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LTTP: Mechanical Disassembly Puzzles
- Thread starter Toma
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Dont have Donuts yet, but I had the same feeling for assembling Marble. Usually, when something feels to hard to do its not actually the solution.
Might be wrong for Donuts though.
Well, now I've got Marble coming my way too!
I got my first Hanayama puzzle yesterday because of this thread. I wanted to start with something that looked simple so I went with Galaxy which is level 3. It took me 5 minutes or so to take it apart and maybe twice that to get it back together because I wasn't paying super close attention when I disassembled it. Even though it went relatively quick I'm excited to get some more.
cpp_is_king
Member
Hanayama makes the best puzzles by far, glad to see it being represented in this therad.
This right here is the hardest fucking puzzle ever. Fuck this thing man. If anyone can consistently solve this one and put it back together on demand, you are a god among men. I don't even know how many hours I've spent on this thing and I still can't get it apart.
I used to think this one was impossible, but I've got it down pretty well now. Another really mind boggling and ingenious one.
This right here is the hardest fucking puzzle ever. Fuck this thing man. If anyone can consistently solve this one and put it back together on demand, you are a god among men. I don't even know how many hours I've spent on this thing and I still can't get it apart.
I used to think this one was impossible, but I've got it down pretty well now. Another really mind boggling and ingenious one.
Dammit, I like fiddling with stuff and these are cheap.
I got the Delta, because it looks neat and isn't supposed to be too hard.
My friend actually had the NEWS and I didn't know it was part of a series. She showed me how to solve it right away though so that's ruined forever for me, haha.
I got the Delta, because it looks neat and isn't supposed to be too hard.
My friend actually had the NEWS and I didn't know it was part of a series. She showed me how to solve it right away though so that's ruined forever for me, haha.
cpp_is_king
Member
I figured out NEWS when it
rolled off my couch
cpp_is_king
Member
Try the chain link. It's one of my favorites.
Spiral (level 5) and NEWS (level 6) arrived today.
As for NEWS:
Still working on spiral. It's pretty nifty.
As for NEWS:
When I saw NEWS for the first time I had a pretty good idea of how to solve it. Turns out I was right, and I had the thing open almost immediately. However, it seemed a bit finicky until flipping it over and doing it again. Cool design for sure, but I wouldn't say it's anywhere near level 6. The solution seems too obvious.
Still working on spiral. It's pretty nifty.
Michael F. Assbender
Banned
Got Padlock (Level 5 Hanayama) earlier today and I've been working with it off and on throughout the day. Took it apart about two hours ago during a break at work and just put it together a few minutes ago.
Love the design. It has a couple false solutions, where you think you're about to solve it, only to discover you've wasted the last hour working in a direction that wasn't at all helpful. Those may frustrate some people but I find it fun.
The actual solution is wonderfully simple but appears far more complex. It's something I can imagine a person might work forever on and never get, or someone might figure it out right off the bat.
Fantastic puzzle though. Highly recommended. It's not quite in the league of Marble, but it's still great.
On a side note, I just discovered that Meijer stores (a Midwest chain of supermarket/superstore) carry Hanayama puzzles, so I'm going to be bankrupt soon.
Love the design. It has a couple false solutions, where you think you're about to solve it, only to discover you've wasted the last hour working in a direction that wasn't at all helpful. Those may frustrate some people but I find it fun.
The actual solution is wonderfully simple but appears far more complex. It's something I can imagine a person might work forever on and never get, or someone might figure it out right off the bat.
Fantastic puzzle though. Highly recommended. It's not quite in the league of Marble, but it's still great.
On a side note, I just discovered that Meijer stores (a Midwest chain of supermarket/superstore) carry Hanayama puzzles, so I'm going to be bankrupt soon.
Wibblewozzer
Member
Notes on my five I got earlier this week:
Marble - Roommate took apart. Took her around 15-20 minutes. She was unable to put it back together and gave up. I've now spent probably around 45 minutes trying and having what feels like decent ideas on tricks but nothing works.
News - Maybe have toyed with for five minutes. I think this style is very much not what I want but I'll continue to toy with it.
Equa - Taken apart. Took maybe 10 minutes overall with me removing the two rings but then for some reason I simply couldn't get those two rings separated. Keep in mind I do these largely in a dark space and at night before going to sleep. The next day I picked them back up and got it apart right away. Haven't tried putting back together.
