Layer 8 by Yuu Asaka

It's been a long time since I have not reviewed a puzzle by Yuu Asaka, my bad!

So, let me introduce you the "8 Layer" puzzle composed of.... 8 pieces and a tray! 

 

The tray and the pieces have some protudent parts and the challenge is to find out how to not be blocked by them. There are several ways obviously apart from putting into holes...but no spoilers here.

Initially I tried to do so, then I tried to be a bit creative (which ended up being a little bit useless) and finally I solved it. Yes, I am pretty proud considering the number of possibilities how to put each piece inside the tray.

It gave me way less trouble than Duct 23 while Duct 23 is supposed to be less challenging. Was I lucky??

 

I really like Layer 8 because it gives you a nice challenge with only 8 pieces, the colors are bright and the fit is super precise as usual. By the way, I noticed that one of the pieces have the name of the puzzle engraved on it. Maybe I missed that on the other puzzles, but I am pretty sure that it's the first time I see that.

 

If you like a challenging puzzle and you're a sucker for packing puzzles in general or Asaka puzzles, you cannot go wrong with this one!

 

It's available on Puzzle Master website.

 

 I am still waiting for a 1 piece packing by Yuu... Just saying :) 

 

JIGS4W

JIGS4W belongs to a series of packing puzzles designed by Haym Hirsh and they look like MINE's puzzles in their design and goal.

 

A quick comment about the quality: it's well crafted by NothingYet Designs company, the fit is very precise. However, I am not a fan of the screws. I would have prefers that the 2 layers be glued. It does not take more time (or slightly more) and gives a way better look. Just my opinion here.

 

Now, what about the solve? These kind of puzzles are deceptively difficult to solve because of all the possibilities to put these 2 pieces and well to be honest you will have to use the trial and errors approach method initially. Then you can try to use other approches: one logically is put a piece and see if you have space for another one. Also another method that I try to use is pretty original: see if there is like a symmetry whether considering how the pieces are arranged or considering the remaining empty spaces (yes, they can form a symmetry). 

That method does not always work, but if the design is good enough, the designer should try (just my 2 cents here) to achieve a symmetry or kind of a beauty in the slved state instead of just putting pieces here and there randomly and have a "desorganized" patterns. But well, this is up to the designer's choices after all !

 

Anyway, I struggled a lot with the puzzle but finally beat it! So yes, I am proud of myself. And this is something you should be ashamed of saying. When there is a success, it should / has to be mentioned :)

 

Honestly, I really advise the puzzle because it's a great challenge. And you can also carry it with you as it's provided with a plastic bag to avoid losing pieces. 

You can buy the puzzles on Puzzle Master Webshop as well as other puzzles in the series.

  

Packing puzzles from a new Japanese designer

 

From the Japanese designers, we all know MINE and Yuu Asaka, both know for the top quality packing puzzles.

I came accross a new designer who is designing and making plexi packing puzzle. What about the quality? What about the solve? Let's see that in details!

Acazu, the name of the designer, has made several packing puzzles and I was intrigued as nobody has ever reviewed it so far.

 

Opera

His easiest packing puzzle consisting of 5 pieces to pack. Don't be fooled by the mentioned difficulty, it's more difficult than you can expect. To be honest I randomly put pieces and....solved. Took me a bit of time but I managed to beat the puzzle! A good warm-up for his more difficult puzzles. Difficulty mentioned: 1/5. In my opinion it's: 2/5

 

Solahai

5 pieces to pack with one circle being divided into halves. Will they remain together at the end? Sorry, no spoilers!

I am a bit disappointed by the puzzle because I found a solution and a friend of mine who played with it found another solution, his being more elegant. So I guess mine was just being made possible by a slighly tolerance issue. It took me way too long to find even one solution. So honetly the mentioned difficulty of 2/5 is not really accurate. I would give a 3.5/5

 

Shallows

This puzzles has been submitted to the international puzzle party design competition but did not get any prize. I like the shape of the puzzles and obviously you will understand that the little small piece will challenge you. It took me also a bit of time to figure it out, but I guess this is somehow pretty satisfying. Difficulty mentioned: 2.5/5. Again I would give a 3.5/5

Quartet

I would have expected music shaped pieces due to the name but the pieces look like more trees / candle, but anyway this gives a nice look. By putting the pieces inside the frame you will understand normally if 2 pieces could fit together and normally also at some point will be use a different approach because no matter you put the pieces in an "usual" way, they won't fit. 

I agree with the difficulty of 3/5. It's easier than solahai in my opinion.

 

About the quality of each puzzle, nothing bad to say. They are well made. I am still a bit "puzzled" about the fit as it's pretty tight and one may want to push a bit the pieces inside the frame...Also as I said before I should not have been able to find a second solution for solahai if the puzzles was perfectly made.

 

Now, what about the solutions? (no spoilers!)

To be honest, I am disappointed by the solution. They are not very beautiful if compared to Asaka's puzzles. For Asaka's puzzle, you usually have a nice looking solution, sometime with a symetry. Here not at all, just pieces put inside a tray. Yes, that is the goal of a packing puzzle, but well...

