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 ! :)

Nice little puzzles by Doug Engel

Doug Engel is a prolific puzzle designer. He has an etsy shop where he sells his designs made out of 3D printers. Note that he made one metal puzzle and this should be a limited edition, so grab one while you can :)

Atome 

The easiest in the series. It's looking great and display well. Not super difficult. A nice warm-up. Don't forget that usually disassembling a puzzle is easier than reassembling it. So keep track of what you do.... :)

 

Saturn puzzle

No need to explain the name I guess :)

The goal is to seperate the pieces. A nice fidget toy as well as a puzzle. Not super difficult but rewarding. In my opinion, this would make a nice level 1 or 2 hanayama puzzle. Hope the designer thought about asking Hanayama to produce it !

Now more challenging: Six Circles

Way easier to disassemble than reassemling as reassembling ca be pretty much confusing with all those circles. Note that the solution is displayed for this puzzle on the product page, so don't be tempted to look at it !

Finally: the Borromean Cage

Tricky as there are many moving parts. The goal is to free the 4 star constellation inside.

Note that the solution is displayed for this puzzle on the product page, so don't be tempted to look at it !

Many of these puzzles were presented at past IPP. Even if they did not get a prize, they are preatty unique in their respective type and for the  soft price tag, I can only recommend to have a go !

Very suitable for beginners as well as for seasoned puzzlers.

If the links on my post don't work well, you can search on etsy: Puzzleatomik

And normally you should find easily the shop.... plenty of puzzles to buy !!!

Lattice puzzle

Lattice puzzle is a puzzle designed by a former puzzle blogger Jerry Loo.

It consists of 8 plates to assembled into a 3D geometrical shape. It's not a burr but a "take-apart" puzzle.

Disassembling the puzzle is not super difficult, but still requires a bit of thinking. Basically you won't just slide the plates....I won't tell more, but you will have to try other kind of moves.... :)

So I played with the puzzle, tried several moves and at some point I managed to "free" one plate", then 2 more....and puzzle solved!

Solving the puzzle is challenging. Reassembling the puzzle is way too difficult (for me), so I cheated and saw a video on the internet to manage putting it back.

The puzzle looks nice and if you're ready for a big challenge, then go for it and buy it.

It's available on Puzzle Master webshop.

There are other puzzle (Dirty Dozen) in the same series that Puzzle Master produced. I will review another one a bit latter.

TOAR Designs Coordinate Burr Puzzle

A new puzzle maker and a new metal puzzle? YES and YES !!!

The TOAR Designs Coordinate Burr Puzzle is a co-motion metal puzzle designed and made by Neal Swinney. To be a bit more accurate, the name of the designer is not known but Neal modified the outter shape, manufactured the puzzle design and the finish of it.
The puzzle consists of 6 anodized metal pieces that need to be assembled together. The puzzle is not big and can be taken with you on a travel trip. Usually hand-made puzzles are not big because of the manufacturing costs that are usually pretty high. But who cares about the size as long as the puzzle looks nice and has a beautiful finish, which is the case with this puzzle!

The assembled structure is solid, but you should not have too many difficulties to takes the pieces apart. When you disassemble the puzzle you should get something like that:

Yes, they're all identical! So now how to proceed? Wel l it's not that obvious because the structure is not so stable until you put the last piece. So it's a bit of dexterity but definitely you need to think before :)

I tried something that usually works with co-motion puzzle (I'm not telling you to avoid spoiling) but it did not work....pitty because it was not a bad idea :-(
But at some point I thought there was another way to do so and it proved I was right. The method to solve it is less complicated than the method I thought I found, but nevertheless it's a method that works and...it is the solution!

The puzzle is shipped assembled but if you want to change the color configuration then you can because all the pieces are the same. So you can experiment which look you prefer the most.

Note that these puzzles are in limited edition....when they are sold out....they are sold out for good...!!

Jewel Thief solved !!

OK, I finally solved the beast!!

This puzzle is a take-apart puzzle and has several steps.

First you need to crack the code of the lock using the brass knob which produces clicking sounds and the symbols on the back of the puzzle.
This step was hard and I even had ideas that were trickier than the solution, but when you don't make progress you try to imagine what you can :)

You need to play with the puzzle in a quiet room, analyzing the clicks, their number and other things. Trust me, this will keep you busy for some time!
And as the lock doesn't pop when it's opened, then you need to pull up the shackle each time you think that you've found the right code.

You think you've solved the hardest step of the puzzle? Hummm, I thought so, but hell is coming!!!

