What better way to commemorate an IPP (International Puzzle Party) than a puzzle dedicated to the city that hosted the event? Vladimir Krasnoukhov did exactly that with his unique design called Ottawa Puzzle for the IPP 35, held in Ottawa, Canada, in 2015.

This is a great puzzle for those that really like packing puzzles. It's a simple design made with only five pieces, three of them identical. The goal of the puzzle is to make the shape of the maple leaf, as seen in Canada's flag, by rearranging the pieces inside the frame.

The presentation of the puzzle is flawless. Made from acrylic, in red and white, it measures 12.9cm x 7.4cm (5.1" x 2.9"). The acrylic gives the puzzle this clean and gorgeous look, much like glass, but easier to build puzzles.

The frame is odd-shaped, which at first makes it difficult to visualize how the pieces might fit inside, but soon you'll adjust to it. The shape of the pieces don't help much either, as the goal is to make an overall symmetrical shape. This will certainly put your visualization and spacial skills to the test. There's a few other challenges as well, besides creating the maple leaf. I always love when puzzles give you more than one challenge to solve. These will help you to see how the pieces interact with each other to create other designs.

The solution itself is not that difficult. The challenging part is to arrange the two big pieces in the tray in order to fit the other three small ones. Rated as a level 7/10, I believe this is the correct classification. It's a bit challenging, but an experienced puzzler should solve this in less than 5 minutes. Not much playtime for a puzzle, but as mentioned, you can make other designs with the pieces. It might be even possible to create other shapes besides the ones already shown.

Closing Comments:

The Ottawa Puzzle is a nice little puzzle for most puzzlers. It's not crazy difficult, which would frustrate beginners, but still fun to solve for anyone who likes packing puzzles. This would be a great gift for a Canadian friend or relative.

Availability: The Ottawa Puzzle is available at PuzzleMaster for $24.99 CAD. If you like, you can check out other interesting puzzles from Vladimir Krasnoukhov.

Over the years, I've come to associate coin puzzles with Robrecht Louage. No wonder, as every year Robrecht participates in the International Puzzle Party and enters one or two new designs featuring coins trapped in mazes. This year, at the 34th IPP, and with the collaboration of Michel van Ipenburg, the Ladybird was added as the newest member of the coin puzzles' family...And what a member! 

This is why I love Robrecht's puzzles so much. When I think he can't do better than last time, he outdoes himself time and again. It's difficult to choose one single puzzle as his absolute best, but at least Ladybird is up there as one of the best. Why? First, the design. You can't have a great puzzle without a proper and original design. Then, there's the actual puzzle itself. If it's too difficult, it may frustrate most people and they might give up on it. But, on the other hand, if it's too easy, people don't feel challenged enough or they don't feel they've accomplished anything. You gotta find the perfect balance.

Speaking of design, the Ladybird is a great achievement in this department. Again, one of the best by Robrecht. Also, this is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest coin puzzle yet, with measurements of 13.2cm x 11.5cm (5.2" x 4.5") (without the antennae). The materials are pretty much the same as its predecessors, the main material being trespa, with a protective acrylic panel. Unlike previous coin puzzles, the back of the Ladybird puzzle was also decorated with the bug's red and black motif, for a truer large scale representation.

As for the puzzle aspect, two similar rotating mazes in two layers make this a very fun challenge to play with. There's a 1€ coin in the top layer that needs to be aligned with the hole in the acrylic in order to remove it. For that, you need to rotate each maze, independently, while pushing or pulling on the two antennae so you can navigate both mazes back and forth. Since each maze is slightly different from one another, you have to be constantly moving them so the two paths align with each other and thus, creating a path to free the coin.

This one took me a while to solve, and it's one of those puzzles that makes you think you're very close to the end, but blocks your very last couple of steps. There's a total of 160 moves necessary to solve the Ladybird, although I reckon it took me a bit more to reach my goal, and only after 20 minutes or so. Returning to the start position is a lot easier, though, so you can easily start from the beginning and try to solve it quicker the next time around.

Closing Comments:

Robrecht Louage's Ladybird is an incredible puzzle. It nails almost every requirement of what makes a great puzzle without compromising functionality. The mechanism is simple, but works flawlessly, and being a classic maze without a complex concept, it's a nice puzzle for anyone to try.

Availability: You can contact Robrecht directly at «rlouage(at)telenet(dot)be» to ask for a copy of Ladybird or any other of his original designs.