Also the pieces are cut in weird way just to confuse you, especially for quarted and solahai. You will clearly see that you cannot fit 2 pieces without gaps. And that also gives the feeling that the design of the pieces are somewhat "random" without any intention neither to have a nice looking solution, nor to have clear "relationships" between the pieces...

 

Of course, if you're into (challenging) packing puzzles, they will suit your taste. From my side, he is not my favourite Japanese puzzle designer.

 

Creep 2 by Yuu Asaka

Yuu Aska is still expending his [name]&[number] puzzle design and after his Pond 12, now comes Creep 2, consisting as the name suggests of only 2 pieces.

It's also his first puzzle to have a restricted access to the pieces with your hands but you still have enough acces to be able to manipulate the 2 pieces.

It's one of the easiest Asaka's but in my opinion also one of the most enjoyable (maybe also because I managed to solve it on my own?...)

First of, the pieces: they are very colorful and look original. They remind me of a crab shape with 2 eyees and will meet at a certain point inside the frame.

As you can assume just looking at the puzzle, it will be a little "try and try again" until you find the trick. Initially I imagine what the trick could have been, but I was wrong and the second trick that could be employed here came to my mind and bingo! Then, the 2 pieces dance around each other to finally meet and the puzzle is solved.

I really hope that Yuu can come up with a 1 piece packing puzzle. Plenty of ideas can be implemented and I am sure that it will be brilliant when the time comes.

If you're a fan of packing puzzle and/or Yuu Asaka's packing puzzle, you definitely need this one!

You can buy it at Puzzle Master webshop

You can also buy a bundle for a reduced price

Dancing shoes

Dancing Shoes is a puzzle designed by Goh Pit Khiam, who is famous for very clever packing puzzles that usually have a nice twist.

This one is no exception to that rule :)

May Goh puzzles have been made in wood by Tom Lensch, but not sure is this puzzle has ever been made by Tom, so I guess this 3D printed version that Puzzle Master is selling is the only copy of Dancing Shoes.

The goal is to put all the pieces flat in the tray without overlaping the pieces. Having saying that (and that no force is required!), it's up to you how to arrange the pieces! But you will soon realize that you need to think outside the box. Goh designed some time ago more or less a similar puzzle and even if Dancing Shoes does not have the same appearance , I thought that the solving process should be more or less the same....and guess what: I was right !! That does not mean I solved in within a minute. It still did not take me hours.

The solving process is smooth and very enjoyable. I am sure that it may take long long time for a non experienced puzzler as it requires a trick that may be natural for a seasoned puzzler!

Whether you like Goh's puzzles and/or packing puzzles and/or puzzles with a twist, you won't be disappointed at all.

You can buy this puzzle on Puzzle Master Webshop!

Keebox packing

Keebox have created so far 3 sequencial discovery puzzle. They are all great if you wonder, but today we'll talk about their packing puzzle: keebox pack.

The material used is 3D printed parts like their previous puzzles and the goal is to pack all the pieces inside the tray.

For some reasons, it reminds me a bit of Yuu Asaka packing puzzles in the sense of that it's not like a regular packing and that there must be a trick somewhere. And also the shapes of the pieces are not super common.

 

I feel that the quality is superb and no force at all is needed for assembling the pieces to each other.

It took me a bit of time, but as surprisingly less than what I thought, I guess I was just lucky because usually it results with a fail from me with these kind of puzzles!!

For nice quality, the enjoyable challenge and the sweet price, I can only advise you to buy it!

You can find on Puzzle Master webshop!

Aquarium

Aquarium is an acrylic packing puzzle which goal is to fit all 3 octopuses into the "aquarium" (frame)
It was created by Russian designer Vladimir Krasnoukhov.

The puzzle fits perfectly the theme and the colors are well chosen. Still, note that the colors may vary and personally I prefer mine than the ones shown on Puzzle Master website (yours may be even nicer!).

 

I liked a lot the quality of the material used (like all the previous Vladimir's puzzles), the colors used. Especially the transparent color for the octopuses (yellow would have been weird) and it's very funny to try putting the tentacles all together.

As for the difficulty, it's not easy, but I would rank it as "moderate": you will be challenged without frustration and you can even let you friends.

I liked a bit less that there are no surprises, nor tricks involved. You 're expecting to do what you initially thought you would have to. So the solution could have popped in your mind before playing for hours. You can analyze, like what I did, the shapes and with just that you may come to a solution (there is only one by the way).
 

To conclude: a very nice looking puzzle, nice to share with friends. A bit on the easy side, but still far from being easy.
 

 

You can buy Aquarium puzzle directly on Puzzle Master webshop!

Hardcore packing puzzles

The title of the post means everything....and sorry but I cannot draw a complete conclusion as I have not solved yet any of these 2 puzzles....

I like packing puzzles, especially the beautiful ones and the ones with an elegant solution. That does not mean I am good at solving them...!!

I wanted to introduce 2 packing puzzles designed an made by Abhishek Ruikar. The first one would perfectly suit the X-mas period as it's called "snowflakes" with the goal of putting the 6 flakes inside the tray. 

