Cast Rattle

Here is one of the newest puzzles from the extensive Cast series from Japanese puzzle manufacturer Hanayama:

This is the Cast Rattle, and once again Hanayama have done a great job at making it look shiny and amazing. The Rattle is made of four identical pieces which have been finished in a nice bright chrome, and the name has been etched onto the side of one of the pieces. On a shelf this puzzle looks brilliant!

It isn't immediately apparent from looking at it why it is called the Cast Rattle, but once you have it out of the packaging it makes perfect sense. The pieces do quite literally rattle around as you hold it, and to begin with it seems like there is no method to the madness, but obviously that isn't the case.

It actually took me a little while to solve the Rattle, probably an hour or so in total over a couple of days. For a while it really seemed like the pieces were impossible to separate, but after some real thinking I worked out that there could only be one solution, but even putting it into practice was a little difficult considering that the pieces won't stay still.

I will say that the Cast Rattle does come close to being one of my top favourite puzzles in the Cast series, but the main reason why it isn't right at the top is simply because it doesn't hold a solid position when in it's starting position. I know I know...it's called the 'Rattle' for a reason, and honestly it doesn't make it any less decent as a puzzle, but I'm just picky like that.

The Cast Rattle was kindly sent to me by the guys at Puzzle Master, and if you head over there you will find the whole Hanayama Cast series, as well as a ton of other very cool puzzles!