Robrecht Louage has accustomed us to his ingenious coin puzzle designs over the last few years, and this year's 33rd IPP Design Competition was no different. The latest addition to the family is the Escape From Alcatraz puzzle, a secret opening box with a hidden maze.

The design itself is one of the best from Robrecht. He used the back of a Belgium €1 coin, featuring King Albert II, and designed the puzzle around it, as if to imprison the King behind bars. Your task is to navigate the hidden maze and free the King from Alcatraz. The puzzle is made from fiberboard and is a bit smaller than its predecessors, measuring 9cm x 7.5cm (3.5" x 3").

The concept can be compared to Rebrecht's Remove the Yolk, which featured a hidden maze as well, but even if you know all its steps by heart it won't be of much help for you to Escape From Alcatraz. The main reason is obvious, the two internal mazes are completely different. But how different, you ask? - It's hard to say, really. The only way you know they're different is by the moves you do with each other. From my experience with the two puzzles, I'd say the Yolk puzzle is a little harder than the Alcatraz, probably because the maze has a few more moves to free the coin, or just because I got better since then.

Looking at the description of the puzzle at IPP's website I discovered that one of the materials used, besides fiberboard and steel balls, is a magnet. I only knew about this after I had solved it, so I was a bit surprised, because I would've never figure out a magnet was present. Maybe that explains why it's so tricky to navigate the maze, since you never know exactly where the steel balls - or just ball - are. The magnet may be preventing the balls from moving freely.

The first time I tried to Escape From Alcatraz it took me about 15 minutes. The platform that holds the coin has about 5 steps. In other words, it will slide off the frame in 5 different stages, with the coin being closer to the exit point with every step - An alternative name could be "5 Steps Invisible Lock". Strangely, it took me much less time to get the coin back at the starting position - about a minute or two. I was expecting it to be equally challenging, but I was glad it didn't. After several successful solves I can now solve it in just a few seconds. I think I pretty much learned all the basic moves, but I'm still not certain what exactly is going on inside that mechanism. I think it's just part of the fun in solving it.

Closing Comments:

Escape From Alcatraz is yet another brilliant puzzle from Robrecht Louage. It may not have won an award at this year's IPP, but the design alone is deserving of recognition. The best part about it is that it keeps you guessing and analyzing it in further detail. It may be a while before you can figure out its mechanism completely. I can't wait to find out what Robrecht has in store for us next year.

Availability: To order a copy of Escape From Alcatraz, you can contact Robrecht directly.

The Big 30 puzzle is a bit special for me as it represents my recent entry into the 30's. I first saw it when I was choosing puzzles from PuzzleMaster and immediately caught my attention, since I was very close to celebrate my 30th birthday. It was designed by Allan Stein and it was his exchange puzzle at IPP 30 in 2010.

As the name suggests, the puzzle is comprised of two main pieces in the shape of a 3 and a 0, and a string with a bead at the end. The string can't be moved to another part of the puzzle and is somewhat tight, so don't try to force it or it'll break. The goal is to remove the 0 shape and then return it to its starting position.

Besides the catchy name, the design of the puzzle is very elegant too. The string has a golden coating and the bright red bead makes a beautiful contrast with the silver wire. PuzzleMaster's wire puzzles are very well made and resistant, and unlike others in the same category it doesn't leave an unpleasant smell of metal in your hands.

So, the puzzle looks nice, but you might be asking yourself if the challenge itself is really worth it. It very much depends on how you see and solve metal puzzles. If you don't like an easy challenge it's probably not for you, because it's rated as a level 6/10 by PuzzleMaster. Since I'm not very good at wire or string puzzles, I thought it had the right amount of challenge.

I wasn't able to solve it right away. I had to fiddle with it for a good 10 or 15 minutes before I was able to free the 0. However, even after that I wasn't sure exactly how I managed to do it. It took me a while longer to figure out how to put it back together, and only after the second successful attempt I was sure of the right steps to solve it. Looking at it now, I understand why it's classified as being this easy, but even so I believe that experienced puzzlers will find it fun to solve as well.

Solution: If you get stuck in the 30's, you can use the help of PuzzleMaster's solution here.

Closing Comments:

You don't need to be 30 to fully enjoy The Big 30 puzzle. It's not challenging enough to frustrate you or to make you think really hard, but then again you don't need to spend hours with a puzzle to have a good time with it. This makes a wonderful gift for someone approaching his 30th birthday.