Now you've unlocked the lock and taken out the rod, the cage of the thief can be rotated, from time to time it blocks, from other time it seems it can be pushed a bit.....But I am sure you won't understand the feature until you've solved that part. Not only because it's tricky, but also because many things are involved in this step locking the puzzle in many ways.

Right, part solved? Thief release? Now find her jewel. I looked everywhere and I could not find it....Damn!! I even thought I lost it on the floor when solving the puzzle ;-(

Remember: solve this puzzle on a flat surface. Things can fall...roll...

But actually there is no way the jewel can be lost, it's hidden somewhere and you will need to perform some more steps to find it.

After finding it, Jon made you a surprise! I cannot tell, but there is more to discover and you will really like it I am sure ;-)

A lot of work has been put into creating the puzzle, many steps and many parts for each steps.

Strongly advised for metal puzzle collectors and for people who like to be puzzled for long time!

Resseting the puzzle for the next victim is very easy, good news, no? :)


Not sure if they are sold out now (as it's in limited edition), but if not, you'd better be quick if you want one.
You can find Jon's contact on my previous post of the tumbler puzzles.

Double Tumbler

After the tumbler puzzle designed and made by Jon Keegan that I reviewed few days ago, here comes its big brother: the Double Tumbler !

Some may wonder if it looks (and can be solved) same as the tumbler and may hesitate to buy it or not.
I always feel frustrated when I buy puzzles that are the same but with minor changes. So let me explain why it's pretty different from the tumbler and why you should get both.

As a first sight, it's a cylinder, but apart from the anodization color, you will notice that you have 3 moving parts, compared to 2 for the tumbler. Which means, this should be more challenging than the (already challenging) tumbler puzzle! ;)

You still get the holes on the core of the puzzle, which look nice and can be of a help to solve the puzzle. Well, of course it does not show everything!!

As for the tumbler you will hear some ball bearing, you may assume what you need to do and you may be right. But then how to do that?
Sometimes, the top cap can be rotated, sometimes it's blocked and sometimes you can pull the cap a bit....bu the puzzle is still locked.

As for the internals, when you open it you will notice several changes from the tumbler and you will see how Jon has a twisted mind implementing some traps here and there. And you should definitely understand such or such situation that happened when you were trying to solve the puzzle :-)
I cannot tell more without spoiling, but in my mind both tumbler are worth the case to be bought together. And you should start with the tumbler, then experience the double tumbler.

Same good point as for the tumbler: no spring involved, hence no issue with damaging the top/bottom of the cylinder with it.

Tumbler puzzle

You may remember that Jon Keegan released jewel thief, tumbler and double tumbler.

So far, I have only solved completely the tumbler puzzle, so here are my thoughts about it.

The first thing to mention is the great quality and the nice anodized green color. The anodization is not only nice but also protects and makes the puzzle more resistant. So it has a useful function as well!

Jon got the idea from the famous first cylinder puzzle designed and made by Wil Strijbos. Despite some common features there are also some nice differences.

So let's go about the differences!

It's bigger than the first cylinder and has some holes. If I am right, Jon made these holes to help the solver because many people considered the puzzle to be too hard. I really like the idea, but despite it shows a little bit from the inside, it did not help (or maybe I did not think enough?...) that much to solve the puzzle.

The puzzle has 2 moving part and they need to be rotated in some ways...cannot talk more about that, though...But the thing is that there is no spring (compared to the first cylinder), so the puzzle will not pop when opened. I really like the pop sound, but the spring also damaged the bottom of the puzzle. Here, no issue about damaging and the moves are very smooth.

The puzzle is more complicated than the Strijbos' one and when you make a progress you will know what to do, but easier said than done! ;-)

At some point the puzzle opened a bit and as you may want to do (or may will) I closed it...you know sometimes you need to close and find different ways to make more progress. Luckily I managed to open it again a bit and at some point it opened.
Not sure if it's made on purpose (I am pretty sure it is, but then I will now try to figure out how it was possible) that the puzzle could open a bit, before completely be opened after some more moves.

Once opened, you can see the internals and try to find a way to solve it faster for the next attempts.

Now, I will try to solve its big brother (double tumbler) which should be even more difficult!

You can contact Jon to check if he has some left. Definitely a must-have!

Jewel thief - update

Lock cracked!!
It was epic, pretty hard. Maybe I should have tried the 10000 combinations hahaha

Now I need to release the poor little thief still jailed. What? It's seems he changed position....was I so long?... ;)

I assume the code can be changed, but what's the point?
After all it's not about guessing the code, it's about finding a logical way to manage to find it using all the informatio provided to you. Got it?

1st step was hard...it seems second step is not easy as well, challenging puzzle.

I think not a lot of them are available now, so I strongly advise you to hurry if you want it!