Vortex - Taken apart. Maybe around 25 minutes but 10-15 of that was simply shifting around while watching a video since I just liked the feel of this one. When focusing I was able to make pretty quick progress on it and caught the positioning I needed it to be in. I've spent a couple minutes trying to link them all back up but that one step I simply didn't pay enough attention to taking apart so still haven't made a lot of progress there.
Nutcase - I'm not sure if I figured out what's expected but it doesn't seem there's too many options in how to solve this. I've spent maybe ten minutes and have seen it start to shift but it always gets stuck and doesn't come apart completely. Perhaps I'm trying the wrong thing?
I'm appreciating them more I play with them. Once I can take apart and put back together more easily I'll move these to my desk at work.
Marble - Roommate took apart. Took her around 15-20 minutes. She was unable to put it back together and gave up. I've now spent probably around 45 minutes trying and having what feels like decent ideas on tricks but nothing works.
News - Maybe have toyed with for five minutes. I think this style is very much not what I want but I'll continue to toy with it.
Equa - Taken apart. Took maybe 10 minutes overall with me removing the two rings but then for some reason I simply couldn't get those two rings separated. Keep in mind I do these largely in a dark space and at night before going to sleep. The next day I picked them back up and got it apart right away. Haven't tried putting back together.
Vortex - Taken apart. Maybe around 25 minutes but 10-15 of that was simply shifting around while watching a video since I just liked the feel of this one. When focusing I was able to make pretty quick progress on it and caught the positioning I needed it to be in. I've spent a couple minutes trying to link them all back up but that one step I simply didn't pay enough attention to taking apart so still haven't made a lot of progress there.
Nutcase - I'm not sure if I figured out what's expected but it doesn't seem there's too many options in how to solve this. I've spent maybe ten minutes and have seen it start to shift but it always gets stuck and doesn't come apart completely. Perhaps I'm trying the wrong thing?
I'm appreciating them more I play with them. Once I can take apart and put back together more easily I'll move these to my desk at work.
Next one I solved is Rattle (4/6):
Thats a really weird one because it feels like you can immediately move it everywhere and it just falls open any moment. I didnt take too long to figure it out (30 minutes to take apart and put it back together again?), but its a pretty nice piece to just watch it move and figure out how it intersects. I didnt like it particularly much when I first got it, but now I actually appreciate it a lot more now that I understand it.
Like the most:
1. Marble
2. Cylinder
3. Rattle
4. O Gear
5. NEWS
6. Hexagon
7. Square
Difficulty:
1. NEWS
2. Cylinder
3. Square
4. Marble
5. Rattle
6. Hexagon
7. O Gear
Thats a really weird one because it feels like you can immediately move it everywhere and it just falls open any moment. I didnt take too long to figure it out (30 minutes to take apart and put it back together again?), but its a pretty nice piece to just watch it move and figure out how it intersects. I didnt like it particularly much when I first got it, but now I actually appreciate it a lot more now that I understand it.
Like the most:
1. Marble
2. Cylinder
3. Rattle
4. O Gear
5. NEWS
6. Hexagon
7. Square
Difficulty:
1. NEWS
2. Cylinder
3. Square
4. Marble
5. Rattle
6. Hexagon
7. O Gear
I can only speak for the ones I solved so far, but Marble is still easily my favourite puzzle based on difficulty, mechanism and overall feeling. The one that gets closest in quality for me so far is Cylinder, but it is a bit harder as you cant immediately see the inner workings and you actually need to figure out a way to test/judge the inner workings before you can start to understand it.
Yeah, from what I tried so far, the difficulty levels up to 3 seem like a "You will solve these after 5-10 minutes of fiddling" kinda deal, whereas 4 is still doable, but in the 30-40 minute range and then 5 and 6 are "many people might never figure these out" territory.
I was currently playing around with Rings II and (level 5) and I have no clue how that is even supposed to work. Going to try Equa or Padlock first now I think.
I just grabbed Marble, Cylinder, and Rattle because they were 4's (plus Marble was a 6 dollar add-on item on Amazon which meant I had to get 2 more) and seemed like a decent step up while still being solvable for me.
I kinda really wish I never had NEWS spoiled for me. Question below in comments for those who solved it.
Are there any other puzzles similar to it that have a very non-obvious solution? I've heard it's unlike all the other Hanayama stuff, but I'd love something that has a simple mechanism that takes forever to figure out.
Problem with these is that you can usually solve these by accident as they fundamentally have a simple mechanism. But you could go for:
Square
Wibblewozzer
Member
NEWS - Solved (mostly) on accident. Took another couple minutes to put back together. Even knowing how it works I'm not sure if I can reliably get it open but at least now I have a better idea.