Availability: You can buy a copy of The Big 30 at PuzzleMaster for just $10 CAD.

Dragon Cube is a fascinating little puzzle from the folks over at Gotta Solve It. Invented by their chief mechanical puzzle engineer, Doug Engel, the Dragon Cube is able to transform itself is several different shapes. This was first introduced in 2000 as an exchange puzzle at the 20th IPP, then called Perfect Ring of Eight.

The puzzle is built from wood and painted with eight different colors, producing a very nice visual effect. Although I prefer wooden puzzles, in this particular case I think plastic would have been much more appropriate, since you're dealing with colors. Paint and wood don't always go well together, because you're more prone to imperfections. Nevertheless, the coloring was very well done and you can hardly notice any spots or blemishes. The cube is also quite small, with 5cm in diameter (2").

Consisting of eight different dovetail pieces, your first task is to take the cube apart. You can easily do this by removing the pieces in pairs, instead of trying to separate them one by one. Once you have all eight pieces removed, there's a total of 14 shapes you can try to assemble them into.  They vary in terms of difficulty, but overall they aren't overly challenging to solve.

Before attempting to solve any of the other shapes, I first tried to reassemble it back into its cube form. This was the toughest of the challenges, also because it was the first time I was solving it. It must have took me about 30 minutes to have the cube shape again. After that, the other shapes weren't that difficult to solve, and I managed to solve them within 10 minutes each. You can see three other shapes other than the cube in the photos below.

Closing Comments:

The Dragon Cube is a total different concept from what I'm used to see in puzzles. It's quite refreshing to see such originality and it's rather fun to solve. The 14 shapes will surely keep you busy for a while, if you can solve the cube first, that is...

Availability: You can get a copy of the Dragon Cube at PuzzleMaster for $20 CAD.

The Cast Harmony, here as a double meaning for the musical reference of the pieces' shapes and also for the beautiful harmony between the two pieces. Represented are the G clef and the eighth note. Your task is to simply separate both pieces and then return them to their original position. This is not a hard thing to do, but the solution is quite elegant.

Just like most Cast Puzzles, the two pieces are coated with contrasting finishes, silver and gold. The Harmony is rated as a level 2/6, but even that seems too much, because I solved it within half a minute. I would've been quite disappointed if this wasn't a Cast Puzzle, but to be honest I didn't. With this design there wasn't much the designers could do to make it harder.

The solution, of course, is very straightforward. The only part that seems slightly challenging is the spiral, which is where the note should pass in order to be freed. I hope I'm not giving too much away, but I believe anyone can figure out how to solve it just by looking at it. Curiously enough, even though it's a very easy puzzle, I find myself solving it all the time. It's such a beautiful puzzle and with a fitting solution, you feel the need to solve it "just one more time".

Closing Comments:

The Cast Harmony is easily one of my favorites from Hanayama now. I don't mind that it's easy to solve, at all. You don't need a tough challenge to enjoy a puzzle, as long as it is well designed and well built. Hanayama can launch all the easy puzzles they want, I will always be proud to add them to my collection. This is a must-have for any collector.

Availability: You can get the Cast Harmony from Sloyd, in Finland. Worldwide shipping available.

Cast Box is one of the most recent Hanayama puzzles, released at the end of 2012. This is Yuta Akira's first contribution to the Cast Series, and I might add a great addition. The puzzle made its first appearance at the 2011 IPP Design Competition, then known as "Simple Solid Ring Maze" and also with a wooden frame. Understandably, Hanayama later changed its name to a simpler version, the Cast Box.

I must confess, the first time I saw this puzzle I immediately thought of Oskar van Deventer and his Cast O'Gear. The concepts of the two puzzles are not that different, since you have to find the best route to free the gear, and in the Box's case the ring. The box has these grooves on its edges that let the ring pass when aligned with the pin found at the ring's opening. Once you free the ring, you have to put it back in the "Start" position.

The design of the Cast Box is visually appealing and feels heavy (comfortable) in your hands. The box itself has the usual Hanayama treatment, which makes the metal appear more aged. The cage is relatively small with a diameter of 3.6cm (1.4"), while the ring is slightly bigger with a 5cm (2") diameter.

The goal is simple to understand and it should be simple enough to solve, as this is just a difficulty level 2/6, but for some reason I spent more time to solve it than I was expecting for this kind of puzzle. After almost half an hour trying to get the ring out, I understood why I took so long to free it. You could spend hours with this puzzle having the ring return to its original position over and over again, until you change the way you look at how the ring moves around the frame. If you keep making the same movement of passing through just one of the box's edges, you won't get far.

