Hanayama Cast Puzzles

[TheWaddler]

i got the Vortex and Quartet for Christmas. the Vortex i have completed after about 3 days, but crikey is it hard to remember how!!! i've been working on the Quartet for about a day so far and it's quite a toughey.

These are my first two official casts, we have got a cast elk knocking around somewhere that we got out of a cracker years ago (when crackers were actually good!!!), though im not sure its an official Hanayama

[pcad]

IMHO, the Vortex and the Quartet are some of the hardest Hanayama puzzles. The Equa may be even more difficult though I'm not a fan of what makes it difficult.

The Vortex is my favorite Hanayama puzzle and I do have most of them. If you really understand how the pieces work together there is absolutely no need to force anything. I found that practicing/experimenting with any 2 pieces at a time helps you figure out exactly how the pieces work together.

Enjoy them !

[allardwza]

...picked up a copy of Cast Harmony form Wil yesterday - think it's really cute and quite "accessible"!

allard

[Paradox]

I agree with pcad in that the Vortex, Quartet and Equa are some of the hardest of the Cast series thus far. This however makes them some of my least favourite in terms of solving them. I'd much rather solve the Marble or Loop as they are far more enjoyable, plus you can hand them to anyone to play with. I'd only ever hand the Equa to someone I don't like very much.

[TheWaddler]

Yeah I asked for them especially because they were the hardest Casts (and because they're cheap for relatives!!!).

I will end up getting most of the Casts at some point but they aren't on my priority puzzle wishlist. My birthday is in two months so, I'll probably end up getting some more then

[TheWaddler]

...picked up a copy of Cast Harmony form Wil yesterday - think it's really cute and quite "accessible"!

allard

do you mean the Cast Radix, cos i can't find a Cast Harmony anywhere?

[thayneq]

equa is to Hanayama as Red is to Revomaze

[allardwza]

...picked up a copy of Cast Harmony from Wil yesterday - think it's really cute and quite "accessible"!

allard

do you mean the Cast Radix, cos i can't find a Cast Harmony anywhere?

No young padawan, I meant Cast Harmony ... sigh....

[Paradox]

Someone needs to do their homework I think...

[pcad]

Sounds good.

In general, most of them are worthwhile and range from trivial to hard to solve. Of the ones I have there are some I like more than others for various reasons. These are my favorites.

In the the difficult category:

Vortex - Great feel in the hand, can be opened with no force.
Quartet - sorta like two puzzles. The interlocking rings are difficult and can be done with a minimum of force, but the easier large ring solution feels best in the hand.
Enigma - Has nice clangy sound to it. If done correctly, requires no force. Long sequence of moves to solve. Most like a "tavern" wire puzzle.
Chain - Nice feel to it. Has quite a few wrong ways to do it. No force needed.

In the classics category:

Horse - If you don't have a version of this double horseshoe you should. Not difficult, just elegant.
Star - just a nicely made version of another classic puzzle. Nice substantial feel to it and a nice finish.

The next puzzles just feel good in the the hand. These are the ones that I'm most likely to carry around with me.

Loop - OK, I don't wear it as a necklace, but my wife does. Simple, unless the solution doesn't occur to you. What else is new?
Baroq - Really thought the puzzle was not made correctly for a while. The correct sequence of moves aren't very obvious. There is one point in solving this where it is a little tight and needs just a bit more of a nudge than most of the the other Hanayama puzzles.
Donut - I could just spin these rings all day long. Forget about solving it, which isn't too hard, this is just a great thing to fidget with.
Rattle - Very well named. Another great fidget puzzle. About the same difficulty as the Donut, but it's almost more fun if you don't take them apart. BTW, my wife can't stand the sound of it, which makes it even more useful in some cases.
Spiral - great fidget value, but is a bit heavier than the others and doesn't make much noise. I love the way it forms a spiral staircase shape.

I'm sure I left out ones that are other peoples favorites, but these are my favorites. Some others that almost made the list are Hook, Key, Key 2, Box, Marble, and Violin. I like some of the silver and gold colored sealife oriented puzzles too. The best of them is the Seahorse. Unfortunately I find the gold color rubs off after playing with them for a while and they tarnish a bit too easily.