(Click to Enlarge)

Mazes have intrigued and fascinated us since the dawn of civilization. In fact, the Egyptians are thought to be the first ones to come up with this incredible concept over four millennia ago (around the time of the first ancient pyramids). Mazes have come a long way since the era of the Pharaohs. They have evolved in countless different ways and have many different uses, but the approach is the same: to baffle and perplex anyone that witnesses this incredible feat of human inventiveness and ingenuity.

Many people use the terms Maze and Labyrinth interchangeably, and that's probably correct in most cases. However, personally, I prefer to use the word Maze when referring to puzzles. Why? Because a maze always has dead ends and other red herrings, commonly used in puzzles, and a labyrinth is not always used as puzzle, which implies a solving process with a beginning and an end.

Today you can see mazes everywhere in your daily life, but I want to focus particularly on the mechanical maze puzzles, the ones that you can touch and play with, the ones that make me glad I'm a puzzle enthusiast, collector, solver...and writer... There's an array of different types of mazes that can please even the most uninterested of puzzle fans. They can go from simple ball-bearing puzzles, like the popular money puzzles, for the casual puzzler, to more complex structures, like the Perplexus puzzles. Whichever type of puzzle you choose, a maze always has the ability to entertain and satisfy our needs for a good mental challenge.

With so many types of mazes available, how do you choose the best ones? It all depends on what you like most about maze puzzles. One popular type of maze, usually used as an original gift, is the money mazes. This type of puzzles have a wide range of shapes and sizes. The goal is to navigate a ball bearing through a maze and unlock the mechanism that opens the puzzle so you can retrieve what's inside. You can put inside the puzzle anything not thicker than a few sheets of paper, which can be money, gift certificates, event tickets, etc.

(Click to Enlarge)

(Click to Enlarge)

(Click to Enlarge)

(Click to Enlarge)

Double mazes are also fascinating in the sense that you have to keep in mind your progress on both of them simultaneously. There are many good examples, and Jean Claude Constantin is a craftsman that knows very well how to make a good maze puzzle, especially when two, or more, mazes are involved. His puzzles have a great complexity, and are mostly appreciated among expert puzzle enthusiasts for their unique designs and mechanisms.

(Click to Enlarge)

Final Thoughts:

Mazes have evolved so much over the centuries that it's unfathomable to even think of how they will continue to baffle us in the coming decades. Judging by what history taught us time and time again with new inventions, it's safe to say that mazes are here to stay for as long as civilization exists. It's part of we are, part of our curious minds, and it's essential to our development as an intellectual species. I sincerely hope that, after reading this, you'll be more inclined to try a maze puzzle - any maze - and see for yourself how fascinating these puzzles can really be.

Availability: Most of the puzzles above mentioned are available at PuzzleMaster.

For someone who, up until recently, only had one Cast Puzzle design in his portfolio (Cast U&U), this last year has proven to be quite a good one, as designer Kyoo Wong saw two of his latest creations been added to the Hanayama flagship series. The first one, Cast Snow, was already reviewed by me a couple of weeks ago, and this time the Cast Rotor takes the center stage.

The Cast Rotor, as the name suggests, consists of two rotor-shaped pieces that are interlocked and need to be separated. From what I saw, both pieces seem to be identical, but that's not something to be happy about, since this is Hanayama's highest level of difficulty. The design is superb, and of course, the build quality is outstanding taking into account that these puzzles are rather affordable.

The puzzle makes justice to its name, as the solution requires you to rotate both pieces countless times as you try to find a way to solve it. It will need a lot of trial and error, but it never feels frustrating to the point of becoming boring. Quite the opposite, actually. The Rotor was super fun to solve and even though it took more time than I cared to count, it still felt rewarding and satisfying.

The solution requires a minimum of 35 steps to solve, but that's when taking the optimal path, which is very difficult to achieve. I most certainly made over 100 steps to finally separate both pieces, but I didn't mind. Apparently, there are multiple ways to solve this, and that makes it even more interesting, since it has a lot of replay value.

Closing Comments:

The Cast Rotor is another magnificent puzzle by Hanayama and Hong Kong designer Kyoo Wong. It never ceases to amaze me how Hanayama can maintain such a high level of quality with its designs for decades. The Cast Rotor is definitely one of the best Cast Puzzles ever made... For its design, the elegance of its movement, and the multiple solutions combine to make a near perfect puzzle.

Availability: You can get a copy of the Cast Rotor at PuzzleMaster for $15.99 CAD. Many other Cast Puzzles are also available.