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Showing posts with label Rotational/Rearrangement Puzzle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rotational/Rearrangement Puzzle. Show all posts

Seven Star UFO

Posted on Apr 13, 2021 by Gabriel | 0 comments
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The Seven Star UFO looks straight out of a sci-fi magazine. Maybe an alien device of some sort. It has quite a striking design and it's difficult not to be awestruck by it. It was designed by Leslie Le in 2017 and produced by VeryPuzzle.

The mechanism and movement of the puzzle is rather complex. No wonder, as it's made with seven independent spherical 2x2x2 and on top of that, they're embedded in a two layer shell. It's a very intimidating puzzle to solve. There are a few versions of this puzzle, but the ones available at PuzzleMaster are the clear body and black. Both featuring stickers.

The puzzle is somewhat difficult to operate, unfortunately. The individual 2x2x2 spheres are so small (about 2cm) that it makes its movement feel like you're operating a delicate machine, not to mention the top-bottom shell rotation, where the spheres need to be properly aligned to allow the layers to rotate freely. There's a magnetic positioning system, which does make the layer rotation a bit more satisfying and helps you know when all the parts are in place.

Knowing how a 2x2x2 cube works will help you in the solving process and will make the puzzle more fun and enjoyable. Even if the movement is not as smooth as you'd like, the design makes it really interesting to solve, which ultimately makes for a whole new experience.

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Closing Comments:

The Seven Star UFO is definitely a unique puzzle. While the movement can be a little frustrating at times, the peculiar design and interseting mechanism more than compensates for its shortcomings. Be aware though, this is not a simple puzzle for a casual puzzler. It's complex and it's challenging.

Availability: The Seven Star UFO is available at PuzzleMaster for $32.99 CAD. Check out other puzzles by VeryPuzzle.

Revolver Puzzle

Posted on Feb 9, 2021 by Gabriel | 0 comments
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Revolver Rotational Marble Puzzle, or simply Revolver Puzzle, is a very nice 3D-printed puzzle by Jared Petersen. As the name suggests, it resembles a cylinder from a revolver pistol with six holes. It has three layers, each in a different color and they rotate independently. The top layer has only five marbles, to create an empty space so the other marbles can move up and down from the other layers. The goal is to mix the marbles and then rearrange them in their respective colors.

For a 3D-printed puzzle it has a surprising smooth movement and the marbles move freely without any restraints from layer to layer. Only the body of the puzzle seems to be 3D-printed, as the marbles look like regular plastic. It's a very satisfying puzzle to play with, even though the difficulty level is not that challenging.

Whether you're mixing the puzzle or solving it, it's quite fun to play with it. As you solve it, you always need to be cautious not to drop an undesired marble to the empty space below. I found it was easier to solve it sideways and keep a look on both sides to see which colors can be moved from one layer to the other. It doesn't take more than a few minutes to solve it, but you can always "reload it" and go for another "round".

You can also try to solve other color combinations. Put the middle marbles on the top layer or vice-versa, alternating colors, etc. The colors you see in the photos can be completely different from yours, since there are quite a few color versions. There's no option to choose colors, so be prepared to receive what's in stock at the moment you order. Either way, you'll get a great puzzle, and that's what's important.

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Closing Comments:

What a pleasant surprise the Revolver Puzzle was. I wasn't expecting much, given the low difficulty level, but yet again I was reminded that a great puzzle doesn't always have to be crazy difficulty to be fully enjoyed. Give it a go and let me know what you think.

Availability: The Revolver Puzzle is available at PuzzleMaster for $33.99 CAD. Check out other puzzles by Jared Petersen.

Tresor

Posted on Oct 13, 2020 by Gabriel | 0 comments
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Tresor (translated as "safe"), another superb puzzle by Siebenstein-Spiele that will put your safe-cracking skills to the test. With its captivating design and a challenging solution, Tresor has everything to keep you entertained for a while.

Made with a combination of acrylic and laser-cut wood, plus the metal pins that you'll be moving from place to place, this is a sturdy puzzle that won't break that easily. There are seven of these pins, four of them marked with dots to represent numbers. The goal is to move the numbered pins from the starting position to the numbered positions marked on the frame. This is a type of puzzle that requires heavy planning to be solved, since the inner wheel doesn't move as freely as you'd think.

