Alcatraz the Puzzle

Puzzle: Alcatraz
Brand: Puzzlemaster
Inventor: Brian McDermott
ST: N/A

Alcatraz Puzzle

Every puzzler now and then would probably get to the Alcatraz Puzzle after a bit of surfing on the web. It is a fairly intriguing puzzle with a ball trapped inside a square cage with bars on both the front and the back blocking any possible means for the ball the escape. It lively represents the real-life Alcatraz Prison, as from what I've heard that's about how big the cells are in there to their prisoners. Quite something curious enough to be picked up on first sight.

The inventor was a magician, and was greatly interested by puzzles too. When he discovered that there's no puzzle in the world that satisfied him, he decided to design a good puzzle that he'd never met. And so the Alcatraz was born. It was originally used for his magic shows, but then developed to be the well-known puzzle. You can read the full story here.

I've got the puzzle from quite an earlier order from Puzzlemaster along with a few others, but haven't decided to review it until now-I do have a reason which I'll explain more later. So fiddling with the puzzle the ball would move a couple of millimeters and except from that the brass bars rotate freely and move up and down a bit, there's seemingly no possible movement whatsoever. I think that it is actually pretty obvious how the ball comes out-the challenge lies in working out how. I must've spent rather a good hour on this one without having the slightest progress-the puzzle gives absolutely no feedback!

Jailbreak!

Finally I gave it up and looked at the solution. Have to say it surprised me! I would say that the solution of Alcatraz is very hard to find, but that's not because it was designed well. It's because no good-seasoned puzzler would ever do that to their puzzle! I'd say that Alcatraz is a good idea with a great appearance but poorly designed. No one would consider a puzzle box as a good puzzle if it has been glued together and the solution was to hit it with a hammer... Get the idea? (do not get the wrong idea-you do not break Alcatraz to solve it but it does require some serious force.)

Not quite a good experience this time and although as stated on the website most people give it a very high rating I'd be hesitant to recommend it to others. And although with time it does became easier to open without that much force I still have pain (yes pain!) opening it. It's hard to write a negative review but I feel the need to state my thoughts about that puzzle as people would be taking review into account before buying puzzles. I am sorry if I offended anyone.

The Alcatraz puzzle is for sale here.

Temple Escape!

Puzzle: Temple Trap
Brand: Thinkfun
Inventor: Raf Peeters (Thanks for noting)
ST: N/A

Temple trap-level 17

This is Temple Trap from Smart Games (Thanks for the correction), a company which sells puzzles with pieces to move with and challenge cards for you to orientate them in order to start the challenge. They're mostly made in plastic which enables the cheap price-and with 48 different level challenges in one puzzle you really can't go wrong in buying one.

Lvl 17 solved

Upon selecting a level you begin by arranging the tiles and placing the figure. Then, try and move the tiles so that the adventurer can escape from the temple from the exit on the top left. This is not an puzzle like the normal moving tiles because you have to be moving the figure corresponding with the tiles making a way for it. Then there were the added restrictions like the tile the figure was on cannot be moved, the figure can only get on green tiles by stairs etc... All to make this puzzle a fairly good challenge. In order to pass each level planning ahead is required as you sort out the steps one by one, and sometimes you'll get lost in the steps and go around in circles-so keeping track of what you've done is also recommended.

Having 48 levels with different difficulty I think it is suitable for all people from non-puzzlers to the masters, and would definitely increase your puzzling skills going up the levels one by one. It also includes a plastic cover so you can take the puzzle wherever you go and not worry about the pieces falling out. In my opinion it was a well-designed puzzle with a nice theme.

You can purchase it here from Smart Games, but I think they only ship to the US for now so I guess others will have to just keep waiting!