Tag Archives: Puzzle Box

Karakuri Small Box #1

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When I won the auction on Puzzle Paradise recently for the Stickman Box #2, Robert was kind enough to throw a small extra into the package when he shipped it to me. He didn’t mention what it was, only that he’d include a little extra for me to pass around at Puzzle Parties.

When to package arrived, I found buried amongst the packing peanuts a Karakuri Small Box #1.

Karakuri Small Box #1

Karakuri Small Box #1

There are a number of different versions of this particular box, with a different outer appearance. The internal mechanisms however are the same. This particular box is KK-1-3 and is made from Keyaki, Katura and Walnut.

This should be a really simple box to open. The information from the Karakuri group themselves is “At first, we produced around 10 works through trial and error to create “Karakuri Small Box Series”. This was the most popular work among those works. If you know the solution, you can open it with only 3 moves. But, almost no one can open it without knowing the solution. We named it just “#1″, so we wouldn’t give you a hint with the name.”

I have to agree, that this is a tough little box. It took me around 20 minutes to open over several weeks messing with it for a few minutes each night before I went to bed to open it. The solution is really simple, but only the first move is obvious. After that two clever little tricks are used to make opening the box a little harder.

I really like this box, and it brought a smile to my face when I finally opened it. The Karakuri small boxes are a great way to get an affordable Japanese puzzle box that not only looks good, but has enough of a challenge to slow you down.

These can be bought from a number of sources including directly from the Karakuri Creation Group or through Puzzle Box world or Puzzle Master .

Stickman #2

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If you read my post on the Puzzle Paradise auction, then you’ll already know that I had won this puzzle, and was eagerly waiting it’s arrival. Before I delve into the review, there’s a few things I want to mention.

This puzzle came directly from Robert Yarger’s personal collection, so I had the pleasure of talking directly with Robert about the puzzle. Robert is a great person to deal with. He was really open about the puzzle, and we have chatted back and forth since the auction finished. Not only did he send #2, but he also threw in a Karakuri small box as well for me to take to puzzle parties for anyone there to have a go at.

While we were talking, Robert mentioned that Stickman #2 was one of his favourite designs, due to the rhythm of the moves when opening it. He plays guitar as do I, and likened it to playing “Babe I’m Going to Leave You”, by Zepplin. Having been able to play with it myself, I know what he means.

So the puzzle itself is a good size, at 11″ x 6″ x 5″. And it’s solid. This is not a puzzle you would be worried about passing to someone to try. One small thing to note is that one of the sliders (the one on the back of the puzzle) is a little loose, and tends to move on it’s own, with the help of gravity. That does mean that for some of the moves, you need to take a little care that it doesn’t move before you want it to. On the whole not a big issue, but it does mean you have to watch what you’re doing.

Solving the puzzle for the first time is really nice. There’s a few obvious moves, then you hit a wall. There seems to be nothing else to do, but you’ve not opened the box yet. After a little more exploring, you find out what to do, and get a bit further. Another 10 minutes of playing and you can remove the first hidden compartment, which reveals the second … and third although you don’t realise it at first!

Knowing that there are 4 hidden compartments in the box, you know there is more to find, but at this point nothing else will move. The final step is really clever and needs some out of the box thinking which I really like. Overall, I really enjoyed this and am very pleased to have it in my collection. Robert tells me that it can be opened in 30 seconds (all 55 moves) so I have some practice to do!

There are a couple of things that disappointed me slightly. The box comes with a small book which gives the number of the box in the series, and a little bit of background to Stickman. That’s great. But The next page is the start of the solution. Now I quite happily put the book down without reading the solution, but I’d rather the solution had been sealed so you had to make the decision to read it, rather than it being a little too easy. Again, not a big issue, but something I’d rather have seen done differently.

The last thing is a little oddity, which I’ll have to ask Robert about. The book tells me I have number 24/50. Stamped on the bottom of the box along with the Stickman logo is 18. I have to believe that this means it’s #18 out of 50, but I’m not sure. Again not an issue but a little inconsistency.

If you get the chance to own one of these, then I’d say go for it, you’ll not be disappointed. And Robert, if I’m in your neck of the woods, or you’re out by me, the beer is on me.

Everyone loves Cake.

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This time I have a review of the four Karakuri Cake Boxes, 1 through 4. I picked these up from PuzzleBoxWorld.Com a family run business specialising in puzzle boxes.

I am already a member of the KaraKuri Club, however these were at a good price, and I can’t really say no to adding new puzzle boxes to my collection.

Each box is an inch wide by 2 inches long, so none of these are big boxes, and by Japanese measurements would be considered as 2 sun boxes.

