The goal is to open to puzzle and yes, you have to open both halves....not yet a surprise. On Puzzle Master webshop, a guy wrote a comment stating he solve the puzzle in 2 minutes. This is not possible, even with luck. Basically I think I had luck when I managed to opened the puzzle because even if you can try to deduce some things through the small openings, you cannot see all the traps and locks. So yes basically I think a bit of luck is involved. Well, I must admit a more logical solution will be applied for the most seasoned of my viewers ! :)

I think this is a clever puzzle (and a big fidget toy if you cannot open it). No new mechanism but a clever way of using ball bearings. It may keep you busy for a while. Before closing the ball, just study carefully the locks, not only to reassemble in the correct way the puzzle, but also to manage to open it again later on.

The second puzzle is called Traffic Light

This is more a sequencial discovery puzzle as you will find tools to use. The puzzle is pretty big, well bigger than I imagined !

The goal is to take out the 3 lights and open the box. You can open the box only after taking out the lights.

There are pins and magnets. You know what you have to do when it's about pins and magnets? Well then you should manage to solve some steps. The 3 lights don't open the same way, and the difficulty is increasing. Don't loose your tiny bits you will get, they may be helpful somehow somewhere. 

This is a challenging puzzle and I see well how people will be puzzled with it. The use of the tools is clever, and this is why I like this puzzle.

This is the only SD puzzles among the other puzzles from Creative Workshop. So whether you like SD puzzles and/or their puzzles, don't hesitate and go for it ! :)

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

The aMAZEing Lego PuzzleBox

....and I will explain you why it's amazing!

This puzzle is made entirely out of lego bricks, designed and made by QuizBrix. 

According to the description, it's a level 7 sequencial discovery puzzlebox. I am very curious as this is my first lego puzzle box.

 

It's a general trend in the puzzle world that puzzles are made out of different meterials than metal and wood. More and more puzzles are made with 3D printers and same comment regarding lego bricks.

I was pretty intrigued how you could make a puzzle with lego, espacially a sequencial discovery one, and even more that it's not fragile!

My fear was that you could disassembled pieces that should come together and then messed up the puzzle...

But this puzzle did not disappoint me !!

First of all, the design is nice and looks simple. It's not massive and seems to have several kind of bricks. I noticed many transparent one. Probably to help you?....

As for the puzzling aspect, it's really wonderful. You have several tools that you will have to use and I found one tool that I could not use properly to progress on my puzzle journey. I was even not sure if it was a tool or a red hearing, and I won't say more in order not to spoil you :)

Honestly the satisfaying sequence of moves, the tool and the reward are worth the small price of this puzzlebox.

Trust me: it's a CLEVER sequencial discovery puzzle !! 

And the good point: if you cannot move a piece; either it's blocked by another piece (and you should figure out that soon!) or you're just not allowed to move that piece. So it's nealry impossible that you break the puzzle....unless you use a hammer.... !!

I wish QuizBrix make some other puzzle in the same spirit.

The level 7 (I assume on a scale of 10) is the appropriate one: it's a challenging puzzle, but not at all impossible. It should puzzle you for some time and when you know how to progresse you should have some "ah-ha" moments !

The name of the puzzle should make you think that you will solve a maze. But it's not the case, there is no real maze. Of course you will have to find your way with some tools, but trust me: no maze to solve!

And the good thing is that you don't really navigate blindly.

You're not completely lost and the puzzle is made so that you cannot lose any tool inside it ! So you really can try all the things that you want as you will always be able to get easily your tools.

Your prize is a QR code with a golden bar. The QR code congrats you and give the steps to resset the puzzle. But you can resset by yourself. You cannot block the puzzle, no worries!

You can buy this wonderful puzzle on QuizBrix webshop

To prepare yourself for winter, you can play with a snow block !

A new puzzle designer emerged and guess what he will puzzle you for some time!

His name: Philip Black

He designs and make 3D printed puzzles. But wait, these are not basic puzzles, these are sequencial discovery puzzles and are very cleverly made.