Skip ahead of this paragraph if you don't want any hints on how to solve it. The trick is to get the ring to a position where you have two of the box's edges inside the ring, not just one. After this, the puzzle is all but solved. Getting it to to the start position was easier and less time consuming, although I didn't do it at my first try, because I started at the wrong edge of the box. Just remember the position where the ring is free and you'll do fine.

Solution: Click here to download a .pdf with the solution, or here for a video solution.

Closing Comments:

The Cast Box is your typical Cast Puzzle. Just by looking at it you'll associate it with Hanayama right away. It's a nice puzzle to start with the series, because it's easy to understand, yet offering a good amount of challenge.

Availability: I got the Cast Box from PuzzleMaster in Canada. For other in the series, check out their Cast Puzzle section.

Links:

Hanayama Cast (in English) - Very useful website in English, with plenty of information on all things Cast.

Hanayama's Factory Visit (Many thanks to Roxanne Wong for sharing these pictures)

It's not everyday that I have the pleasure of reviewing a puzzle from someone that I truly respect and has been an inspiration when it comes to collecting puzzles. I remember back in 2008, when I first started to "gather" all these magnificent objects, looking at her collection in awe. I'm, of course, talking about miss puzzles, Roxanne Wong.

Her first venture into the world of puzzle design debuted last year with the Pionir Pyramid, which was her exchange puzzle at the IPP 32 in Washington D.C. With the help of Mr. Fok, the manufacturing was entrusted to MF8, which implemented the convenient blocking mechanism that prevents the puzzle from being accidentally scrambled.

Rox was inspired by a classic puzzle, the Pionir Cube, which also had beads around its edges. If you know the Varikon puzzles, it's the same concept except it has cubes instead of beads. You can look at the Pionir Pyramid as a natural evolution from its cube predecessor, just like the Meffert's Pyraminx is to the Rubik's Cube (except the Pyraminx was invented first).

The Pionir Pyramid is, in theory, easier to solve than the cube version. There are a total of 52 beads, whereas on the cube you have 67 beads. I haven't actually tried the Pionir Cube, so can't really test which one is faster to solve. The Pyramid did take a while to be fully solved, and I didn't solve it in one sitting. That's where the blocking mechanism comes in handy to keep the beads in place, so you don't have to start from scratch every time you pick it up.

The object is fairly simple, although it takes some patience and concentration to solve it, mostly because the steps are repetitive and have to be done in a sequence: There's a "missing bead" to allow a space for the beads to move around, and the goal is to get each of the eight edges with the same color. The movement of the beads is relatively smooth. It might need the occasional tap on the surface to make the beads slide across the edges, but other than that it has a good quality build.

The diagonal edges  carry six beads each and the horizontal edges seven. If you feel adventurous, you can try a harder challenge, which is to have alternated color patterns on each edge. It can be in groups of 2, 3 or 4, depending on which edge you're going for (vertical or horizontal). Keep in mind which colors belong to which edges (red, light pink, dark blue and green for vertical, and black, light blue, dark pink and yellow for horizontal). There are many different patterns you can go for when you have mastered the puzzle.

Closing Comments:

I didn't attend last year's IPP, but I'm glad I could get my hands on this nice little puzzle. Rox's efforts to design the Pionir Pyramid have paid off, at least with know how for her next projects, which I look very much forward to see. If you like sequential puzzles, I highly recommend this one. It's not hard to solve, but it gives a satisfying and rewarding feeling when you do it.

Availability: I got my Pionir Pyramid from PuzzleMaster.

Links:

Youtube video of a demonstration of the Pionir Pyramid

My quest to review all Cast Puzzles is over... Or so it seemed. Just when I thought I had all of Hanayama's flagship puzzles, comes yet another two great additions to the family, the Cast Box and the Cast Harmony. I hope I can get my hands these two before they release another one, so I can say, yet again, that I have all Cast Puzzles.

So, the not so final Cast Puzzle review is for Oskar's Equa, released in September 2008. The Equa had previously been entered at the 2004 24th IPP Design Competition and, curiously enough, the original version, manufactured by Tom Lensch, was made entirely of wood and had a different name, Space Rings. The puzzle represents a planet and its surrounding ring, with the main theme being "heaven".