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Once you get one or more pins inside the wheel to be transferred to another position, you'll be creating different blocking movements that you need to anticipate. This would already be a difficult puzzle without the movement constraint, but as it is, it gets very challenging, and frustrating at times. Even though the movement of wheel itself is smooth, it is somewhat a bit too tight when it reaches the edges. I tried to loosen it up a bit with a screwdriver, but was unsuccessful, since the screw is too tight and I was afraid I could break the puzzle. Nevertheless, the puzzle is perfectly doable as it is, and the tightness may vary from puzzle to puzzle.

Solving this is no easy feat, and the difficult of 8/10 may be a bit higher in my opinion. It took me days to solve this. There might a more efficient strategy to solve it, but I couldn't come up with one. Still, it's a nice challenge that will certainly not disappoint those who are looking for a good test to their skills.

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Closing Comments: If you've come to love Siebenstein-Spiele's puzzles, you know what to expect here. A polished design with affordable but durable materials, and above all, a well thought out challenge.

Availability: Tresor is currently unavailable, but will surely be restocked soon, so check back PuzzleMaster to see when it's back in stock. In the meantime, you can also check out other great puzzles by the German manufacturer.

GearShift

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Gabriel | 2 comments
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The GearShift is quite a striking puzzle. With just four gears, which complete an image of an Ouroboros, you'll be puzzled for a while trying to put it together.

Although not exactly the same, the concept is similar to Constantin's Modern Times, where you also had to spin four gears to create a pattern. The idea in these puzzles is that the cogs in the gears don't complete an entire circle. There are gaps which allow them to rotate independently from the other gears at certain positions. With these movements you'll be able to recreate the original pattern. Sounds easier than it actually is.

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Although the puzzle is made from plastic, the movement is surprisingly smooth. The hardest part is definitely the solving process, which will take some practice. You have to figure out how all the gears interact with each other and at what points they can be rotated independently. Understanding this logic is the key to solve it.

I did find it quite challenging, since you have to be very careful not to mess up what you already did while trying to get the other gears in place. Sometimes you need to undo what appears to be a half solved puzzle so that the other gears can be rotated. It might feel a bit frustrating at first, but with patience you'll eventually solve it. It has a difficulty level of 8/10, and I think it's a correct classification. It's a difficult puzzle, but by no means impossible to solve.

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Closing Comments:

This is puzzle you can solve multiple times and still have fun every time. Even if you're not attempting to solve it, just playing with it is quite stress-relieving. There's also another version with Disney characters.

Availability: You can get your GearShift at PuzzleMaster for just $19.99 CAD.


Spinning Wheels

Posted on Jul 31, 2018 by Gabriel | 1 comments
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Rotational/Rearrangement puzzles are quite common to see. But how many are made by Jürgen Reiche's company Siebenstein-Spiele? This German puzzle manufacturer makes gorgeous puzzles at an affordable price, which in my book is always a plus. Their presentation is always something to contemplate, as they use different wood colors, many times in combination with acrylic, for maximum visual impact.

Spinning Wheels is a very nice puzzle that appears to be rather easy to do, but still can transform into an interesting challenge. Rotational/Rearrangement puzzles use basically the same logic as a Twisty Puzzle (Rubik's Cube), only it's presented in 2D. If you have experience solving cubes and other twisty puzzles this won't be too difficult, but fun is guaranteed.

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The puzzle features four overlapping wheels, each with four numbers, and each sharing two numbers with its adjacent neighbors. The idea is to rearrange the wheels so that each one shows the numbers from 1 to 4 in sequential order and counter-clockwise - Not sure if clockwise is solvable.

If you tried a similar puzzle before, you know that you need to have the wheels properly aligned to have smooth movements, which is not always achievable, since the pieces are a bit loose. To be fair, a puzzle with tight movements also jams, so it's something you have to live with when dealing with mechanical puzzles. Overall, it has a satisfying movement.

As previously mentioned, this is not an easy puzzle to solve. It's rated as a level 9/10. By nature, Rotational/Rearrangement puzzles are always difficult, so that's a given. But in general, as far as this type of puzzle is concerned, it's not the most difficult I've encountered in this category. Took me about half an hour to solve it. If it had a couple more wheels, then it would have been one hell of a challenge. As it is, I'd rate it a 7/10, and not more.

