Marble Puzzle

This is probably my favorite Hanayama cast metal puzzle, simply because of the delicious oily feel to the shiny metal (it has a so much more glossy look than this poor photo), and the way the puzzle entices you by showing you how it wants to come apart. Along with the Dial puzzle, the round middle of the puzzle rotates around freely, so examining that is the way to start. I played with it for hours, then days (I'm not much of a puzzle master on this one it seems), and in the end in my frustration I looked up the solution online, which of course made perfect sense when I saw how it comes apart. It is so easy when you see how... Do yourself a favor and wait until you have worked the solution out yourself, however long it is. The delight it will give you to see how the puzzle just comes apart in your hands, will be sweet. Because you can set the pieces to the unlocking position discreetly and quickly, this puzzle has great potential to intrigue your friends as you disassemble it instantly in front of them. I give this wonderfully tactile and fiddly puzzle a resounding 5 out of 5. It stumped me (that's not saying much) and as well it is so satisfying to play with in the hand and fool others with. I have bought several of these cast meta puzzles, and they all delight.

I saw these Hanayama puzzles when hunting for Christmas present ideas for family members and ordered this one and the Donuts after searching for the best puzzles in this range. I thought the difficulty rating of 4 out of 6 sounded about right. The puzzle is smaller than I had expected for the price, however once you play with it I think it is worth the money. It is very sturdy and made of solid metal pieces that won't break or damage easily. My family and I spent a few hours puzzling over this. Initially it was very frustrating and hard to understand how they could possibly come apart. After many hours it suddenly came apart in my hands! I then could not put the pieces back together! It is just as much a puzzle figuring out how to put the 4 pieces back together as how to take them apart. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a seemingly simple puzzle that's tricky. It's a great gift idea. I have also played with, and completed, the Hanayama Donuts (my current favourite), Elk and Baroque puzzles. I've enjoyed them all and will be ordering more for myself in this range.

I must say that this is one of the best things ive bought on Amazon. It is of high quality and feels expensive. It is quite heavy but sits nicely in the hand and has a very theraputic 'executive toy' feel about it. I bought this for my son for his 11th birthday-he can now separate and reassemble it with relative ease. Although we have eventually worked out how it was done, there's still a degree of skill required taking it apart and putting it back together again. And whenever my kids are bored they will pick it up and fiddle with it!! I would recommend this for kids as it helps them to visualise things in 3D and more importantly to use their brains instead of just being sat like a moron in front of a TV or computer game! Thumbs up to Hanamaya-i'm now thinking about which puzzle i will buy next.

I have bought this as a gift for someone, I am writing this to let other buyers know it is not puzzle level 4, it says puzzle level 5 on it, I bought it along with the Laby puzzle thinking a level 4 and a level 5 would be a good gift, but both are level 5 according to the box blurb, so I bought a third puzzle of a lower level. Now onto the review i bought a second one for myself as its such a attractive object it really is a piece of art, as a puzzle i took it apart within 2 mins but it took me hours to get it back in one piece as i was not paying attention when i took it apart in the first place,. Once it's done you still keep going back to it as its just a pleasing object, I've been practicing how to open and put it back together again with one hand, it is just something you keep picking up when bored.

My second Hanayama puzzle, the solution is slightly more difficult than the Donuts puzzle I bought first but the design is much more elegant, the mind that created this is a mind to envy. The design throws you down the wrong track from the off and, once arrived at, the true movement is sublime, it's not just the sense of pleasure at the thing finally coming apart but the simple mechanism is a pleasure to behold. The quality of casting is very good, packaging is very nice, if it's to given as a gift and it is simply wonderfully tactile, The precision of the design is really enjoyable, once you come upon the movement required it becomes very addictive. If you have any interest in problem solving and spacial thinking then buy yourself some Hanayama puzzles (or let your friends and family know that they've now have something they can get for that hard to buy for person in their life).

I haven't really tried this type of puzzle before but I was tempted to do so by good reviews. It feels nice and heavy in the hand and the quality is such that you're never in doubt about whether your actions are "allowed" since it can't be bent or forced at all. It took about 10 minutes to solve, with perhaps a little luck involved as well as guesswork. The solution is pleasing to experience! By observing the motion of the solution it was pretty easy to put back together. I find myself fiddling with it now that I have solved it - taking it apart and putting together again. I'll probably challenge family members to do it to. So, only10 minutes' worth of puzzling but still retains some value afterwards.

The product photos are not of the product that is delivered but the cheaper Eureka puzzle (see my photos). The puzzle itself was good.

This was my first purchase of this type of puzzle. After reading the reviews I thought I would start on this level. After unpacking this i was surprised how heavy it was. It is very well made and feels very nice with no sharp edges. This puzzle needs no force at all. You can manipulate the ball inside by gently moving the outside two pieces. I managed to get this apart within 5 minutes and then got it back in one piece within 20. After reading other reviews I was surprised how quickly this can be completed. I have also bought the vortex puzzle. I have yet to start this yet however that appears to be alot more complex than this one so gets a higher difficulty rating. I will definitely be purchasing another one of these puzzles. Of note my wife has tried this one and she is totally stumped. After 6 hours she is yet to get it apart. A worthy purchase