I’m not sure why, but I love puzzles with German words – Sounds cool and difficult. Jean Claude Constantin, a German puzzle designer, has named a lot of his inventions with German words and expressions. For example, today’s puzzle, with a wine theme, is called “Einer Geht Noch” and could be translated as “one more?” or “let’s have another”, or something along these lines.

Like most Constantin’s puzzles the design is visually stunning. With a lighter tone wooden frame and contrasting darker tones for the pieces, everything about this puzzle looks harmonious and balanced. The frame is perfectly [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Wood Puzzles

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 [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Metal Puzzles

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 [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Rotational / Twisty Puzzles

In my never-ending quest to acquire all of Jean Claude Constantin‘s designs, I recently got from PuzzleMaster the Centrale puzzle. I was very curious about this design, mainly because I already had two puzzles from Robrecht Louage that have this same concept – Free a coin that’s trapped in a maze.

Centrale is a relatively small puzzle, measuring only 8.9 x 5.7cm (3.5″ x 2.2″) and, just like the designs from Robrecht, there’s a sliding platform with a 5 cent euro coin that needs to be placed under the larger cut-out circle in order to free [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Wood Puzzles

Can’t believe it’s over a year since I reviewed my last Twisty Puzzle. I guess I neglected this category a bit, and considering it all started with the one and only, the Rubik’s Cube, it definitely deserves a little more attention. Well, what better way to resume the Twisty reviews than a puzzle based on the Rubik’s Cube itself, Meffert’s 3x3x3 Bandage Cube.

The puzzle dates back from 1999, and while it’s produced by Meffert’s, I don’t have any information about its inventor. The mechanism is basically the same as the classic 3x3x3, but has a [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Rubik's Cube

Mickey is another cute design by Jean Claude Constantin. This little puzzle looks harmless, but like all string puzzles it can become a knot fest in no time. Read further as I share with you my experience with this little devil.

Just like most puzzles by Constantin, the design is quite original. The metal frame, as the name suggests, resembles the shape of Disney’s character Mickey. The frame is comprised of two small loops perpendicular to each other, and a string with a bead at the end. The goal, as you might’ve already guessed, is to remove the [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Metal Puzzles

This is my third review for the Paradigm Puzzles collection, manufactured by Family Games America and designed by William Waite. The collection features six packing puzzles, each with a beautiful pattern and complex geometry.

This time I chose the Interlace Diamond, based on an Arabic pattern. The puzzle consists of 12 different laser-cut pieces that need to be packed inside the wooden frame. Actually, they don’t need to be packed, because the puzzle is shipped in its solved state. It’s not a major spoiler, though, because you can’t see the outline of each individual piece. It’s [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Wood Puzzles