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Closing Comments:

Spinning Wheels by Siebenstein-Spiele is a great introductory puzzle for the Rotational/Rearrangement category. It's challenging enough to prepare you to other, more challenging puzzles. As an added challenge, try to get each of the four numbers in groups, instead of sequentially (like 111, 222, 333, 444).

Availability: Spinning Wheels is available from PuzzleMaster for just $29.99 CAD. Siebenstein-Spiele also has many other interesting puzzles on offer.


V-Sphere

Posted on Feb 15, 2018 by Gabriel | 0 comments
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The Rubik's Cube was the first puzzle in my collection. Ever since, I collected an assortment of puzzles with different shapes, sizes and colors. Once you start realizing how many different puzzles are there, you'll certainly feel overwhelmed and spoiled for choice. Over the years, I developed a preference for sliding puzzles, but never forgot which type of puzzle got it all started.

So, it's not difficult to understand why I was so excited when I first heard about the V-Sphere, a combination of Rubik-like solving with a 3D sliding mechanism. It's the perfect combination. Now, all that was needed to prove was if the mechanism was good enough to provide a pleasurable and satisfactory experience, which many puzzles fail to deliver.

Fortunately enough, I had nothing to fear. The V-Sphere is manufactured by one of the most respectable and dedicated companies that produce twisty puzzles, the V-Cube by Verdes Innovations. Their flagship V-Cubes are some of the most appreciated and high quality twisty puzzles you can find, and so, the V-Sphere is not any different. The puzzle was invented by Greek designer George Chronopoulos.

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So, what is the V-Sphere anyway?

The V-Sphere is an intimidating puzzle with 8 spherical triangles fixed to the internal frame and six rows of tiles that cross the entire perimeter of the sphere. Each triangle has a different color and is surrounded by 12 moveable tiles, except for one triangle (blue), where it has only 11 tiles surrounding it. I would've preferred to have another color with the missing piece, like the white one for example, since I like the blue color most, but it's just a minor annoyance. The missing piece is so that there is space to move the tiles around to mix and solve the puzzle. Since the blue triangle is the one with one piece missing, you should leave it for last, as it will be solved automatically when you solve all the other seven triangles.

This is quite a fun puzzle to mix, I should say. Well, most puzzles are fun to mix and scramble, but the V-Sphere, with its smooth mechanism, adds another layer of fun to the experience. You should try and have all the colors well mixed and not have more than two identical colors adjacent to each other. Only then should you try and solve it. And that is when the real challenge begins...

The V-Sphere is hard to categorize in terms of difficulty. It will depend much on your skill level. If you've been solving twisty puzzles for a while, especially the higher difficulty ones, like the V-Cube 4 and upwards, then this should be a walk in the park. If you struggle to solve a 3x3x3 cube, then this will definitely be an interesting challenge, to say the least. Don't despair though, because I still think the V-Sphere is a little easier to solve than a 3x3x3 cube. Patience and persistence will, in the end, be rewarded.

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Closing Comments:

The V-Sphere is a superb puzzle, even if it's just to mix and play without worrying about solving it. It's a great stress reliever, and most importantly a great exercise for your brain. It is among my favorite 3D sliding puzzles, and that's saying a lot. I would definitely recommend it to anyone with an interest in puzzles, albeit a bit difficult for newcomers.

Availability: You can find the V-Sphere at JWS Europe.

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Flower

Posted on Feb 18, 2015 by Gabriel | 0 comments
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Clever Toys is a Czech based company that produces quality wooden puzzles, some of which using colored beads. An example of that is the Flower puzzle, made entirely of wood, even the beads. It's supposed to be a tricky one, but is it that difficult? Read more to find out...

The Flower puzzle is comprised by a hardwood frame, nicely polished, and three sets of seven beads, each kept in place inside three ring slots. What surprised me in the design of this puzzle was that the beads were also made of wood - usually they're made of plastic. And they're actually natural wood colors, not painted as you'd first think.

