Rectangular Jam

An unusual puzzle design by the well known Iwahiro, which consists of sliding pieces flat to free the green piece.

The movements used are not only linear movements and can include rotations, which makes the puzzle pretty difficult.

Even if you do not need a lot of steps to solve the puzzle, as the pieces are precisely cut, you may think that it's impossible. But when you go slow and do not use any force, you notice that you can make some moves which appeared as impossible at the beginning.

As you understand, you're not allowed to lift some pieces and everything has to remain flat!

There were additional challenges, but if you solve this one and understand the principle, then the other challenges are easy.

I like a lot the design of this puzzle. Which ones from the Jam series do you prefer?

Cast nutcase

Cast Nutcase belongs to the cast series of Hanayama's puzzles and is ranked as 6/6.

The puzzle is a trick bolt with a nut inside. It is composed of 2 big nuts with the words "nut" and "case" written on each. That's where the name of the puzzle comes from.

The first goal is to open the bolt to take the nut out of it.

Another challenge is to change the name of the puzzle to make it become "case nut" with the word "case" written on the nut above the other nut.

Challenge #2

Again, I don't really understand why it is ranked so high because the puzzle is not difficult to solve...It can take some time but not a lot!

One "big" problem with this puzzle is that you should roll along the nut on the thread quite carefuly because sometimes it jams a bit. This mainly happens when you're rolling the nuts and at the same time pulling the puzzle from each side to open the bolt (I am not really spoiling because you notice what you have do to quickly!)

Don't force, take your time, make small moves and everything will be ok :-)

Did you know about challenge #2 or you thought the only challenge was to open the puzzle?

You can buy Cast Nucase on Puzzle Master Webshop and find there the solution as well!

(Im)possible cards

I like impossible objects, like these cards. The funny thing is we call them "impossible" but the thing is they have been made, so it was possible to make them. And probably the impossible thing is to make them back to their initial state (even if I don't think you would try that!) without damaging them.

I love curves. The result is impressive! Don't you think so?

So it would be better to call them "impossible looking items": it seems impossible that they have been made because either you cannot fill in some shapes in a bottle or, like with these cards, it seems that it's not really possible to obtain these cuts without glue.

Symmetrical and precise: so nice !!!

So I tell you right now: no glue, no scotch tape have been used by the designer! And it's wonderfully made! It's crazy: how can he make such natural curves and such natural shapes??? "The habit" he told me :-)
But even with a pair of scissors I have difficulties to cut a round in a thin sheet of paper...cutting cards is much more complicated.

The designer does not only make these beautiful impossible card but also impossible bottles and impossible folded bills. He makes a very very good job!!


Ralf has also a website where you can contact him if you would like to purchase some impossible cards or bottles.
Do not hesitate to drop him an email, he is a nice guy!

Do you prefer impossible cards or impossible bottles? Or perhaps both at the same time: an impossible card in an impossible bottle :-)

No, I will not try to unfold them :-)

Danlock A

What a nice trick lock made by Dan Feldman!
Especially when you know that it was made using an existing lock, which is far more impressive than creating a puzzle from scratch, because you have to modify with a lot of precision in such a way that the puzzle can still be opened, but with more moves!

The goal of this puzzle is to open the lock, not difficult to guess :-)

The original thing with this puzzle is that the lock is provided with a real key that is blocked and with another key broken (2 pieces).

How to use this broken key, you may wonder? Well just try things and don't be afraid: everything has been well thought. So you cannot loose anything nor damage the puzzle trying things. Not force however and not bangging!

To open the lock you cannot use the complete key, so you have to use your broken key!
To reassemble the puzzle you will not just do the same steps in another order, you will have to do other things.
Thus, the puzzle is not only opening it but also closing it, and I am sure you will have a lot of fun with it.

To conclude: a very nice puzzle, not difficult but with many tricks!

Do you prefer the A model or the B model?
If you had to choose 3 trick locks (from any designers) to bring on an island, what would they be? ;-)

Solution: not HERE (joke!)

Crazy magnets

Magnet mania (the real name of this puzzle) was designed by Chris Morgan and is composed of a tray with 9 holes in which you have to put the 9 balls, of course!