The design of the puzzle is quite intriguing, reminiscent of some model that you'd probably see on an astronomer's desk. You can see two rings, perpendicular to each other, that seem to be trapped inside a symmetrical frame. What you're supposed to do, even though it looks like an impossible task, is to free the rings from the frame. You also need to separate both rings afterwords, as well as returning the whole puzzle to its original form.

Rated by Hanayama as a level 5/6, I would expect it to be less of a challenge than any of the 6/6 tier, which is not the case. Harder than this, in my personal experience, are only the Nutcase and the Vortex. I've had the Equa for more two years now. In fact, it was one of the first Cast Puzzles and it took me forever to solve. I only solved it recently, as the last Cast Puzzle review was fast approaching.

Although I was able to successfully remove the rings from the frame, I'm still uncertain on some of the steps, because they weren't done in the same session, but over the last couple of years, whenever I got a little patience to pick it up.

It's important to note some of the puzzle's tricky workings. Each ring has a small pin that prevents it from moving freely around the frame. Instead, you can only rotate the rings around the axis of the pins. If you're able to separate the rings, still inside the frame, then it's possible to shift one of the pin's position in relation to the other. The openings on the rings can easily fit on the frame's edges, and by constantly fiddling around with this notion, I was able to slowly progress... Really slowly.

On some occasions, the puzzle almost got stuck on one of the frame's edges. I suspected the tolerances might have been a little tighter on mine, but I eventually got it unstuck. The final couple of steps, when I could finally see the rings almost out of the frame was a real treat. It'd taken me over two years to see this happening, so you can imagine my excitement.

After removing the two rings, it still took a couple of minutes to separate them. This was one though nut to crack. The reassembly, like almost always, is a pain and no different from the reverse process. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I knew I wasn't going anywhere and, unless I wanted to spend another couple of years trying to get it back together, I had to follow a video.

Well, even looking at a video, this process is anything but easy. It's not going well as of the writing of this review, but I refuse to give up. This has to go back to its original state. I did notice something, though. My previous suspicions that my copy had tighter tolerances were correct. In the video, the guy seems to move the rings effortlessly from one place to another, but mine seem to have a mind of their own and they insist to get stuck all the time. I have to take breaks in between sessions, just to let my fingers get a rest. We'll see how this goes over the next sessions...

Closing Comments:

Having had quite the experience solving the Cast Equa, my overall feelings towards the puzzle remain unchanged, even though it took me a long time to solve it. The puzzle looks fantastic, and the concept, as if we ever expected something different from Oskar, is a masterpiece. Don't take my word for it about the difficulty. You might get luckier than me. Let me know in the comments section how was your experience with it.

Availability: If you want to get a copy of the superb Cast Equa or any of the other great Cast Puzzles by Hanayama, visit the website Sloyd.fi. Worldwide shipping available. If you'd like to try your luck at one of the rare original wooden "Space Rings", contact Tom Lensch.

Links:

Oskar van Deventer Official Website

Hanayama Cast (in English) - Very useful website in English, with plenty of information on all things Cast.

Hanayama's Factory Visit (Many thanks to Roxanne Wong for sharing these pictures) 

Last year, also in January, I reviewed two puzzles from Belgian puzzle designer Robrecht Louage: Remove the Yolk and 4 Steps Visible Lock (winner of IPP 2011 Jury Grand Prize). This year, Robrecht participated again in the 32nd IPP and his contribution was the 1€ Labyrinth Puzzle. It didn't win an award, but it doesn't make it less impressive than its predecessors.

I loved his previous two puzzles, so I was obviously eager to try his latest design. Suffice it to say, I was as impressed as I was the first time around. The quality and design of the puzzle are perfect, as well as its solving experience.

The materials used in the 1€ Labyrinth Puzzle are pretty much the same, with trespa and acrylic providing a great visual appearance. The trespa frame is relatively small with dimensions of 10 x 7cm (3.9" x 2.8"), although the acrylic platform extends its total length to 18.5cm (7.3").

There are a couple of similarities between the 1€ Labyrinth Puzzle and the 4 Steps Visible Lock: both have some sort of maze that you have to navigate with steel balls by pushing and pulling the acrylic platform, until you're able to free the coin. While you could see the whole maze in the Visible Lock (not quite, but still 99% of it), you can only see part of it in the Labyrinth Puzzle, with the rest being up to your puzzler intuition.