Nutcase - Thought I got it as it felt like it "clicked" and shifted but still held mostly tight. There doesn't appear to be a lot of mystery to it but instead it seems to be a lot of trial-and-error. I can see why someone else mentioned it's a bit tough on the hands.
Edit: Nevermind, NEWS seems easy to do now. I took it apart and put it back together within about 15 seconds of picking it up again. Still working on Nutcase a bit.
Nutcase - Thought I got it as it felt like it "clicked" and shifted but still held mostly tight. There doesn't appear to be a lot of mystery to it but instead it seems to be a lot of trial-and-error. I can see why someone else mentioned it's a bit tough on the hands.
Edit: Nevermind, NEWS seems easy to do now. I took it apart and put it back together within about 15 seconds of picking it up again. Still working on Nutcase a bit.
I solved Spiral. It feels good in the hands but it doesn't have my favorite solution. Worth getting if you just like something that fits in your palm and has fun movements though.
As for my rankings so far:
1. NEWS
2. Marble
3. Labyrinth
4. Spiral
5. Nutcase
Nutcase is by far my least favorite and the only one I actually dislike. The rest are super fun though. Are there any others remotely similar to NEWS? NEWS spoilers:
Also, does anyone love anything from levels 1-3? I've stuck with 5-6 with one 4 and those seem like the perfect difficulty in general for me. Though I could stand to try something even harder.
As for my rankings so far:
1. NEWS
2. Marble
3. Labyrinth
4. Spiral
5. Nutcase
Nutcase is by far my least favorite and the only one I actually dislike. The rest are super fun though. Are there any others remotely similar to NEWS? NEWS spoilers:
I really like the unconventionality of it and how you have this chunk of something and you have nothing really to go by aside from the compass rose design. There's just one action you have to figure out. There's no partial solve with it, which I really like. I really like how obtuse and unusual it is. It reminds me of stuff like the Lotus Box and those sorts of weird box puzzles.
Also, does anyone love anything from levels 1-3? I've stuck with 5-6 with one 4 and those seem like the perfect difficulty in general for me. Though I could stand to try something even harder.
Michael F. Assbender
Banned
Got Quartet. Took it apart quickly. Cannot come close to putting it back together yet.
It's the only one of these I've ever tried that actually feels like a slog to work with. I'm not enjoying it at all.
I need a new Level 6 to wash the taste out of my mouth. Suggestions?
It's the only one of these I've ever tried that actually feels like a slog to work with. I'm not enjoying it at all.
I need a new Level 6 to wash the taste out of my mouth. Suggestions?
Elk or Chain seem to be pretty hard. NEWS is interesting, but really ... different. I actually had most fun with the level 4 ones so far. (Rattle, Marble, Cylinder), but they arent "hard".
Also:
Ordered the Dot Box from an individual designer:
http://www.puzzlemuseum.com/puzzles/dot-box/dot-box.htm
Please dont spoil any solution if you read up on it, or just wait for my impression in case its something you might be interested in as well.
Cost 50 GBP, yeah, I know its steep, but I am really curious as its also one of the puzzles that won first place in the puzzle competitions.
Ordered the Dot Box from an individual designer:
http://www.puzzlemuseum.com/puzzles/dot-box/dot-box.htm
Please dont spoil any solution if you read up on it, or just wait for my impression in case its something you might be interested in as well.
Cost 50 GBP, yeah, I know its steep, but I am really curious as its also one of the puzzles that won first place in the puzzle competitions.
There arent nearly enough of these out there. I actually wanted to create this thread to ask for other examples, but accidentally created a thread that contained all varieties that seem to be available.
Still hoping for someone to reply and tell me about his puzzles that I havent heard of yet.
Also:
Ordered the Dot Box from an individual designer:
http://www.puzzlemuseum.com/puzzles/dot-box/dot-box.htm
Please dont spoil any solution if you read up on it, or just wait for my impression in case its something you might be interested in as well.
Cost 50 GBP, yeah, I know its steep, but I am really curious as its also one of the puzzles that won first place in the puzzle competitions.
This looks really interesting. Be sure to let us know what you think of it once you get it. The product description on the website is so vague and pretentious that I can't even begin to imagine how to solve it, or even how to really interact with it.
Yeah, but thats what really gets me. How do you know if such a random small box is worth a bigger investment, if not for like... a prestigious puzzle competition. And then most of those puzzles cant be bought. Still cant get over that.