Easy you think? Not at all, this is much trickier than what you may have thought !!
Because when you try to put a ball, which is actually a very powerful magnet (take care of your fingers!) in a hole and then put another ball, they fastly stick with each other...which may pinch your fingers but also mix the different kind of balls. They are not all the same even if they look like the same...

You will become crazy that each attemps fail or if you succeed to put some balls, then the next attempt ruins what you have done before...

Actually there is a trick that I did not discover not use to solve this puzzle. But if you discover it, then it will make your solving process easier (does not mean "easy" remember^^). You need patience and a little bit of dexterity: do not shake nor make any moves when trying to put a ball, otherwise the other balls could not like that :-)

The good thing when you solve this puzzle is that the box prevent you (once closed) the balls from leaving their holes. Thus you can keep the puzzle is the solved position, which is very nice I feel.

To conclude: a nicely thought puzzle which will puzzle and frustrate you for hours!

The great (great) escape

This puzzle was designed by Simon Nightingale and was made from corian (now I know what is this kind of material). Many different versions exist: one was the exchanged puzzle in 2009 and another one won honourable mention at the Design competition in 2009.

The puzzle feels pretty heavy in your hands and the quality os perfect. Moreover you can solve it again and again. But if you want to be faster, you can put only 1 ball instead of all the 4.

The goal is (seem to be) easy: you need to put the 4 small balls in the holes of the puzzles and them try to get them out of the puzzle.

When you look at the picture above, you may think that it's easy, but perhaps you don't know how tricky Simon is :-)
It's just that here you cannot see what is inside and prevent you from solving this puzzle and it's dark inside. Everything is so well hidden that the puzzle does not give you any clue.

You should play with it on a carpet (for example) but not outside of the street. Because you may manage to free one ball by chance, and it would be a pitty to lose it.

To conclude, a good puzzle to play with and to solve again and again !!

Ice(solute) difficult puzzle

Sometimes you want to try things, you want to experiment some kind of puzzles...
Metal puzzles, wooden puzzle, etc. that's common. Ruber puzzles a bit less. But ice puzzles...never seen any in any blog. So I thought I needed to try that first!

So let's begin with the pieces: there are 9 pieces composed of 4 cubes.

With the pieces, it's obvious that you will not be able to build a cube, but a rectangle, and mostly on only 2 levels:

Sorry for the quality of the picture, but it's not easy at all to take a picture of an ice puzzle ;-)

So as you can assume, there are a lot of issues with this puzzle, which makes the solving process all the more challenging:

• The pieces are not regular (because you won't likely put exactly the same quantity of water for each pieces...), thus the puzzle is not flat, and the pieces don't fit well with each other. 
•  You have a natural timer: the pace of the melting of the ice pieces and believe me they melt fast when you manipulate them.
• The ice pieces slip a lot on the plate and the puzzle falls a lot, but you need to hurry!
• And finally your fingers are frozen :-)

That was a good experience/experiment and a new concept I feel, not usual. I like it, but perhaps if you have some plastic cubes it's better because you can try many combinations before.

I wonder how many solutions there are for this puzzle...Any idea?

Will you try also to play with ice puzzles?

But anyway, if you don't try to solve this puzzle you can still use the ice for some cocktails: puzzler's cocktails of course ! :-)

When it's hot, it's fire puzzle!

This puzzle is the first of the series of "element" puzzles (fire, water, earth, air) designed by Steve Miller, who drives also an explosives company.

This puzzle comes with a beautiful box and some clues that need to be solved first.
Does it remind you something? the box...the clues....

Opened !!! The box, I mean... :-)

It should be, either you have the Isis puzzles or have read my review about them.

The clues are very hard. I must admit that it annoyed me a lot, I did not have fun with them. You can spend hours of frustration on solving the clues. But this can be also seen as a puzzle, even if I prefer solving mechanical puzzles rather than cryptic puzzles...

I regret that this principle of clues is a mere copy of the Isis puzzles, that is not really new nor original.
Perhaps it can be explained (in part) because the designer of this puzzle designed also some puzzles for SonicGame company (the Isis puzzles), thus he took the same ideas.

