Which company/craftsman makes the most beautiful puzzles?

...The eternal question...

So far, I've been focusing on companies that make wooden and metal puzzles - my favorite - but there are other companies out there that make beautiful puzzles with other materials, for example, Plastic - such a simple and common material, used in pretty much everything you see around you, and that includes puzzles, Twisty Puzzles, to be more specific.

(Click to Enlarge) - Meffert's Puzzles in my Collection

The reason why Meffert's puzzles are so popular is mostly due to his close relationship with the community's top designers and how well they all work together. He not only invents and makes his puzzles, but he also mass-produces other designer's puzzles. In turn, these top designers have themselves a close relationship with all the puzzle community, they participate in the forums, they take and give advice on puzzle making and designing, they get feedback and, ultimately, they inspire a new breed of designers that, in the long run, will be the future of the Twisty Puzzle industry. In short, there's isn't any other company with a practical and efficient business model as successful as Meffert's.

As mentioned above, Meffert's first puzzle was the Pyraminx, which is also his most popular puzzle, having sold millions of copies - only the original Rubik's Cube has sold more. Since then, Meffert's has produced more than a hundred different Twisty Puzzles - many of which essential to any starting collection - some variations, and other types of puzzles as well.

One of Meffert's most recognizable features in his puzzles is the fluorescent sticker colors. Its six-faced puzzles have a color scheme of green, blue, pale orange, bright orange, yellow and pink. Such bright colors make Meffert's puzzles stand out among other more bland-colored puzzles. It's like your Meffert's puzzles are the stars of your collection.

Fluorescent colors are nice, but Meffert's puzzles would be too generic if they'd make all their puzzles look the same. Variety is the key word for the success of Meffert's - A lot of variety. Another popular material used in Meffert's puzzles is tiles. These colorful plastic tiles are glued on the surface of the puzzles and are a nice alternative to the stickers, since they can't be peeled off. Not that their stickers peel off that easily, though.

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Contributing for its ever more popular brand, Meffert's created in 2010 the Jade Club - An exclusive membership that includes two very special puzzles, not available anywhere else, and discounts on recently released puzzles. These two puzzles are called Jade Pyraminx and Jade Cube, and they look absolutely gorgeous.

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Some of Meffert's puzzles acquire over time some rarity and can even reach prices in the hundreds of dollars in auction. This is sometimes due to the limited production numbers, and when they're all gone you can't get them the regular way, hence the crazy high prices. It can also be a smart investment. If you buy several copies at the time they're released and let them gain rarity over time, you can get a nice profit.

Final Thoughts:

With the current business model Meffert's has, it will be a long while before we see the number of new puzzles dwindling. Always at the forefront of new ideas and concepts, at the same time keeping close to the people that know a thing or two about Twisty Puzzles, Meffert's has a bright future ahead, and I'll be sure to keep an eye out for what's to come.

Availability: You can find dozens of Meffert's puzzles at PuzzleMaster.

Links:

Meffert's Official Website

Ever since the original Rubik's Cube there have been so many variants that it would be a daunting task listing them all. From sticker variations to shape modifications, the possibilities are almost endless, and choosing the right one for you might be a rather difficult task. So, why not do it like me? Don't choose, collect all of them, or the most you can.

The cube you see above is called the Feliks Pillow. It's a slight shape modification of a regular cube, and the pillow shape is great to see five colors simultaneously. The internal mechanism is a little different from a standard 3x3x3 cube, with a spherical center core, and supposedly lets you do shortcuts, or corner-cutting, without popping. I'm not the best person to test this claim, since I'm not a speedcuber, but I trust its maker, Meffert's, as it can produce high quality puzzles.

The design of the Feliks Pillow is a tribute to record holder Feliks Zemdegs, for solving a 3x3x3 cube. It was designed by Adam G. Cowan, and Meffert's started its production in 2011.