This puzzle is similar, you cant order it online, but you need to contact the designer via mail and he will give you payment info. Well, lets see how this actually works out.
I ordered the Cast Marble and Cast News yesterday due to this thread.
I just solved the Marble in around 30 mins. It was really fun but a bit easy although the solution was quite different from what I thought it would be. So I was definitely wowed for a moment.
I'm looking forward to the News!
Are there puzzles like this that consist of more consecutive steps? More than one trick involved? That maybe take months to solve?
Where can you buy these dot box puzzles?
I just solved the Marble in around 30 mins. It was really fun but a bit easy although the solution was quite different from what I thought it would be. So I was definitely wowed for a moment.
I'm looking forward to the News!
Are there puzzles like this that consist of more consecutive steps? More than one trick involved? That maybe take months to solve?
Where can you buy these dot box puzzles?
I sent you a private message as I am not sure posting email adresses openly is all that nice. Fair warning though: I have not received any further confirmation yet and there is no store/tracking whatsoever. I gave this guy money out of blind trust and I cant vouch for anything yet. I will report back here once I received it, though.
NEWS seems like a good choice for you then. I am currently playing around with Padlock, which I find really amazing due to its multiple states. Gonna write more once I solved it.
There are people who are stuck on some of the harder Hanayama puzzles for years, but it depends a lot on the person. I am currently pretty happy with the level 5 puzzles (Padlock, Equa, Vortex), which I havent solved after 1 hour on each yet. If you want something that takes you ages to solve, you might want to take a look at the bigger brethren, like the Revomaze.
The Revomaze looks good but it's pretty expensive. Can anyone of you tell a bit more about it? Is it worth it? The product video suggested it's base on a lot of twisting...
Its basically a hidden maze, where you twist the individual components and need to remember sequence and path and if you go the wrong way, you need to start at the beginning. The easier ones can be solved in 20ish hours, the harder ones in 80. I dont have one myself yet, but I definitely plan on grabbing one eventually as they seem to get pretty good impressions from buyers.
I just found a couple of blogs that also do reviews of these kinds of puzzles. The Revomaze must be really hard and fun to solve. I hope to get one sooner or later.
I don't know if it's okay to post this here but this is a nice blog doing reviews of lots of hanayama puzzles. They also state their solution time which is very helpful when deciding what to purchase.
Please go ahead and link more stuff you find. Always good to see interesting takes and opinions. I am still hoping for some puzzles that I dont know yet.
I chuckled a bit when I noticed, that this guy as well started with Marble. Its really a splendid little piece.
cpp_is_king
Member
Mobius is fine. Nothing spectacular, took it apart in about 20 minutes, not hard to put back together either.
Given that I only own marble so far, is there something you'd recommend instead of mobius?
Cylinder and Rattle are my two favourites after Marble, but I currently like Padlock a lot as well. Still havent solved it, though.
cpp_is_king
Member
My personal favorites are twist, chain, and elk (increasing order of difficulty)
Just ordered 10 more as I'm going to be on a 20 hour flight later this month
Just ordered 10 more as I'm going to be on a 20 hour flight later this month
Nice to know, dont have Twist or Elk yet. Gonna move them up on my wishlist.
Also, 20 hour flights sound... painful.
cpp_is_king
Member
Elk is interesting. Eventually you solve it and have no idea what you did differently than you've been doing. Takes 3 or 4 full solves before you "get it".
I like twist because the way it moves around itself is really unique. Think of those internal mazes except that it's an external maze where the two halves move around each other
I like twist because the way it moves around itself is really unique. Think of those internal mazes except that it's an external maze where the two halves move around each other
Reminds me of Cylinder, which I can only recommend if you havent tried it yet.
cpp_is_king
Member
I wasn't crazy about cylinder but I might not have stuck with it long enough. One piece came off and then I lost it.
In general though I don't like puzzles where the internal mechanism is hidden. Same thing with news and nutcase. With twist every little minutiae is visible
I tend to agree in regard to puzzles with hidden mechanisms without any feedback, but I didnt feel that way about Cylinder. There is actually a way to figure out the inner construction and how it needs to be solved without having it open. Its just a more... subtle way I guess by observing resistances. It definitely was a lot of prodding and probing, but by the time I opened it, I had a pretty good understanding of it.
How long did it take you to solve these?
I just unpacked the News. I have no idea where to start. This is so much fun. With the design and all, it really makes you feel like Indiana Jones.
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