Anyway, the design of the puzzles is very good and the quality superb!
It is heavy, so take care!
The thing that I like less is the plastic feet of the puzzle that can slip away from the base because they are just glued...

Some people solved it without the clues, some needed the clues. I think the clues are useful, but you have to interpret them, and this is not easy. You need to think twice, three times or more about the meaning of each word.

The puzzle does not give much clue, so you rotate the cone and...you're stucked...Pretty strange...
It seems that there is kind of maze inside...

After understanding a bit more the clues, then you know how to navigate and you can repeatedly solve the puzzle and have more fun than frustration :-)

Remember: there are more than just opening the puzzle...I cannot tell too much because it would spoil you the surprise.

To conclude, this is a good puzzle, especially if you're a metal lover. The price is not cheap but you will have hours of puzzling!
If enough puzzles are sold, the next puzzle in the pyro puzzles series will be produced.
I really hope Steve will do his best to release the next puzzle(s)!

HERE you can buy yours. Enjoy!

Ready to read book puzzles???

You like puzzles? Yes, I am sure about that!!
You like books also?? Well, then you're ready for puzzling books !!! :-)

These books are laser-cutted by Péter Gal and are based on many kind of puzzles, mostly packing puzzles (goal is to fit all the pieces in a tray) which are "pretty" difficult, you're warned!
Many of them are based on ideas from S.Coffin for example, so known designers and thus nice puzzles!

In each puzzle you find the pieces on the right side and on the left side there is a sheet of paper (in one side: the goal, in the other: the solution)

I fond these puzzles really nice and enjoyable and also practical: you can easily store them and when aligned the shade of colors is nice :-)

As the pieces are laser-cuted, the fit is precise and excellent, thus it can be tricky to pack some pieces...

I put below some nice book puzzles:

This one is very very difficult...

For some puzzles you are given pieces and 2 different (or more) shapes to fill in with these pieces. The shapes have to be filled in completely, so no big space between pieces!
These kind of puzzles are very handsome:

Some puzzles have the same pieces but not the same tray to be filled in, thus you need to orientate the pieces in different way.
That's really funny to see that for the same number of pieces you can fill a smaller tray...You will have to think twice before putting the pieces ;-)

Do you have some? If so, which are your favourite ones?

If you need to contact Peter, let me know unless perhaps he puts his email address in the comments, who knows. 

In any case if you cant to see more of his puzzles, you can have a look HERE.

Enjoy, but read also real book :-)

Bottle coke #4

This bottle puzzle is another puzzle from the Dutch designer Wil Strijbos. This one is composed of a lock attached to a metal chain. Keys are provided but it's difficult to use them as you can see from the pictures below. The funny thing is that this puzzle looks like an impossible bottle, but I assure you that it is solvable..with tears, blood and sweat of course...

You need to find out how to take the lock out of the bottle and the small metal piece above the lock.

Again, it's hard...

Even if external tool are officialy not useful, they are more than welcome because the official solution is very very fetched and you will likely not use it (I did not) either because you did "wrong" things or because it would have never happened in your mind to use it.

But you and me don't know what's happening in the mind of puzzle designers when they're designing their puzzles :-)

So I used an external tool to open it, it is much easier. But it seems that you can open it just using all what is provided to you. So keep everything that comes with the bottle when it arrives if you want to use the official solution...

For this puzzle you will need quite an amount of dexterity and even more when you will reassemble the puzzle (for this, don't be a fool, come on, use external tools^^!!).

Finally solved!!!

An unusual bottle puzzle that will fit well in your collection I think.

But this is not my favourite bottle puzzle and I was a bit disappointed by the "official" solution that I don't really like!

And you, what do you think about it? Leave your comments :-)

Coin puzzles

This review is about 2 coins puzzles designed by Mineyuki Uyematsu with original shape and pretty strange name. The goal of both puzzles is to free the chinese coin.
The material used are layers of plastic screwed together by 3 screws. It seems that we can unscrew the screws, I did not, but if anyone did, please let me know.