The movement of the Feliks Pillow is very smooth - no need to apply extra lube. It feels great on your hands due to the slight spherical shape. It actually feels better than a regular cube. The stickers are the standard Meffert's color scheme, bright and fluorescent colors. I prefer the classic scheme - the Rubik's scheme - but it's nice to have variety, so I'm not too disappointed by that. I do wish that the two orange tones used on this cube were a little different, though. When you're solving the puzzle in low light it can be a tad harder to distinguish both colors. Other than that, the puzzle is perfect and can be enjoyed by anyone.

Closing Comments:

Whether you're a Twisty fan or a simply curious mind, the Feliks Pillow will surely please you. Its smooth turning and the different design approach to the classic cubic shape are more than enough reasons to give this one a try.

Availability: The Feliks Pillow is available at PuzzleMaster for just $17.99 USD. Others from Meffert's are also available.

Twisty Puzzles - I love to collect them, but as much as I'd want it, I'm not very good at solving them. I can solve a traditional 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube with some algorithms, a 2x2x2, of course, and maybe a few more variants that are similar in difficulty, but that's it. When things get more complex, though, I just like to admire them for what they are and won't dare venture further.

This, unfortunately for me, is the case with Justin Eplett's Pocket Cube - 4 Color Edition. Am I disappointed for it? Of course not. The puzzle looks gorgeous, despite the fact that it scares me to try and completely scramble it - It could become unsolved forever, and I don't want that...

The Pocket Cube is a perfect example of "looks can be deceiving". At first glance, it looks like a regular 2x2x2 puzzle with a smaller cube fused within one of its corner pieces. The reality, however, is that the puzzle is far from a simple 2x2x2. It's actually a 3x3x3 puzzle disguised with bandaged corner pieces. The puzzle also shape-shits in other unusual forms by simply turning and rotating it a few times on its axis.

This puzzle is yet another great Twisty Puzzle manufactured by Meffert's in collaboration with the original designer, here beautifully made with purple stickers for the main cube and blue green yellow for the smaller cubies. It turns very well, but with a little bit of lube it might be even better for speedcubing. The Pocket Cube can be solved into different states, so for better or for worse, there's lots of different solutions for you to try. As for me, I'll just keep it on my Twisty Puzzle shelves to keep the others company.

Closing Comments:

The Pocket Cube is a great addition to any Twisty Puzzle collection, whether you can solve it or not. If I were to get only puzzles that I could solve, I would have only a fraction of my current collection. It does look stunning among the others and really stands out.

Availability: You can get a copy of Justin's Pocket Cube at PuzzleMaster for about $20 CAD. Click here for other Meffert's puzzles.

In a market oversaturated with too much similar concepts and variations, it's always a welcome sight when something completely new and fresh comes along. Rainbow Nautilus, designed by Tim Selkirk and manufactured by Meffert's, is one of the most beautiful Twisty puzzles I've had the pleasure to play with in a long while.

The seashell-shaped Rainbow Nautilus is quite different from what you're used to see in Twisty puzzles. The shape, the first thing you notice is rather fascinating. It's a 3x7 (three layers and seven wedges per layer), but classifying it just like that would be an understatement. Because of its unusual shape, some of the pieces are bandaged - meaning some moves are blocked at certain positions - and need to be correctly aligned to be rotated. Being a bandaged puzzle, scrambling it is already hard enough, but solving it is a whole different matter. And because the puzzle is so unique, there's not much to compare it to.

As many of you know by now, I don't review many Twisty puzzles. Not because I don't like them - I really do - but simply because I'm not very good at solving them. Since I'm not an authority on the subject, I tend to stay away from reviewing them, especially the most complex ones. I just couldn't resist to the Nautilus. It's a puzzle that every collector should have in his collection, even if it's not meant for solving.

The Nautilus has been compared to the classic Square-1, another bandaged puzzle, and another pain to solve - Something I've never quite achieved. For that reason it shouldn't come as a shock that I haven't been able to solve this one as well. I did scramble it partially, but couldn't go forward to do it completely. I know my limits and I know the puzzle is indeed very difficult to solve, even for the more experienced. I just rather have it in its glorious form for the time being.