In general all the boxes are superbly made, and each has it’s own unique opening mechanism, making all of them worth having. None of them are difficult to open, requiring no more than 3 moves, so I had each of them open in less than a minute. If you like this style of puzzle, then I’d say they’re worth picking up, but don’t expect them to challenge you.

The first box entitled “Cheese Cake” is what I would consider the most ‘standard’ of the boxes to open. It follows the usual pattern of sliding end panels, and is fun for it’s design more than it’s solution.

The second in the series entitled “Fruit Cake”, and it’s easy to see why, is a little unconventional. At first, the lid will move a millimetre and no more. There seems to be nothing else which moves, and it leaves you wondering. After a short time exploring, you’ll come across the solution. It’s not a standard puzzle box, but does follow a fairly simple locking mechanism that is well enough hidden to keep people guessing.

Number three in the series is entitled “Chocolate Cake”, and judging by the dark brown wood used, it would be a fairly rich cake at that. No huge surprises here, it’s pretty standard and won’t pose any real challenge to someone familiar with puzzle boxes. Again more fun for its looks than the challenge.

Finally we have “Marble Cake”. The Zebra wood used in this box giving it it’s distinctive look. This one had me stumped for the longest time. When you’ve been looking for and finding sliding panels, to find that none of the panels on this box move at all tends to throw you off the solution. I think this is my favourite of the four just because of the mechanism used. If you were only to buy one, I’d make it this one.

Some New Puzzles

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This is the first puzzle review I’ve done here, as I’ve not made any real progress on my own puzzle, so I thought I should throw something up about the three Karakuri Christmas boxes I was lucky enough to get.

For those not familiar with the Karakuri group, they are a set of master puzzle designers in Japan who create exquisite puzzle boxes. Of all their work I have seen, from the simplest and cheapest of their works, to the most complex, all are superbly handmade from some beautiful woods, and will look superb in any collection.

I was lucky enough in the post Christmas lottery to get all three of the boxes I was looking for. They are “The Magic Hat” from Shiro Tajima; RL and Snake Cube from Hideaki Kawashima.

All three boxes arrived inside their own cardboard box, and sealed in plastic inside that box. It may seem strange but all three of these boxes are fairly large for puzzle boxes. RL is the largest at 7″ cubed.

After opening these, I played briefly with each, but couldn’t open any of them. With the exception of the Magic Hat, the others had a standard sliding panel mechanism, however they didn’t open obviously.

RL was the first I opened, and it has a rather nice mechanism. Without giving anything away, there is a dual mechanism here that may throw some people off, making this more interesting to give to your friends to try. It took around 10 minutes for me to open this box, and it opens in 3 moves, so not a complex box by any stretch however it is a very pleasing box with a good internal space. I also think there may be a second compartment in this box, so I will play with it more to see if that is the case. The contrasting woods used here with the dark main panels, and the light stripes gives the box a very strong presence. Mr Kawashima even added a note to say that with age, the dark wood will continue to darken which is nice, so you don’t think anything is wrong with the puzzle. As someone who is working with wood, I know this and it’s entirely natural, however not everyone may know that this could happen.

My box has a couple of lighter areas in the dark wood, which is probably a result of the piece of wood being used having been covered where the rest was exposed to light. You can see this in the picture, both on the top panel to the right and the top of the front panel. I have no issue with this, and it will darken within a short time, but it may upset some people as they may feel it detracts from the look. Personally, it’s wood, I love that it’s not a ferfectly uniform colour.

As a slight aside, Purpleheart which is a vibrant purple when first cut, will become a darker brown with age, so although a lot of puzzle designers and wood workers like it for it’s bright purple colour, it is work remembering that it’s not going to stay that way.

The Snake Cube was the second cube I managed to open however it really should have been the first. It has a fairly standard sequential sliding panel mechanism, however the final move caught me out. I expected the panels to continue to slide, however once the lock mechanism is released, the lid lifts off. It’s very well seated so doesn’t fall off, and you can move the box around quite easily without discovering this (as I did for about 10 mins). On my third attempt (and after having opened the RL box) I opened this since the final step is the same. The contrasting red and light woods used on this box give it a really pleasing look, and it’s a nice piece to display. I feel all the works from Karakuri fall into that category though.

The final box I opened was the Magic Hat. This is a beautiful box, that seems to have no obvious way to open it. The Rabbit on the top is attached to a circular piece of wood under the lip of the hat rim, and will spin freely. Nothing else seems to move, and spinning the rabbit just makes him (or you) dizzy. I did eventually figure out how to open this box, after around 30 minutes, and was treated to a wonderful detail inside the box. The mechanism is remarkably simple, which I think adds to the effect when you finally open it. Of the three this is probably my favourite, as it has the best fun factor, and will be a piece that people want to pick up when they see it.