The first one is called Hard-Boiled Coin

The color is the puzzle can remind you the original color of an egg, as well as the shape of the puzzle.

Nothing has moved and the coin is out? Come on, I have hidden the trick lol

The second puzzle is called Hole Vacancy Coin and has a different shape and different colors

The coin is not blocked the same way in both puzzles even if the mechanism is pretty much the same kind. You immediately know what you have to do but the trick is so well hidden that you may have some difficulties to solve the puzzles. At least I had.

Mineyuki designed other same kind of puzzles, but they seem to be very rare.
I like these puzzles, they are nice and I like the way they are solved. However, the solving process is somewhat similar...and for the Hole Vacancy Coin, when I "reassemble" the puzzle it jams a little bit...
Cu-Japan sold some of them. Perhaps you should ask them if they still have some on stock.

Ladybird

Here is one of the most beautiful puzzles (or the most beautiful I think) from Robrecht Louage, a Belgium puzzle designer. The name of the puzzle fits perfectly with the design, no doubt about that. The puzzle is very nice and some part of the body of the insect (here, the antennas) are useful to solve the puzzle. Robrecht has also designed a same kind of puzzle called Larva which is, in a way, the little brother of this puzzle :)

Like usually with Robrecht's puzzles, the goal is to free the euro coin. And Robrecht's puzzles are the only ones with which you earn money when you solve them! (ok, I know, you will say that you have to spend some money before to get it...^^ but still)

To do that, you need to pull and push the antennas while rotating the 2 disks that are under the acrylic.
When you look at the puzzle, you may think that you are very close to the solution because the euro coin is very close to the hole. Don't be fooled by that. You will have to make a long way before having solved the puzzle!
I find this puzzle very good to play with. It is very well thought.
However, I would have expected to be a little bit more difficult (even if there is a twist at some point of your road) because it's pretty straight forward. But don't worry, that does not provide you from having fun with this ladybird :)

Look the picture below, this is the "real" starting point: the line with the word "START" has to be aligned with the small line on the red part (close to the screw) of the puzzle.

Look carefully

I did not pay attention to that at the beginning and I thought that the starting point was when the metal dots were on the very left of the maze. But this is not correct! And when you align both lines (like above), the metal dots are not on the extreme left of the maze, this is normal.
I wonder how a solution of this puzzle could be written...It may be too difficult, and this may be why there is no solution with this puzzle. But you won't need it, anyway ;-)

To conclude, if you like the other Robrecht's puzzles, you won't be disapointed by the quality and the puzzling aspect. I really like it and I am sure you will like it too.
You can buy it by contacting Robrecht. If you want his email, don't hesitate to drop me an email.

Solution: HERE !!!

Gopher Holes

Time to review a wooden puzzle, so here we are with the Gopher Holes, made in Thailand.

It is a packing puzzle and as usually with packing puzzles, the goal is to put all the pieces inside the tray, so that it's flat.
You are provided with 6 pieces and a grid which has to be on the top and remain flat. Each piece has holes or wooden marbles and their 2 sides are not the same.

I think this is a pretty difficult puzzle because there are many possibilities in which way you can put the pieces. But it's very enjoyable and the quality is very good!!
Moreover, if you're lost or give up (I believe you won't), they provide the solutions in their website.

They sell many other puzzles, but mainly in wood.

HERE you can find the puzzle I have reviewed and there are other interesting things to buy for reasonable prices!!

Zobrist cube(s)

Al Zobrist launched his project on kickstarter, the famous crowdfunding website.
And that was a success!

He managed to get the funds to start the production of this game which you will likely be addicted!!

 

The puzzle is shipped in a nice box that closes with some magnets. After opening the box, you see:

..... 5 colorful cubes and a booklet.

The booklet is a code booklet in which thousands of codes are written: the plastic pieces needed are mentioned to create a 3*3 or a 4*4 cube. All the pieces are designed by a letter written on each. So it's easy to find (however a bit long, due to the large amount of pieces) the pieces you need to use.

There is also a small piece of paper included that says for each color the pieces that are from such or such color.