For this review I will speak about his Snow Block puzzle, which is a massive 915g of 3D printed elements, with a size of  175mm x 155mm x 75mm.

So yes it's a massive puzzle. Don't drop it on your feet!

 

Before seeing the puzzle you will have a look at a paper, in which some steps are written. And no, this is not the solution, but the steps to perform before playing with the puzzle in case things moved during the delivery, which is likely to happen. And then you can start playing with the puzzle.

 

At a first sight, the puzzles is well made, there are the letters "S" and "B", with also a play on words with "now lock". There is a "cross" hole, intriguing!

....and some arrow on some sides of the puzzle.... what I may be useful for? I know but I keep that for myself :)

As I mentioned to you, this is a SD puzzle, with many tools (and pretty weird ones!) that you will have to find and to use in a proper way.

No force is needed of any kind (so spining is not required nor useful) and no banging. This would damage the puzzle and won't be useful to solve the puzzle. You have to follow Philip's rules: no force and keep the puzzle flat on the table with the SB letter in front of you.

Personally I don't like to have to bang to solve a puzzle and so Philip's rules are perfectly fine for me :)

The puzzle is not straight forward and personally I did not find the tools in the proper order (as I should have), so at some point I was blocked and wonder what to do to make some progress. Trust me, there are several "ha-ah" moments in this puzzle journey !! The tools are used in a very clever way, no doubt the designer is a genius :)

And the puzzle makes sounds (no electronics inside though). Despite you cannot see the internals of the puzzle, you can still imagine a bit and find your way to make progress. And it's a rewarding puzzle: you get tools and you can see where they could be useful (that does not give you clues on how to precisely use them though).

I remained blocked for some time, then found a "tool" which teased me. I cannot reveal, because this was fun (for me) and telling you too much would spoil the fun as well. But it did not teased me for long and I finally solve the puzzle with a nice reward: a snowflake.

I love the puzzle. For me it embodies the perfect SD puzzle: good quality, tools and nice sequences of moves. The design is wonderful, Philip did a very very good job with this first puzzle.

Trust me, you won't be disappointed. I can only encourage you to buy it while it's possible (it's a limited edition puzzle) and trust me one more time, this will be on your top favourite puzzles in your collection.

That would be nice to have it made with metal, but I assume the price would be way too high and it would be super heavy, so I am very pleased with the current material used. It's not a fragile puzzle as long as you're not a brute (shall you be one, then you won't be a puzzle collector/player hahaha).

 

The conclusion in one word: Brilliant !

You can buy the puzzle on Philip's website: HERE

 

 

Titan's lock

Time for a lock puzzle review! Been a long time!!

Why the name of "Titan"? Easy: the brand is "Titan"....and maybe your challenge is huge?... :)

This nice lock is actually more a sequencial discovery trick lock as it requires several tools and steps to open. Your goal is to find the Titan's treasures (which is a white marble).

The Titan lock has been designed and crafted by Sashko, a Sweedish guy.

It comes with a small boocklet about the stroty of the Titan and your objectives with that lock. Also what you have is a broken key (one part is stuck on the booklet). Does it remind anyone of another lock?...but wait! This one is totally different!!

You will try what everyone try and see you're not going further....and maybe you find be trapped!
And trust me the trap is devilish. I knew what to do, but doins if way more difficult than saying. I am sure you feel with the pain :)
But what is a puzzle if it has no traps?....

Once you have mastered the trap you can continue your puzzle journey. But the journey is definitely not finished and you will have to use the tools in a clever way. Once you realize what you have to do, your "aha-ha" moment will come! It has stumped me for a while, this is not an easy task. Remember it's a Titan's task.

After many hours of puzzling I finally got the treasure. Ok so as I mentioned previously the treasure is a small marble. But in my opinion, it is too big and won't roll smoothly, and you may even have to ban a bit the lock to free it. Guess what I even broke it. I did not realize I had so much force. Not, I'm jocking. Basically what I did it that when reassembling the lock the shackle could not go as far as it should go because the marble did not go to the complete end of the hole and blocked the shackle. I had the great (finally not so great) idea to push the shackle firmly so that the marble could be pushed inside completely, but the result is that I applied too much force and of course the treasure want where it should have been but the shackle crushed it... :-(
What I did (and what you should do) is to find a smaller marble that can roll smoothly inside.

