BOX Metal Brain teaser puzzle consist of a metal cubic cage and a chrome colored ring with a small opening. Your objective is to separate the ring from the metal cage. Small, compact, hand-size, tricky puzzle. NO FORCE ever needed. Clever puzzle, moderately challenging, always fun. Hanayama rates this as a level 2 on a scale of 1 to 6 (where 6 is those most difficult.) Your experience may differ substantially. Ratings are subjective. The dice face on the packaging indicates level of challenge in relation to the other puzzles in this series. BOX is the very latest puzzle release from Hanayama Puzzles. New October, 2012. Great for fidgety hands. Perfect to leave on your desk or coffee table as a conversation starter. Great puzzle for ages 10 to 105 years. There are 45 plus different cast metal brainteasers in the Hanayama series. Hanayama is the Japanese manufacturer of these puzzles.
D**Y
Think outside the box!
We bought this as a gift for our 15-year old son. When he opened it, of course we all stood in line to take turns on it, young and old alike.The quality of the cast metal is superb. It feels durable and solid in your hands as you work the puzzle. It's rated a 2 (1 to 6) with the caveat the "your experience will differ" - ha! That's the truth. It was fun for the entire family and experiences definitely differed. My son and I (both skilled at puzzles) were the first to solve it but it took us 15-20 minutes of studying and maneuvering it. Others who took it less seriously hacked away at it for an hour or so, still puzzled.Like any great puzzle, it requires patience and skills of observation and pattern recognition. We love having it around the house as it's great just to pick up to fidget a bit. It also looks great on a desk to spark conversation and break up the monotony.
T**M
This one stands out in the Hanayama series. It ...
This one stands out in the Hanayama series. It takes some thought--I don't expect most people will be solving this in the first hour.
A**E
Nice solid construction. Difficult to put back together.
The more Hanayama puzzles I purchase, the wider range of range of craftsmanship I've observed. Of these puzzles, this is one of the better made ones. Very sturdy and well made. The ring moves flawlessly around the cube. The puzzle itself isn't too difficult. It took me 5mins to get the ring off. It took me a day or two with several breaks to figure out how to get the ring back on.Most will generally solve this puzzle by fiddling with the ring until it finally comes off. That's the easy part. Putting the ring back on to it's starting point is a much more difficult task. That's because in taking the ring off, you start from a single starting point. When putting the ring back on, you MUST select the correct starting edge AND have the ring in the correct orientation. It's not so easy.My only complaint is the puzzle labels the START edge for where you start to take the ring off. I wish they also labeled the END edge for where the ring comes off. Having this info wouldn't help in solving the puzzle, but it would help greatly in putting the puzzle back together. Not having the END edge labeled does make it a much more difficult puzzle to put back together, but that difficultly, I felt, was unnecessary. Even when you know the END edge, it's still a good challenge getting the ring back to the START position.
J**D
A different take on "Squaring the Circle"
Anyone interested in recreational Mathematics will be framiliar with my title.But what we have here is a real hands on mechanical puzzle ,dealing with a square or cube and a circle or ring.As with any of the 60 (to date) puzzles by Hanayama;they are beautifully constructed of heavy metal and will provide many years of challenge and enjoyment. This one,has been given a difficulty of 2* out of 6*;but I would rate it a 3* or 4*.It is also a puzzle that ,even once you have solved it,you can put it away for a while,then get it out ,and it is still a challenge to solve again.The puzzle was designed by Akira Yuta from Japan.Like other puzzles from Hanayama,the solution is not provided with the puzzle.However;if you get stumped,you can always go to PuzzleMaster or YouTube to get some help.Don't be surprised to find an 8 year old kid on YouTube showing you how to "do it".Then, put it away for a while,and later on get it out and prove to yourself that you are as smart as an 8 year old.That is,if you are.In the package you get with the puzzle,you'll find an insert showing all of Hanayama's 60 Cast Puzzles and the Difficulty Level of each puzzle. A great gift for anyone who likes puzzles or to leave around for people to amuse themselves.But don't be surprised if it disappears.