Closing Comments:

I recommend the Rainbow Nautilus to anyone, even if you don't usually play with Twisty puzzles. Its design is so extraordinary and original it'll be a while before something so fascinating like it will appear on the market again. Be warned though, this is not an easy puzzle to solve by any means.

Availability: You can buy the Rainbow Nautilus at PuzzleMaster for $20 CAD. For other Meffert's puzzles, check out this link.

Back in 2009, Oskar van Deventer was responsible for inventing a new type of puzzle that would forever change the landscape of Twisty Puzzles. This new and revolutionary type of puzzle featured gears instead of rotating faces and was simply called Gear Cube. Since then, we've seen a plethora of different Twisty Puzzles with gears being launched, some by Oskar himself, while others were designed by fans of the concept. Some of these even took the concept to the next level by making it much harder than the original.

The Twisty Puzzle I have here today for review is another great one by Oskar, the Gear Shift, which is actually based on an idea by Bram Cohen, who has teamed up with Oskar on other several occasions. The Gear Shift could be described as the beginners version of the original Gear Cube, because it's a little easier to solve, but it's actually much more than that, since it introduces us to an ingenious new way of manipulating the core of the puzzle itself and change the way the corner pieces interact with each other.

In terms of size, the Gear Shift is exactly the same size as the Gear Cube (6.1cm or 2.4"), but the pieces are much bigger in the new version. The number of pieces, however, is much smaller in the Gear Shift, totaling just 8 corner pieces, four big gears and four small ones. Also manufactured by Meffert's, the Gear Shift is presented with the classic high quality fluorescent stickers, which are almost peeling-resistant.

Unlike the original Gear Cube, a single move of the Gear Shift is able to rotate all eight pieces at the same time, this way easily scrambling it with just a few moves. Solving it is just as simple, but here you can add an extra "twist" and make it more interesting. As hinted above, you can change the way the pieces interact with each other by pulling the core apart along one of its three axis at a time. By doing this, you'll be able to move two opposite faces independently. In other words, four pieces at a time.

I believe it's because of this pulling apart method that the puzzle is much easier to solve, since you can focus on one face at a time. Once you have solved a face do the same for the opposite one and the puzzle should be solved in no time. For an added difficulty, you can try to have in each face four different colors and solve it from there.

Closing Comments:

The appearance of the Gear Shift can be a little intimidating at first, but once you get to know how the puzzle works it actually becomes quite fun to play with. Manipulating the core is a touch of genius and, knowing how easily Oskar can set new standards in the Twisty Puzzle community, I wouldn't be surprised to see new puzzle variations of movable cores in the near future.

Availability: You can get your Gear Shift at PuzzleMaster for just $20 CAD. Click here to browse other Oskar's designs and here for other puzzles from Meffert's.

Links:

Oskar's Official Website

Jaap's analysis of the Gear Shift

What happens when you put Ola Jansson, Oskar van Deventer and Uwe Meffert in a room? The Jade Chopsticks happen, a beautiful and different kind of Twisty puzzle.

The final product is a combination of ideas, first the 1x2x5 designed by Ola, which was later followed by Oskar's extreme version, the 1x2x13. The Chopsticks version is scaled down to 1x2x9 - and my guess here is to just make it more stable - and with Meffert's magic touch in the final design, we see an elegant design without the need for stickers or any other special colors.

Instead of stickers, the patterns featured on the puzzle are made by two sets of lines, curved on one side and straight on the other. On the left and right sides we can see the words 'Jade Club' written in a "semi-ambigram" - that's because the letters are rearranged to form another word instead of simply flipping it over like a true ambigram. Each letter can still function as a double letter depending on how you're seeing it.

Much like any other Twisty puzzle, the goal is to mix it up and try to put it back in its the original pattern. In this case, when scrambled, the puzzle will have a mixture of both types of lines and the left and right sides will have the two words jumbled up. It's not very easy to turn the puzzle though, especially along its horizontal axis, since you're trying to align nine segments at the same time. However, the individual segments do turn nicely and smooth.

