Last year I got myself a metal Hanayama puzzle. Ever since I was a kid I enjoyed brain teasers. The physical ones always bring back memories of being with my Grandfather at a truck stop in White Pass. All the tables had those peg games that consisted of a wooden, triangle board and golf tees. The goal was to have one peg remaining.
I love to challenge my brain in various ways and think of it like a good workout. You need to have a variety of exercise to be in good shape: cardio, strength, endurance. If I'm not using my brain on creative endeavors like writing, photography, or sculpting, I'm reading about science or watching physics related videos. These mechanical puzzles are a great thing to round out the mental exercises... and they're just plain fun!
These are like mental treats. Small, easy to pick up and savor. The one I got last year is called Marble. I spent a fair amount of time with a certain approach to solve it, then accidentally stumbled on the answer. Once you've solved it, the motion is pretty satisfying.
You can see the scratches and scuffs on this puzzle in the photos. It has delivered a lot of joy over the past year. After solving it, there's more fun to be had in watching a friend try to figure it out. These puzzles also make a curious accent to my bookshelf while I'm not tinkering with them.
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The Marble puzzle ignited my interest in this line of puzzles and I recently received three more for my birthday. My favorite of them has to be Equa. Its appearance and motion remind me of an atom.
These are all disassembly puzzles, so the goal is to separate every piece, then reassemble. You'd think putting it back together would be simple after you get it apart, but that's sometimes even more challenging. I feel I'm on the right track with the Equa puzzle, but I haven't solved it yet.
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These three Hanayama puzzles progress in difficulty. All Hanayama puzzles are graded 1-6: Marble is a 4, Equa is level 5, and this piece, Quartet, is the most difficult at 6. As the name suggests, this puzzle comes apart into four pieces. I've yet to attempt Quartet; I figured I would solve Equa first.
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Lastly, I received a wooden puzzle (not by Hanayama) called Powder Keg. It itn't particularly difficult, but still satisfying to disassemble and rebuild. This one's also more likely to be enjoyed by my kids and at my son's level of solving. He can get it apart but hasn't managed to reassemble it on his own yet.
The reason I like this one is the motion of the wooden pieces remind me of puzzles boxes. It's amazing how they must be moved in a certain order to make way for the other pieces to move. There are some impressive examples on YouTube and I'm always impressed by woodworkers capable of crafting such intricate objects.
This mass produced piece is likely cut by a CNC machine, but it's still fun to click-clack the pieces through their motions and fit it all back together again. I also enjoy the abstract angles created as it comes apart.
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I hope you enjoyed these photos of my current mechanical puzzle collection. Do you enjoy brain teasers, geometry, or have childhood memories with these types of puzzles? I'd love to read your comments.