Reassembling the lock is not as difficult as solving it, but take care of the traps :)

Overall a very nice challenging lock that I am sure you will like.


You can find it on the designers' etsy shop: search " Titan's treasure puzzle lock" :)

Lighthouse

A pretty old puzzle designed by Doug Haigh and crafted by Bits&Pieces which goal is to get the diamond and free the metal ring.

The diamond can be obtained by removing the metal top above the plexi part, but this is not the intended way to do that.

This is a pretty small puzzle but with a nice sequence of steps. I like when many things are hidden in small puzzles. That means you don't need to have super big puzzles in order to have a sequencial discovery puzzle! :-)

While not extremmely difficult, it's still a nice challenge, especially for beginners. But even a seasoned puzzler will find it nice and would need it in its collection.

I am wondering if this puzzle has ever been made by a famous craftman or only by Bits&Pieces. Any clue?

Gary's escape

Yes this is a pretty old (from 1997) puzzle (which makes it highly collectible!!) designed by Gary Foshee and composed of a bottle, a metal rod and a marble to be freed.
 

Everything what you need is provided with the puzzle. You just have to take care because, being made with glass, it's fragile.

It's by no mean a difficult puzzle, pretty straight forward, but the ideas are clever. Even if you're not a seasoned puzzler, you immediately know what you have to do, how you will do it and what you expect the result to be. But still you will have pleasure to solve it.

In the solution booklet Gary says to unscrew the bottle to reassemble all the things inside. But if you want a pretty difficult challenge you can try to reassemble it without unscrewing the bottle.

What is your favourite bottle puzzle?

To conclude: this is a nice puzzle and perfect for an exchanged puzzle

Tempted to find the lotus?

This puzzle in an anodized blue aluminium and is made by the famous Wil Strijbos.

The name is well chosen (there is a hint in the name for you to know if you have fully solved, think about that...), the color is beautiful, the precision is very good, the shape is very original. I like it !!

You can see a dovetail joint on the bottom of the puzzle (but the two halves of the puzzle cannot move) and a small hole on the top of the puzzle (but you cannot distinguish almost anything from the inside because it is very dark). Nothing seems to move but things can be heard from the inside...but you cannot get any clue from this noice. 

That does not help you to know what is inside, nor how to solve the puzzle.

The first goal is to take the metal disk out. It seems impossible, but I assure you it is possible...However, not so obvious at a first sight. No force is needed of course, and no external tools are needed.

Once you have removed the washer, then you need to keep on searching and using your tools to go further in the solving process, and try to understand where the name of the puzzle comes from.

Washer removed, but the puzzle is not completely solved :-)

The puzzle does not require a lot of steps to solve, but is fun anyway.

Many people have some issues with this puzzle because you can lose things inside, it is pretty difficult to tell more about that without spoiling...But even if this is the case, you can still do things to find your tool.

I cannot put a picture with the puzzle being completely solved because it will spoil a lot and it is better if you understand by yourself the name of the puzzle :-)

If you need any help or need pictures, drop me an email. I will be happy to answer your questions.

Please take care of the following:

-> Don't pull out the black pin (and this does not help to solve the puzzle) unless you want to open completely the puzzle (which is, again, not useful to solve the puzzle completely...) or if you've lost things inside the puzzle.

-> You should wear some glasses when trying to solve the puzzle...Things can shout out violently like a bullet. It would be a pitty to become blind because of a puzzle...

To conclude: this is a very beautiful puzzle with an original shape, several steps to completely solve it (even if I would have appreciated more steps) and a good level of difficulty. The price is affordable and thus, in my opinion, is worth the money.

The only black point of this puzzle is that you may manage to solve it by chance because the puzzle does not give any clue about how it works.