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

EZ Atom by Doug Engel is a stunning looking puzzle, produced by PuzzleMaster in Canada. Doug is known for his elegant and exquisite puzzle designs, mostly in metal, as you can see here. I have a few of those in my collection.

The EZ Atom is comprised by three metal pieces coated in bronze, silver and gold, plus a blue marble, which is trapped in the middle. Looking like an impossible task at first, the object is to take all the pieces apart and free the marble.

The design principle reminds of Constantin’s Sputnik Ball, also [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Metal Puzzles

elogIQ is a company based in the USA and founded by mathematicians, educators and psychologists that work together to bring us original and creative brainteasers. Dror Rom, inventor of the Cmetrick Classic, which I’m reviewing today, patented his creation in 2004 and since then three other versions have been produced by elogIQ: the Cmetrick Classic Mini, the Cmetrick Too and the Cmetrick Too Hard.

The Cmetrick Classic is a sequential movement puzzle consisting of nine identical spheres arranged in a 3×3 frame, with each sphere having six different colors. The mechanism of the puzzle is [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Rotational / Twisty Puzzles

In my latest PuzzleMaster shipment, half of the puzzles included were from Jean Claude Constantin – A real treat. As a result, you’re going to see plenty more reviews for his puzzles.

Today’s puzzle is the 8 Balken (German for bar), and as the name suggests it’s comprised by eight bars that have small discs attached to them. Each bar can have one, two or up to three discs attached. A small detail you should notice once you have disassembled the puzzle is that there are four different colored bars, and for each pair of bars the [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Wood Puzzles

PuzzleMaster isn’t just a large mechanical puzzle retailer. They create and manufacture great puzzles as well, and the Twisted Gem is a very nice example of their superb craftsmanship.

Standing on a base with a smooth black finish and surrounded by eight metal sticks, the seven wooden pieces with contrasting colors complete what seems to look more like a trophy than an actual puzzle. Solving this apparently simple challenge will prove to be a more arduous task than you’d think.

The pieces are comprised of six tetrominoes and one tromino – I actually am not exactly sure [Read More...]

Category: All Puzzles, Wood Puzzles