In all fairness, you only need to see what's shown of the maze, as you wouldn't be able to figure out the final part right away, even if you could see the whole maze. That's the beauty of it, though. The final part is always the trickiest. If you solved the Visible Lock, you'll know what I'm talking about.

The Labyrinth Puzzle had me "puzzled" for a while. It didn't take me long to solve it, around half and hour or so, but for the most part, I thought I had it almost solved, when in reality I was very far from it. You can see in the picture below that the coin is almost at the end of the maze, but it's not enough to remove it... And here lies the genius of the puzzle, having you believe you're almost there and a feeling that it's just a little more effort.

In fact, I stumbled on the solution almost by accident when I was holding the puzzle at a different position (I'm not saying which one). I was very surprised to see the coin free in such an unexpected way. I won't go into more details about the solution, because I believe that if you find out for yourself, the feeling will be much more rewarding. I'll just say that it'll leave a big smile on your face when you solve it. It's definitely worth it.

Closing Comments:

If you own any of Robrecht's puzzles, then you're gonna love the 1€ Labyrinth Puzzle. It has everything you want in a puzzle - Great design, superb quality, and above all, a wonderful solving experience with that a-ha moment as the icing on top.

Availability: You can contact Robrecht Louage directly at his e-mail "rlouage(at)telenet(dot)be" to get a copy of his 1€ Labyrinth Puzzle or to ask for availability on some of his other great designs.

Many of Hanayama's Cast Puzzles have been entered in the annual International Puzzle Party, and today's puzzle, the Cast Rattle, is one of them having been featured in 2010's 30th IPP. Bram Cohen, a talented puzzle designer, has created this deceptively easy brainteaser. The theme for the Rattle is "loose", although "align" would've been a good choice as well.

As mentioned above, the Cast Rattle appears to be this fairly easy puzzle at first sight, but soon you realize that whichever way you fiddle with it, you always end up in the same position. The four identical pieces comprising the puzzle are interlocked and move mostly freely, but there's a limit to that looseness, and that's when things start to become more complex.

When it was first released, Hanayama rated the Rattle as a level 4/6, but in their most recent website overhaul they re-rated many Cast Puzzles and this one's now a level 5. In my opinion, these new ratings reflect much better the difficulty of many puzzles, not just the hard ones but the easy ones as well. As for the Rattle itself, I couldn't agree more - it was one tough nut to crack.

The first time I solved the puzzle it was more luck than skill. After so much fiddling (approximately a couple of hours), I was surprised when I saw the pieces come apart. What's more frustrating in this type of situations is that you don't pay much attention at how you did it, because it happens so fast. Suffice it to say, I was in trouble getting it back to its original state - It's like solving two challenges in one. I eventually spent less time trying to figure out how to put it back together, as the only thing to think about is how to properly align the pieces in order for them to interlock again. Although easier than to take it apart, it's doesn't mean it won't be challenging.

Closing Comments:

Prepare to be extremely frustrated... The Cast Rattle is one hell of a challenge and only with enough patience and persistence you will be able to succeed. Bram Cohen had previously designed another brilliant Cast Puzzle, the Marble, and this one is proof that he has a knack for creating very tough puzzles. If you like a real challenge go for this one - You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Availability: I got my copy of the Cast Rattle from Sloyd.fi and if you're interested in others in the Cast Puzzle Series you can browse for more here.

Links:

Hanayama Cast (in English) - Very useful website in English, with plenty of information on all things Cast.

Hanayama's Factory Visit (Many thanks to Roxanne Wong for sharing these pictures)

When you think of a good Cast Puzzle, the hardest ones are the first that come to mind (Cast News, Cast Enigma, for example). However, a good puzzle doesn't necessarily need to be hard to be fully enjoyed. Vesa Timonen's Cast Loop, released by Hanayama in 2007, is one of such puzzles. Also, the folks at the 27th IPP seem to think the same thing as well, as they awarded it the Jury First Prize and the Puzzlers' Award. The key word for the Loop is "Synthesis".

The included description of the puzzle is quite interesting, because it tells us that the design is based on an actual puzzle ring Vesa created for his girlfriend. It's amazing what you can come up with when you have motivation. The description also indicates that the puzzle can be used as an accessory when solved - a pendant, maybe?

