After having recently reviewed a couple of easy Wire Puzzles, I am now moving on to tougher paths. It still isn’t a top level puzzle, but it can be a little tricky with multiple steps required.

The Beetle Bug is another PuzzleMaster’s version of the Tucker-Jones House original from 1985, the Satan’s Stirrup. As mentioned in previous reviews, I prefer the material used by PuzzleMaster, with a smoother surface.

The puzzle belongs to Tucker’s group 4/8 puzzles, so it’s right there in the middle of difficulty. PuzzleMaster rates it at 7/10. Not too hard [Read More...]

Start on the cube in the top left corner, and find the shortest route to the cube in the bottom right corner, by making a series of horizontal or vertical jumps between two cubes that have a colour in common.

However, in this maze there’s an additional restriction: you may not make a U-turn by jumping straight back in the direction you’ve just come from.

Here’s an example. From the starting cube you can jump down to either of the cubes below it. However, from the cube in the middle of the leftmost column you are not then allowed to [Read More...]

The object of Vubu is to move the men into the blue square.  They all move in unision. Be careful about losing a man over the edge.

Most of the Vubus are of the regular type. The Wise Man: he’ll move normally, but he won’t go over the edge. The Blind Man: he won’t move at all. Unless another Vubu is next to him. The Stubborn Man: he’ll move normally, unless another is next to him; then he’ll remain still. The Dragon Vubu: he breathes fire and will incinerate another vubu.

These puzzles are pure logic.  Of the 50 regular [Read More...]

Dedale is a series of challenging maze topology puzzles. The object is to turn the white squares into a color by tracing a path over each square exactly once.

Harder levels: some squares must be passed over twice.

Interesting element: some of the tiles are rectangles.

I’ve played different versions of this type of puzzle before: Numeric Paranoia comes to mind. Dedale has 100 levels. Right now I’m stuck on level 49.

The most important thing: Dedale is fun and challenging.

Sergey Mohov is the developer. http://www.facebook.com/dedalegame

Dreiecksbeziehung. Now that’s a mouthful! Can you pronounce it? – Dreiecksbeziehung (German for triangle relationship) is another great design by -Who else?- Jean Claude Constantin. The name of the puzzle is a well fitting description to understand how the triangle properties relate to the actual solution.

This Packing Puzzle is made from laser cut wood and it’s comprised of nine identical triangles. It is relatively small, with the frame measuring just over 10cm (about 4″) and each triangle measuring exactly 2.6cm (1″). The packing area is an exact square with 6cm in length. Inside the frame there [Read More...]

Here is another cool Hanayama Cast puzzle called O’Gear by Oskar van Deventer.  I received it from Puzzle Master and you can find the solution on their webpage.  I really wanted to get my hands on this puzzle but I was kind of surprised with the size of this one.  I was expecting something that could easily fit in my pocket.  A bit of a disappointment but the puzzle is still a bucket of honey.  This is an interesting puzzle because the “gear” that you are suppose to detach from the cube looks as if it could easily come off.  [Read More...]

Philos, a German puzzle manufacturer, has a very interesting series of original wooden sliding puzzles designed by the Japanese Hirokazu Iwasawa, the Jam Puzzles. I chose to review the easier of the four, the Triangular Jam Puzzle.

What I like about Philos’ puzzles is that they’re very high quality. The tray and the pieces are very well built and polished for a clean and smooth surface. This particular one is made from Beech wood, tray and the three lighter pieces, and the darker triangle is made from Cassia Siamea wood. The dimensions of the tray are about 15cm [Read More...]