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The puzzle moves by way of a rotating wheel at the center which makes the beads swap places with one another, thus mixing it. Inside each ring you can also rotate the beads freely. The center wheel only moves three beads from each ring at a time, so you must choose carefully which beads you want to move before turning the wheel. There's a small wooden handle at the bottom of the frame to make turning the wheel much easier. The movement is smooth, it doesn't jam or anything, unless you have the beads misaligned.

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The difficulty is surprisingly easier than I was expecting. Rated as a difficulty level of 9/10, I thought this was going to be one hell of a challenge, but I solved it in about 5 minutes or so. And yes, I had it pretty well mixed, so it couldn't have been an easy to solve pattern. I honestly believe the puzzle is no harder than a level 7. I also have solved another one of their bead puzzles (seen below) and the difficulty was about the same.

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Closing Comments:

Overall, the Flower is a very fun puzzle to play with, despite being not so challenging. It's an original concept,  simple but fun and entertaining. The company has a few other designs featuring beads, all very interesting and deserving of your attention.

Availability: You can get the Flower puzzle at your favorite Canadian puzzle store, PuzzleMaster. Check out other designs by the Czech company.

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Astrolabrium

Posted on Dec 10, 2014 by Gabriel | 3 comments
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When I first started my collection, my idea was getting as many different types of puzzles as I could without venturing into variations. I wanted to see and experience new concepts. However, as my collection rapidly grew to 1000+ puzzles my priorities changed, because it became increasingly harder to stick to that philosophy, and I began eyeing some nice variations to already known concepts. A good example of this is Siebenstein-Spiele's Astrolabrium, designed by Jürgen Reiche. 

So far, I have four variations of this concept: the Marguerite, Blume Orange, Keep Smiling, and of course the Astrolabrium. There's at least another one that I don't own, which is the Sonnenblume. Curiously enough, all five puzzles above are either from Jean Claude Constantin or Jürgen Reiche - both are great German puzzle designers. Yes, the puzzles are basically the same, expect for the different presentation, but I'm a sucker for this type of puzzles. They seem pretty easy to understand, but are actually quite difficult to solve.

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The Astrolabrium is made from two tones of laser-cut wood. Four discs, two light and two dark, are joined together by a central pin that allows them to rotate freely in 360º. Each disc has either five or six circles in the middle, and the goal is to find the correct orientation for each disc so that the black circles cover all white circles. I don't think it works the other way around, though - I tested it... The movement of the puzzle is smooth, but you have to rotate each disc carefully as to not accidentally move any of the other discs, since the pin is screwed rather tight.

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Rated as a difficulty level 9/10, this puzzle promises some frustrating moments as you attempt to solve it...or not. Surprisingly, it only took me a couple of minutes to cover all white circles. Suspecting I was doing something wrong, I made a second attempt at solving it and even found a second solution not long after. However, at close inspection, you can see smaller circles at the edges of every disc. After seeing this detail, I started asking myself if I was expected to also cover these small white circles in addition to the bigger ones. The instructions that came with the puzzle certainly don't answer this question and I can't find any solution online that proves this suspicion. Further attempts accomplished nothing, so I'm not entirely sure if that's a part of the puzzle or just decoration. Whatever their function is, one thing that I can be sure of is that the puzzle looks stunning.



Closing Comments:

In the end, at least for me, it doesn't matter if you already know the concept of the puzzle or not, but if the puzzle is well built and looks nice. From the four variations I currently own, the Astrolabrium is my favorite, so it was totally worth getting it.

Availability: You can purchase a copy of the Astrolabrium at PuzzleMaster for $24 CAD. There are also many other interesting designs by Siebenstein-Spiele, so check them out.


Geranium

Posted on Mar 17, 2014 by Gabriel | 0 comments
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Geranium is one of the most fascinating Rotational/Rearrangement puzzles in years. It's as hard as it looks, and with reason, since it will require a courageous mind to get it completely mixed and solved. The puzzle was designed by Leslie Le and it was released by VeryPuzzle in June 2013.

A good way to describe the Geranium puzzle is as if it was a Twisty puzzle flattened into a 2D surface. The logic and techniques you use on Twisty puzzles will surely be very useful here, to understand the movement and permutations between the five intersecting circles.

