Karakuri Cube No.1

Now for another of my favourite puzzles! I know I'm reviewing these Cubes in the wrong order, but I bought number 3 separately before buying the other three.

This is the Karakuri Cube No.1 from the Karakuri Creation Group in Japan:

This is the first in a series of four Cube puzzles, and don't be fooled by the fact that all four of them look very similar because they all have very different opening mechanisms. This Cube is made out of keyaki, maple and katsura woods, and once again is beautifully finished to the point where you cannot distinguish one side from the other at all.

Personally I found the No.1 Cube to be the easiest to open. All of the Cubes have relatively simple mechanisms, so none of them are particularly difficult, but I felt that this one had the solution which was the easiest to find and implement.

A total of three steps are required to open this puzzle box, and the mechanism (although simple) is pretty satisfying to solve.

So far every puzzle from the Karakuri Creation Group that I have come across has been nothing short of amazing, and this one is no different. The four Karakuri Cubes are puzzles that really take pride of place in my collection at the moment, and I would highly recommend them to anybody.

I bought my Karakuri Cubes from Wil Strijbos who (as you may remember from my earlier review) made the Aluminium Cylinder puzzle. Wil makes regular trips to Japan and brings back all kinds of goodies, so if you're after anything in particular it can't hurt to drop him an email.

See also my review of the Karakuri Cube No.3: HERE