The level of difficulty is written, so you immediately know that you are to try a difficult cube or an easy one: the more possibilities you have for a challenge, the easier it will be.

And believe me, even for the easiest cubes, it's not so obvious because you can start in a wrong way...

Ok now, you can wonder: I already have a Soma cube and some cubes, so why should I buy this puzzle?

Well, first, it's not expensive and the quality is good! Then you will spend hours and hours, trying all the codes !!! So I like this game. That's not a "one-shot" game that you will store after having played for few minutes and gave up.

You can even try to write some solutions (they are not included, otherwise it would be a really really heavy booklet....) and also play with a friend: you chose a challenge for him and he chooses a challenge for you, and see who's the first to complete one's cube ;-)

You can also pick up some pieces and try to see if there are any solutions. Perhaps you will come to an impossible cube, who knows?...

Finally the pieces are sturdy and colorful, that's not a "cheap-looking" puzzle for sure!!

I wonder if there is a cube that has only one solution...

HERE you can buy yours. Enjoy :-)

Slide a SLIDA

This is a new puzzle in the market called Slida, designed by Gianni Lavermicocca, an Australian guy.
The puzzle is made out of plastic and the goal is, you can imagine, taking it apart and then reassemble it.

Taking it apart is easy and straight-forward because you just follow the order the pieces need to be moved. Reassemble the puzzle is much more difficult. If you have the Slida with different color panels, then you should take pictures when you solve the puzzle, to remember how to put the pieces together.
You can buy a Slida with a single color: this is less beautiful in my opinion, but much more difficult.

Note that the first piece is, in a way, locked in place (small hole on the right of the below picture) so you need to apply a little bit of force, so take care when it slides out, it could fly like a rocket :-)

The puzzle is well made and the outside view of it is pretty handsome, well it has an unusual look, no?

The company which produced the Slida puzzle participate in charity: for each Slida they sell to you, one is given to children in developing countries.

To conclude, 2 advantages to buy a Slida puzzle: you can solve a new kind of puzzles and you make a good deed. And there are not too expensive, so why not one for you, one for your friend and one for your cat? :-)

HERE you can buy them, enjoy !

Cast spiral

This puzzle belongs to the cast series of Hanayama's puzzles and is ranked as 5/6.

This puzzle isquite original because there are many pieces, not 2, not 3 but 5! And the pieces look all identical...

 

The goal is the separate the different pieces, but when you try to take off one piece, it is blocked. When you try with another piece, it is blocked again by the other pieces. And this is the same thing for all pieces! The puzzle is pleasant to handle due to its shape and is very strong. You cannot damage it easily, luckily.

I can say the same thing as for cast news about the difficulty: here we are supposed to have a difficult puzzle, this is the case. But again, when you know how to solve it, it takes less than 10 seconds. So that's true that the solution is not easy to find. But once you know it, the puzzle is easy to be repeatedly solved.

So many pieces...

 

Cast spiral is quite tricky and I don't think any of the other Hanayama's cast puzzles have the same mechanism.

To conclude, this puzzle is a must-have in your puzzle collection.

Don't cheat, don't look at the solution!

Chopsticks to be used

This is a stickman puzzle hand-made with wonderful woods. The goal is to get the 2 chopsticks out of the wooden box without any force and without hitting the puzzle.

The first impression you have when looking at the puzzle is the quality: this is very well made and everything is well hiden, so good job Rob !!

The chopsticks cannot go to the washing machine but can be used to eat rice since tung oil was appplied to them, to make them usable. However, I wouldn't use them to eat for fear of damaging them.

The box is smooth to touch and not sharp at all. Thus, you can imagine that it took time to craft.

This puzzle (even if not considered as a "real" puzzle by the designer) is rather simple, even for people that are not familiar with puzzles, because there are not a lot of steps to solve it. As for me, I consider it as a puzzle because you have to do things to get the chopsticks.

Now, let's eat sushis! I am jocking, I won't try that!!

What really count here is the mechanism. It is very cool, easy to understand, but it is funny the way the chopsticks go out of their box. At a meal, for example, it can amaze your family and friends.