By looking at the shape of the flakes, you will immediately understand where the difficulty is... :)

And for the mathematical guys around here, you may even compute all the possible combinations, there are thousands!

I liked a lot to fiddle with this puzzle. Maybe I will manage to solve it one day....

Second puzzles I played with from the same designer is called Clouds with the goal of packing the 9 clouds in the sky tray. Same story: I failed at solving it....so far. Persistance is key when trying these kind of puzzles though!

Here you will have fewer constraints than with the flakes as you will have to consider the cloud shapes on their entirety while you needed to take into account the protuded parts of each flakes for snowflake puzzle. Don't get me wrong, it does not mean that it's easy.

I tend to think that cloud is the easier of these 2. Both are super challenging (and well made!) and you will have plenty of fun for the money. Great ROI !

Some recent Yuu Asaka's

Yes I know I reviewed before some packing puzzles in the same spirit as the Yuu Asaka's tricky packing puzzles, but this time I will speak about 2 pretty recent ones Green 13 and Record 6

So as a warm-up: record 6 !

Record 6 is a nice puzzles composed of circles. Personally I like that the tray has not the same shape as the previous puzzles. It's always nice to see some differences in the tray and I like that one. I bet that you understand a bit how you will have to proceed with this puzzle. Despite being the easiest Yuu's and despite it's mostly trials and errors, I enjoyed it a lot.

It does not have to be hard to be enjoyed and that gave me a nice puzzling journey. Each plexi circle has some small holes of protudent pieces that need to fit inside other holes. Basically when I mean "trials and errors", it's because you will try one configuration, flip the piece, and do so again and again for each piece. At you should solve it soon this way. Jigsaw 16 and Bird 11, his other "trial and error" puzzles were harder but less enjoyable from my point of view.

As usually the quality is wonderful and the fit is perfect. This is a puzzle that you can easily share with a friend while avoiding frustration (due to the difficulty).

Green 13 is probably, on the opposite, one (if not the most) of his most difficult puzzles. Luckily for you there is no trickery with the pieces: you need to pack the green pieces inside the tray and the white rounded pices inside the holes formed by the shape of the pieces. I was sure there was something tricky there and the the white pieces must be put in some "unusual" place, but not at all. 

But clearly it maybe make the solve easier, but definitely not easy at all, and will require many hours of thinking.

I enjoyed it but I prefer something a bit less challenging though :)

Now, when will Yuu be making puzzles with triangle shapes??

You can buy Record 6 on Puzzle Master wbeshop, same thing for Green 13 !!

Some cheaper Yuu Asaka

Cheaper does not mean less good. More expensive does not mean better. Don't be fooled by marketing things!

Still let me introduce you some cheaper puzzles made by Hanayama and designed by Yuu Asaka, you know the famous devilish packing puzzle designer !!

Jigsaw 19

This is the same copy as the Yuu Asaka version. Same pieces, same goal, same solution.

Maybe there is a very slight difference: the pieces are somewhat kind of rounded on some edges making the assembly more confusing than the Yuu's puzzles.

Jigwsaw 29

 

Same comment as Jigsaw 19

 

Jigsaw 28

Compared to the 2 previous puzzles, this one, as far as I know, has not (yet?) been produced by Yuu and thus making it a unique design by Hanayama.

This is the trickiest of these 3 because of the shape of the pieces. I hope and bet that you have an idea of how the pieces will connect together right....many possibilities!! This puzzle is no joke!

For sure, I advise you to buy it. For the price you will get plenty hours of thinking. No doubt about that.

The quality is perfect and the previous 2, the fit is very precise. Nothing bad to say!

WARNING: these puzzles come assembled. If you don't want to spoil the fun, open them blindfolded or ask someone to open them and scramble the pieces.

MisFit by Bozo - finally solved !!

I made a quick post about the new Bozo puzzle in September called MisFit. The quality is still top level and the tray has improved a lot, especially the cover lid.

I really like the fact that you have an empty space for the puzzle to get an initial configuration that does not spoil you the solution.

Ok so now, what can I say in this new post? Well....just that I finally solved the puzzle!!!

Of course I played with it a bit when I first made my previous post. But honestly you cannot really count on the previous attempts to remember and make significant progress. In fact, many pieces can be placed at many spaces, making it confusing and almost impossible to remember what you tried to do some days ago while playing with the puzzle.

So I sit down and played with it. It must have taken me around one hours to solve and at the end, still some pieces to move...and....SOLVED !

I would say this is a challenging one, more difficult than his broken heart puzzle.

solved. Picture over lighted to not spoil!

 

 

A must-have in your collection if you like challenging, tricky, well-made, plexi puzzles. 

I can only recommend to buy all of his creations, because they all have that little something extra special that makes his designs so awsome :)

You can buy them at Bozo's website!

And if you want to enjoy a 10% reduction, you can use my coupon code: RPW7ZMDYF6XZ

The reduction is applied an can be seen after you click on "checkout" button, then on the page you can apply the coupon code.

If you don't like the colors, Bozo offers you to choose other colors (like all white, all black, etc.), but I feel the colors of mine are the best!