Built with a mixture of materials, such as ABS, PVC and Stainless Steel, the puzzle looks gorgeous with a slick and elegant design. The transparent frame covers much of the top surface, and you can only rotate the edges of the circles. The movement is smooth, but you need to ensure the circles are well aligned or they won't move at all.

One of the most famous puzzles in the Intersecting Circles category is the Hungarian Rings. In it, you only have two intersecting rings that share two common points where the beads can be shifted from one ring to another. If I were to classify the difficulty levels of both puzzles, I'd say the Hungarian Rings would be a 1/10 and the Geranium puzzle would be a 10/10. That should give you an idea of how complex and difficult this puzzle is.

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As mentioned above, the Geranium puzzle consists of five intersecting circles with 25 pieces of various sizes and shapes, although each circle shares many pieces with other circles. However, among all the pieces, there's only one that's shared by all the five circles, a pentagon-shaped piece. The colors are distributed around as a half-moon shape, with each circle also sporting all five colors in different amounts. The goal, like any other in this category, is to simply mix it and then return it to its original pattern.

As you mix the puzzle, the color distribution will vary, depending on which circles you rotate at any given time. Every time you rotate a circle you'll block certain movements in the process due to the different shapes of the pieces, preventing other circles from moving afterwards. It's up to you to evaluate and study which circle to move, anticipating which moves will be subsequently blocked. Conversely, when you have a blocked circle and you need to rotate it, you need to understand which other circles you need to move in order for it to be unblocked. It's this constant block/unblock moves that makes the puzzle so difficult. So far, I only had the courage to partially mix it and return it to the start, which was already pretty scary. Nevertheless, if you're confident enough at solving any complex Twisty puzzle, then I'm sure you won't have any problems with the Geranium.

Closing Comments:

The Geranium puzzle is such an original design it's hard to find a similar one in the market, and an equally difficult one for that matter. The colors and shapes in the puzzle provide a beautiful visual effect that will even captivate the attention of the most distracted puzzlers.

Availability: You can find the Geranium puzzle at PuzzlesdeIngenio.com for €40.


Backspin

Posted on Mar 14, 2014 by Gabriel | 0 comments
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Backspin, a superb Binary Arts puzzle invented by Ferdinand Lammertink over 20 years ago (1992). As many of you know, Binary Arts is now called ThinkFun and puzzles like this have become rarer, either because of lack of creativity or merely they don't want to invest in this type of puzzles. I'm more inclined to go for the latter...

The puzzle is visually very attractive, made with bright colors and a simple mechanism that is easy to understand and, most importantly, easy to solve. The size is also rather big which is nice, measuring about 15.5cm (6.1"). The movement is smooth and unrestricted, making the experience fun and enjoyable.

This concept isn't exactly unique, as you might have seen in other two-layer UFO-type puzzles, but it was enough to inspire other designs and imitations. It consists of 35 colored balls spread across 12 areas. Each area has its correspondent color, although three of them are identical in both front and back - There's only 9 different colors. Since there's room for 36 balls but only 35 are available this creates a hole and thus, making it possible to mix the puzzle with different colored balls per area.

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The goal is to scramble the puzzle as much as you can - Try to put three different colors per area - and then place all balls into the same colored area. You mix the puzzle by rotating the two discs back and forth and using the free space to exchange the balls' positions.

I found that mixing the puzzle is as fun as solving it. At first, my goal was to do what I mentioned above, to have three different colored balls per area. That was accomplished quite easily, so I immediately attempted to solve it. Even it took more time to sort through all the balls, the difficulty was pretty much the same. The puzzle has two types of areas, straight and curved, but you can freely exchange balls between them without any restrictions. This was exactly why I liked it so much. It's neither an intimidating puzzle, nor a frustrating one. It's just plain fun to play with.

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Closing Comments:

Backspin represents very well what Binary Arts really was. A company that took risks in new ideas and enriched the puzzle community. Yes, you can see many new puzzles and games today by ThinkFun, but the new name wasn't the only change. Something else was lost as well...

Availability: The Backspin puzzle is harder to come by these days. You can still get a copy at Sloyd for about €20.