So, how hard, or easy, is the Chopsticks to solve? - Well, that pretty much depends on your skills with Twisty puzzles. Since I'm not that good, it took me about 10 minutes or so. Even after I've successfully solved the two sets of lines I still had to rearranged the words, which was the hardest part. Overall, and compared to other Twisty puzzles I still think this is an easy puzzle, and proving that is PuzzlerMaster's rating of 6/10, where 5 is the lowest on the scale.

Closing Comments:

Made with the Jade Club in mind, the Jade Chopsticks is a stunning puzzle with an original design. While it's not remotely challenging for experienced puzzlers, this is a perfect collector's puzzle worth having in your collection. The Chopsticks come in a milky white color, but I know there's a gold version for Jade Club members, although I'm not certain it's still available at this point. If you can get your hands on one, do it quickly, since these puzzles tend to run out of stock fast.

Availability: The Jade Chopsticks are available at PuzzleMaster for $20 CAD.

Links:

Oskar van Deventer Official Website

Meffert's official Website

Meffert's Pyraminx doesn't need any introductions when it comes to successful Twisty Puzzles. Not everyone knows this, but the Pyraminx was actually the first ever Twisty puzzle to be invented, back in 1970, four years before the Rubik's Cube. Over 40 years later, the puzzle is still going strong as the second best-selling puzzle in the world. I guess people still prefer cubes over pyramids...

With all this popularity, it's not a surprise knowing that there are too many Pyraminx versions and variations that cannot simply be count by the fingers of your hands. My latest acquisition is a Speedcubing version of the original, which being easily one of my favorites, I couldn't let the opportunity of having a more flexible version pass. How easily is it to maneuver in comparison to the original? - The difference is astonishing.

Before I get to that, a couple of differences between the two versions: the first noticeable difference is the size, as the new version is slightly smaller than the original Pyraminx, but only by a few millimeters (about half a centimeter). The corners of the Speedcubing version are much more rounder and feel more comfortable to handle. Another difference, and this one is purely aesthetic, is that the new version doesn't come with that nice clear display dome and stand. The main reason might be because you're gonna use it more often and it doesn't justify the extra cost for the additional parts. The stickers are basically the same color scheme, and the same high quality as all the other Meffert's products, with bright fluorescent colors.

Now, the Speedcubing part... I'm probably not the best person to test this, since I'm not a speedcuber, but I did found it to be significantly better than the one I had, which by the way it's not a difficult thing, because I can barely turn it without applying too much force. I'm sure it would turn better if I applied some lubricant, but the new version is just naturally better. The puzzle has this Meffert's characteristic of turn and click, where it makes this loud noise when you complete a move. The pieces are much more loose and move effortlessly, thanks to this spring-loaded bearings. I did experience some lock-ups though. The loosely nature of the pieces is a double-edged sword, because while making them move more freely also makes them prone to jam on other adjacent pieces. You can probably lessen the effect with practice, but I doubt it will be completely lock-up free.

Closing Comments:

Whether you're a speedcuber or not, the new version of the Pyraminx for Speed Cubing is highly recommended for anyone just starting on the Twisty Puzzles. It's very easy to solve, even without any kind of algorithms, and the easiness of its movement makes it a pleasure to play with. A classic is reborn with a modern touch...

Availability: You can get a copy of the new Pyraminx for Speed Cubing at PuzzleMaster for $18 CAD.

Links:

Meffert's Official Website

Since the Rubik's Cube was introduced worldwide, back in 1980, we've seen countless variations, some better than others. Uwe Meffert, who's known for his popular Twisty Puzzles, launched in 2011 a very interesting version of the 3x3x3 cube we all know and love, the Wellness Ball.

