I’ve had a revelation this week that I wanted to share it with you. I’ve come to terms with being utterly confused while solving a puzzle and I’ve learned that it is ok to dwell there for a while. I say for a while because entering a state of insanity is acceptable for the creative process involved in problem solving but it isn’t preferred when you are checking out of your local grocery store and the cashier asks if you are ok. She asked if I was ok because I was rolling my eyes and twirling my hands like an [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Maze Puzzles, Metal Puzzles

Since Hanayama started to produce the Cast series, back in 1983, they’ve revived several classic designs from the turn of the 20th century, so that a new generation of puzzle enthusiasts could enjoy them as well. The Cast Devil, also known as the Devil’s Claws since 1905, is another great design brought back by Nob Yoshigahara, in 1994, with Hanayama’s top-notch quality. The key word for the Devil is “Claws”.

From the official picture, the puzzle looks smaller than it actually is, so I was pleasantly surprised when I first saw it. Made with an unusually thick [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Metal Puzzles

SudoFeud is point scoring game that you must play against an opponent. It’s very difficult to describe. I recommend that you watch this video: http://www.sudofeud.com/ In short, SudoFeud works a bit like Scrabble. Especially with double & triple scoring points. I have not play tested this. Sorry, I’m just too busy. Also, I need to play against a ‘friend’. Which I have none of! That’s what happens when you spend your whole existence play testing puzzle apps for a blog that nobody reads. Actually, my blog just got its 200,000th hit. Roel Griffioen is the author of SudoFeud. He also made [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, iPhone/iPad Puzzle Games

Hello puzzlers!!! Back for extreme close ups and bad jokes I see. Well I can’t really see you…. Or can I. I’m looking at you one eyed purple people eater. As you can tell, I carefully plan my intros. So, the puzzle hidden behind door number three is called Two Keys by Jean Claude Constantin. In a nutshell, this puzzle is what happens when a laser gun asks an innocent piece of wood for all its money and the wood refuses…. Ok ok what I mean is that the wood is laser cut to form the two mazes found on [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Maze Puzzles, Wood Puzzles

This is a harder version of the jumping mazes (see Jumping Mazes). Start on the 3 in the top left corner, and jump three squares horizontally or vertically to a new square. The number on that square then gives you the size of the next jump, and so on.

Continue making horizontal or vertical jumps until you reach a circle, when you should switch to moving diagonally. Continue moving diagonally until you reach another circle, in which case revert to moving horizontally or vertically, and so on.

Find your way to the bottom right corner in the smallest number [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Maze Puzzles

The Lunatic Lock is designed by Gary Foshee and this particular edition is produced by PuzzleMaster.

There’s a wide range of trick locks in the market today, some are cheaper and others can be quite expensive, like this one. The Lunatic Lock falls into the category of the cheaper ones, but don’t be fooled, you’ll get more than you paid for, as the puzzle can be extremely frustrating to open. It’s made of aluminum, which is cheaper to produce, but doesn’t look very good as a finish, because it has these brushed strokes and it looks [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Metal Puzzles

Shift 2 has 120 levels. I’ve spent about 1 hour and am stuck on level 9. It’s hard and fun. And that’s the bottom line.

The object is to get your man to the door. Pick up a key, avoid the deadly spikes. When you Shift, the maze does a 180 and your man will turn white and enter the black part of the maze.  Very clever.

Category: All Puzzles, iPhone/iPad Puzzle Games