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Keep Smiling

Posted on Feb 20, 2014 by Gabriel | 3 comments
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Keep Smiling is a cute little puzzle, produced by Siebenstein-Spiele and designed by Jürgen Reiche, that will sure cheer you up anytime you try to solve it. The concept is not new. In fact, Jean Claude Constantin has a very similar design, the Marguerite, but Siebenstein's version is a little better in my opinion, with more character and style.

The puzzle is made from five wooden disks stacked on top of each other, each layer showing a combination of sad or happy faces. The #1 and #2 layers both have four tabs arranged with different layouts; #3 and #4 layers have five tabs each; and finally, the #5 layer has all fifteen tabs along the perimeter of the disk. All disks are held together by a pin, but they can be rotated freely in 360º. The rotation is smooth and without much friction and a longer, numbered tab is present in each disk to maneuver the puzzle more easily. The goal is to move all disks into a position where only happy faces are showing. Will you be able to keep everyone happy?

The puzzle is surprisingly challenging and, considering I had solved the Marguerite puzzle, I was even more surprised by it. For all it's worth, I reckon Constantin's design is much more simple. In it, all you have to do is getting all petals evenly spaced out. However, Keep Smiling is a little more complex. You have to not only worry about the position of the tabs, but at the same time making an effort not to leave any sad face showing.

Solving the puzzle, as expected, involves a little of trial and error, but also careful inspection. First, you need to think about the difference between the sad faces and the happy faces. As I mentioned above, the length of each disk has space for fifteen tabs, but only the fifth disk carries all of them. As an obvious deduction, this indicates that you must show fifteen happy faces. An easy count reveals that there are seventeen happy faces and sixteen sad faces. That's one more happy face than sad faces, but the result is meaningless, really. I have tried many combinations, but only found one that showed all fifteen happy faces. I'm very confident that the puzzle only has one possible solution, which makes it that more challenging. The effect, once solved, is definitely nice to look at.



Closing Comments:

Keep Smiling is not that original a design, but still, I liked the different theme Siebenstein chose for it, keeping it fresh and challenging. The puzzle's simple concept makes it easy for anyone to understand and want to try it, but not everyone will succeed. It's up to you to make all faces happy.

Availability: You can find the Keep Smiling puzzle at PuzzlesdeIngenio.com. Worldwide shipping available.


Blume Orange

Posted on Dec 4, 2013 by Gabriel | 2 comments
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Usually, it's a mystery where Jean Claude Constantin gets his inspiration from to design most of his puzzles. However, judging from the puzzle I have here today, I reckon he even gets inspiration from his breakfast. Meet the Blume Orange, a nice little puzzle in the shape of an orange cross section.

The concept of the Blume Orange is a bit similar to another puzzle by Constantin that I already reviewed a while ago, the Marguerite. It also reminds me of the Transposer Puzzles. It consists of four layers, each with twelve segments - curiously enough a typical orange has ten segments - of which nine are hollow and the other three are covered. By rotating the four layers in any direction you'll need to cover all hollow segments so you can't see through the puzzle.

The puzzle is quite small, with a diameter of 6.7cm (2.6"), which is actually slightly smaller than an average orange at about 7.5cm (3") - Yes, I do research these numbers so you don't have to... The material used is not high quality wood - looks like plywood - but it gets the job done and the rotation of all four layers works really well. The chosen color for the puzzle is pretty good though, with a pale orange tone, apparently with a glaze finish applied.

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Solving the puzzle was actually a pleasant surprise, having found it a bit harder than I was expecting. At first sight, it doesn't look much tough given the fact that you only see four layers and there seems to be not enough to pose a real challenge. Wrong! In fact, although both the Blume Orange and the Marguerite are classified as a difficulty level 8, I reckon the Marguerite is more like a level 7 and the Blume Orange a deserved 8.

It took me about 20 minutes to solve this thing. I'm not sure of the exact number total positions but it gets mixed up pretty quickly as opposed to solving it. Also, I believe there's only one solution, seeing as there are four layers, each with a different arrangement of hollow/covered segments, and there are three covered segments for every nine hollow ones.

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Closing Comments:

The Blume Orange is a typical Constantin puzzle: An original shape combined with an interesting concept that looks so simple and yet quite challenging to solve. The goal is so straightforward that anyone can pick it up and try his luck. Some may quit in frustration, but I'm sure everyone who tries it will love it.