In essence, the Wellness Ball is a Rubik's Cube with an extreme makeover. The core is the same 6-axis "spider" (see video of its internal mechanism), but pretty much everything else is different. For one, instead of a classic cubic shape, the Wellness Ball features 27 spheres and sports a new color scheme (orange opposite yellow, blue opposite green and red opposite pink). Also, no stickers are used, since the spheres are made from combinations of two and three colored plastic pieces. I always prefer non-sticker variations.

The Wellness Ball is slightly bigger than a standard cube, but not by much. The maneuvering of the cube feels nice and smooth, although for someone used to cubic-shaped puzzles it seems odd at first. While the movement of the puzzle is most of the time problem-free and turns nicely, speedcubing is not recommended.

Meffert calls this puzzle the Wellness Ball, because it's said that the sphere-shaped cubies help to stimulate the 70.000 nerve ends in our palms and increase circulation. Whether or not it's true, I don't care. I just love to play with it.

In terms of difficulty, the Wellness Ball is no different from a Rubik's Cube. If you know how to solve one, you will most certainly have no problems solving this newer variation, albeit a bit slower than you current 3x3x3 best time.

Closing Comments:

Whether you end up buying the this puzzle to stimulate the nerves in your palms, to just play with it, or to simply add it to your collection, the Wellness Ball is a welcome addition to the ever growing Twisty Puzzle family.

Availability: I received the Wellness Ball from PuzzleMaster, which is available for $16 CAD. There's also a white body version, if you prefer. Check out other Meffert's puzzles from PuzleMaster.

11th Random Pick from My Collection.

Invented by Tony Durham in 1982 and distributed by Uwe Meffert, the Skewb is a twisty puzzle with 4 axis of rotation. The corners are stationary, which means that only the four diagonals of each face rotate, turning half the cube with every single move.

Solving wise, it's similar to the Pyraminx, although it's a bit more difficult to orientate the corners.

The appearance of the Skewb is one of its most attractive features. This version has fluorescent stickers that have a great touch feeling. The solving experience is perhaps one of the best things Uwe Meffert does to some of its puzzles, which is that 'clicky' mechanism the puzzle has when you rotate it. It's a very simple and ingenious design, but ultimately one the most popular Meffert's puzzles and one that everyone starting a collection, should have.

Since its release, there have been a few Skewb versions, like the Katsuhiko Okamoto's Master Skewb, the Drewseph's Elite Skewb or the recently released Tony Fisher's Holey Skewb. The Skewb mechanism is also used in several other puzzles, like the Golden Egg series or the Creative Puzzleball.

The original Skewb can no longer be purchased at Meffert's website, but you can still purchase one at Puzzle Master.

The Gear Cube is another one of Oskar's masterpieces (which of his puzzles aren't one?...). 

The story of the Gear Cube starts with the Caution Cube, designed by Oskar van Deventer in 2009. When it was first produced, the Caution Cube, as its name implies, required great care to handle, because of its razor sharp gears. It was then picked up by Uwe Meffert, as a partnership with Oskar, for mass-production and its sharp edges were rounded up for better maneuver and less dangerous handling. 

The puzzle uses a unique 3x3x3 mechanism with gears and although being a bit different, you can use the same techniques used to solve a regular 3x3x3 cube and apply them to the Gear Cube.

The movement of the puzzle's achieved by its edge pieces that have gears and rotate when you twist any face. Unlike a regular 3x3x3 cube, here you're restricted with 180º turns, as a 90º turn would lock any other movement you'd make, because an edge would be in the place of a center, thus disallowing further turns.

The feel of the puzzle is excellent. Its movement is very smooth, which tells that it's already well lubed out of the box. It also feels stiff, meaning that its weight is pleasant to hold in the hand, hinting that the structure of the puzzle is not hollow like the cheap cubes.

The sticker color pattern used is comprised by yellow, orange, red, green, blue and purple. As of now, you can also apply other sticker variations on it that use other unstickered areas, making it an overall more challenging puzzle. You can order these sticker variations from here

The Gear cube is also available in a white body and you can purchase both versions at Meffert's for a discount. Now also available at Puzzle Master.