Cast Chess - Rook

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Continuing my journey of reviewing all six Cast Chess puzzles by Hanayama, my next subject is the beautiful Rook. The Cast Chess puzzles were all originally designed by Marcel Gillen before Hanayama put their touch and turned them into a special edition Cast series. These puzzles are as good as their main Cast brethren - or better, so you're in for a great puzzling experience.

Slightly bigger than the Chess Pawn, the Rook features a completely different concept and solution, so whichever puzzle you choose to get you'll have something unique and different to play with. That is why it's imperative to have all six puzzles, so you get to experience what each one offers.

Since the solution is different in each puzzle, previously solving any of the others won't help you much here. Like any other Cast Puzzle, there's not many ways to go about it when it comes to discovering how its mechanism works. Few parts move and visual clues are basically non-existent. You'll have to rely on your other senses - maybe even a sixth sense - to have any real progress.

At the top of the puzzle there's a five-point star that rotates freely back and forth, but apparently it does nothing, at least at first glance... The circular piece just below the star also moves slightly, but gives the feeling that there's something locking any further movement. And that's it! You'll need to use your creative thinking to advance any more beyond this point.

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Closing Comments:

Just like the first puzzle, the design of the Rook is rather clever and gives you an Eureka moment when you finally solve it. It certainly lives up to Hanayama's standard of delivering a unique experience with each and every one of their puzzles.

Availability: The Cast Chess Rook is available from Brilliant Puzzles. You can find there the others in the Cast Chess collection.