Availability: At the time of writing the Blume Orange is out of stock at PuzzleMaster, but be sure to check it out often and you might get lucky. In alternative, you can browse many other great designs by Constantin.



Auge

Posted on Nov 13, 2013 by Gabriel | 5 comments
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Jean Claude Constantin continues to surprise me, even after I've seen all kinds of original and outstanding designs from him. The latest addition to my collection is Auge (German for 'eye' - and curiously, Portuguese for peak), and at first sight it doesn't look that peculiar. It's only after you unfold it that it truly reveals its form, and it's nothing short of amazing.

Auge has an equilateral triangular shape made of two contrasting wood colors and covered with a sheet of transparent acrylic in both sides. At the center you can see a wheel, which is actually a two-layer wheel united at the center by a metal pin. It's this very wheel that you should be removing from the frame, but not before you figure out how to move the six wooden pieces surrounding it.

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The movable pieces are attached by pins at the tips of the triangle and are only allowed to rotate about 200º, but you have to move them in the correct order or they will be blocked by the other pieces. When you open all six pieces the wheel will easily be removed, and that's when the true challenge begins... Well sort of.

When in place, each of the wheel's two layers fit perfectly with the concave curved lines of the pieces (the wheel's protuberances have different sizes), but when you take it out and shuffle the position of the two wheels, putting it back and close the rotating pieces becomes an exercise of trial and error until you find the exact fit. You'll be doing the same thing for each side of the wheel, but the actual challenge is far from from being, well... challenging.

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I was actually a bit scared when I tried to put the wheel back, because I thought it was going to be really hard to find the correct positions for the wheel. Turns out, it's very easy. Once you put the wheel in place, you just need to keep rotating one of the layers until it makes a perfect fit with the inline of the rotating pieces. When you're done, close the other two parts and do the same for the other layer. It's that simple and you should be able to do this in just a couple of minutes. This was supposed to be a level 7/10, but for me it's hard to give it more than a 5/10. It's very easy to solve, and even a beginner won't find it challenging.

Closing Comments:

The design of the Auge puzzle is superb and the mechanism is quite ingenious. Coming from Constantin that's hardly surprising given the high quality standard he has already accustomed us. Having said that, the puzzle itself doesn't provide any real challenge and I can't recommend this one unless you're a fan of Constantin's puzzles.

Availability: You can find the Auge puzzle at PuzzleMaster for $19 CAD. You can also browse dozens of other Constantin designs.

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Marguerite

Posted on Oct 9, 2013 by Gabriel | 2 comments
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If proof was needed that Jean Claude Constantin has the most varied puzzle ideas you ever saw from a single designer, then the Marguerite is the perfect example. It has such a simple concept it's hard to believe why this hasn't been designed before.

The puzzle is very well made, from laser-cut wood and despite its large petal count, it's actually pretty light. The reason is because the type of wood used for laser-cutting is much less dense than regular wood. Manipulating the puzzle feels effortless and natural, and the movement is smooth. The dimensions are actually about the same as the common Daisy, with a diameter of 10cm (4"). It's indeed a very good representation of a Daisy (Marguerite in French).

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This Marguerite consists of five layers, each with three petals, for a total of 15 petals. Since each of the five layers move independently, the puzzle can be mixed up very easily. Each layer can also move freely in 360º. The hard part, as you might have guessed by now, is to get all the petals evenly spaced when viewed from the top.

Rated as a level 8/10, I was actually expecting a tougher challenge, but was able to solve it within five minutes. What makes the puzzle seem more complicated is that the petals in each layer have a distinct configuration from each other. In other words, the spacing between the three petals in each of the layers is always different, so you have to constantly keep moving the layers until a perfect Daisy is visible.

Closing Comments:

Marguerite is very cleverly designed and, for a supposedly hard puzzle, it's in fact pretty accessible to beginners. Constantin might be one of the best Packing Puzzle designers out there, but his designs and original ideas aren't, fortunately enough for us puzzlers, confined to that type of puzzles.

Availability: You can get a copy of the Marguerite Puzzle at PuzzleMaster for $14 CAD. If you think this is too easy for you, there's a harder variation of this puzzle available, the Sonnenblume. You can also browse other designs from Constantin here.

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