What's interesting about the Loop is that it's presented in a different way. In other words, it has a different approach, solving wise: Instead of the usual presentation, where you first see the puzzle in its solved state and you need to take it apart, the Loop is the exact opposite. Right out of the box you see the loop in a state where it appears to be impossible to close it (see photo below). The first tries to solve the puzzle seem to end in the same position, over and over again, and closing the Loop looks like an impossible task - That's the beauty of it, because you're led to think the two parts only interact that way. There's more to it than meets the eye, though...

After some unsuccessful attempts, you begin to realize that in order to solve the puzzle you need a different approach. What intrigued me the most when I first tried to solve it was that this was a level 1 difficulty out of 6, and there I was, completely confused, trying to make sense of it. It took me almost 10 minutes to have that aha moment, when you finally discover the correct way to join the two pieces.

The simple and yet genius concept is accomplished by this spiraling, corkscrew-like mechanism where the two parts - they're identical, by the way - are joined together. The finishing touch is done by two small magnets at the ends that keep the loop closed. Mine doesn't close perfectly, though. The two parts are slightly offset, maybe due to a bad positioning of the magnets. It's not clearly visible from the photo, but it's there.

The trick to solve the puzzle lies in where you meet the two pieces in order to spiral them into a closed loop. It looks easy when you finally know how it's done, but I reckon it's not that simple. I would be surprised if you actually solved this within the first minute... Or even second.

Hanayama released a couple of years later, a Disney version of the Loop, although the concept is exactly the same. It's the perfect gift to get your kids initiated into the wonderful puzzle world, though.

Video: Click here to see a video solution of the Cast Loop.

Closing Comments:

Surprisingly harder than I was expecting, the Loop is a brilliant concept made simple. Don't let the level 1 difficulty keep you away from a definitely enjoyable experience, despite the apparent easiness of it. Even if you're an experienced puzzler, I guarantee it, you'll love it.

Availability: The Cast Loop is available at the Finish puzzle store Sloyd, as well as the others in the Hanayama collection. Worldwide shipping available.

Links:

Vesa Timonen's Shapeways Shop

Hanayama Cast (in English) - Very useful website in English, with plenty of information on all things Cast.

Hanayama's Factory Visit (Many thanks to Roxanne Wong for sharing these pictures)

The Cast Radix is one of the most fascinating designs of the Cast Puzzle family. Its striking appearance is achieved by this ancient golden finish, which makes it look more of an art object than an actual puzzle. I bet that if you show this to your non-puzzle friends, only a few of them will say it's a puzzle, if any... Unless they all know that you're crazy about puzzles, in which case they'll still doubt it's a puzzle.

The Radix (from the mathematical term "radical axis") was designed by Akio Yamamoto and released by Hanayama in February 2005. The key word for this one is "sprout", because apparently the main pieces look like two intertwined sprouts.

The puzzle is comprised by three pieces, two of which appear almost identical. Almost, because the only dissimilarity is in the bottom part of the pieces, which makes a huge difference, as the puzzle aspect revolves around this characteristic.

The goal of the Radix is to remove both sprouts from the base, but the solution, like the shape, is anything but simple. Hanayama rates the Radix as a 4 out of 6, but as of recently, they re-rated some of the Cast Puzzles to a more appropriate rating, and as a result the Radix is now considered a 5 out of 6 - exactly my thoughts.

Solving the Radix is a game of patience. It was only after an hour or so that I was able to remove the sprouts from the base. I could classify the movements as somewhat intuitive, because the first part is easy to figure out. However, even though you have an idea of how the pieces should be freed, the final movements don't seem to follow your instinct. Be careful and don't use force, because it's easy to get the pieces stuck in a complex loop. I was a bit careless and had some trouble to try and free the pieces to normal movement again.

Returning the pieces to their original state is a less complex task, but it's still a challenge. You need to pay attention to the correct placing of the base and which piece goes first. You might need a couple of tries to figure this out, but you can see right away if the sprout fits the base. After getting the first step right, the following steps are yet another dance of crazy loops in a mad sequence.

Closing Comments:

Even after solving the Cast Radix, I'm still fascinated by it. How Mr. Yamamoto came up with such a design is mind blowing. No wonder he got the Grand Prize at the 25th IPP Design Competition in 2005. The puzzle is simply a masterpiece and a must-have in any puzzle lover's home.

Availability: The Cast Radix is available at Sloyd.fi, and so are all the others in the Cast Series.

Links:

Hanayama Cast (in English) - Very useful website in English, with plenty of information on all things Cast.

Hanayama's Factory Visit (Many thanks to Roxanne Wong for sharing these pictures)