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Category: Puzzles & Skill
Name: Motif Cubes
Company: NEWARTIFACTS
Age: All Ages
Price: Not Specified
Category: Puzzles & Skill
What It Is: This nine-piece set of smooth hardwood blocks on a sturdy base features artistic design elements that merge perfectly no matter which way the cubes are turned. It’s referred to as an anti-puzzle, because there’s no right or wrong way to manipulate it.
What We Thought: Beautiful! It really is fascinating to start playing with the blocks in a very random fashion — only to realize that the result is not random at all. The way the red dots, curvy lines and natural wood patterns blend together is mesmerizing and a bit addictive. Part of the company’s mission is to integrate art into daily life, and I think they’ve done a superb job of it! Playing with the blocks also proved to be a relaxing, calming activity.
What Others Thought: Four reviews of Motif Cubes on FatBrainToys.com resulted in an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars. Reviewers praised the product for stimulating the imagination and exploration, and for its appeal to all ages.
Why They’ll Want It: It’s wooden, which alone gives the product an air of quality. It’s a set of blocks, which is downright classic. And in addition to being a “toy” of sorts, it effortlessly makes the perfect decorative element for a coffee or side table in a home. — Julie L. Jones, 12-15-09
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Name: SphereXyz
Company: LA1PRODUCTS
Age: 8 and up
Price: $19.95
Category: Puzzles & Skill
What It Is: SphereXyz features two hemispheres and two sets of colored tiles that can be moved within canals on the face of the puzzle. Once the tiles are mixed up well, the goal is to rotate the hemispheres and move the tiles along the two axes until the white tiles are at opposite poles and each hemisphere houses only one collection of colored tile — green or purple.
What We Thought: Similar to the method of mixing the puzzle, solving the puzzle requires one to continue rotating the tiles and hemispheres, but in a controlled, purposeful direction. Drawing from my experiences with the Rubik´s Cube, I understood that I might become distracted in trying to fill in one particular corner, just to end up realizing my other corner had been shifted to a point of no return. I might also become disoriented and lose track of what goes where. My strategy was to go at it in a structured, methodical way. I knew the beginning would be the easiest. The hard part is toward the end when you have a small collection of colored tiles remaining and you don´t want to risk gambling your set pieces in hopes of getting the miscellaneous floaters in their correct spots. Well, I gambled, and it paid off, as the pieces I had already stayed safe and the remaining pieces fell in correctly, solving the puzzle on the spot. Mixing the tiles around sometimes required precision by making sure all were aligned correctly; otherwise, you would run into a tile jam. The rotating hemispheres fell victim to the same situation, but overall, not something that was too cumbersome. I tried my best to purposely mix the two colors in certain arrangements that I felt would come back to haunt me when it was time to solve the puzzle.
Why They´ll Want It: It took roughly 20 minutes to solve the puzzle, which seems to lean on the easy side of things. Ask my coworker, though, and she´ll tell you she struggled with it to the point of giving up — so it can offer a significant challenge! Also, it may be tougher to the minds of children between 7 and 14, where it presents itself as a challenge requiring cognitive functions such as predicting outcomes, visualizing the actions of all the moving parts, and understanding how the puzzle interlocks together with all its components. I feel that with more time spent on this puzzle, it would reveal a more recognizable sequence of techniques, allowing the solver to continually change or improve upon his or her approach. This puzzle is a solid production that can serve as a good brain teaser. Its ever-changing configuration of piece layouts increases its shelf life, and it's nice to have around just to exercise the brain. — Allen Tran, 7/24/09
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Name: Pentago CE
Company: MINDTWISTER USA
Age: 6 and up
Price: $19.95
Category: Puzzles & Skill
What Is It: Pentago CE is a two-player, portable strategy game in which the goal is to be the first player to create a row of five marbles. The twist is that after a player places a marble, he or she also rotates one of the four squares that make up the game board, 90 degrees in any direction. The game comes with black and white marbles.
What We Thought: Pentago is so intuitive players can begin a game without even reading the directions, and its sleek design and simple concept make it immediately attractive. The more one plays it or watches a game of Pentago, the more its nuances are revealed. One reviewer found it reminiscent of an extended tic-tac-toe game, and a little weak on the defensive end — not as well developed in the area of giving players opportunity to directly interrupt their opponent by, say, knocking out an opponent’s piece or issuing some kind of trump card-like counter attack. He appreciated, however, elements that other players applauded, too: the simple rules, quick play, and opportunity for extended matches. “I like Pentago specifically because it’s not too hard, so it has a wider appeal with non-geeks,” another reviewer commented. One player noted that Pentago features the long-term planning of chess but without the complexity. And, it seems the simplicity of the game gives a novice a greater chance of beating an expert than games like Othello or Tannhauser do.
Why They’ll Want It: As one reviewer noted, “This is one of the most elegant [strategy games] I’ve ever seen.” The sophisticated design, “twist” play, portability and easy-to-learn rules are all pluses for Pentago CE, as is the fact that it can be effectively covered in mid-play so opponents can return to a game later on, if need be. Also, since a game can be played in just five minutes, it maintains a rapid-fire pace that keeps players from getting too discouraged when they make mistakes. — Julie L. Jones, 5/29/09
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Name: Hoppers® Jr
Company: THINKFUN
Age: 5-7
Price: $14.99
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: Scribble Puzzle
Company: SCRIBBLE MATS
Age: 4-11
Price: $5
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: GeoPuzzle Europe
Company: GEOTOYS LLC
Age: 4 and up
Price: $14.99
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: Puzzibits™ Flexible 3D Puzzle Art™ - Ocean Depths
Company: MANHATTAN TOY
Age: 6 and up
Price: Not Specified
Category: Puzzles & Skill
What It Is
The 150 flexible, interlocking pieces included in this set can be used to create three 3D designs — a turtle, a seahorse and an octopus.
What We Thought
TDmonthly staff enjoyed assembling the Puzzibits pieces to quickly create a turtle in its shell. The flexible plastic pieces easily fit together and it didn’t take us long to figure out how they should be connected. My 11-year-old stepdaughter also thought the kit was great and loved the feel of the flexible pieces.
Why They’ll Want It
Retailers raved about the original kit when it first came out. One reported that a grandmother returned to buy 12 more versions of the kit for each of her grandchildren, since nobody wanted to disassemble their creations once they were made. Kids will love being able to assemble the creatures in this kit using just the illustrated instructions. Or, of course, they could improvise and create their own. Once hooked, they’ll probably be back for more, so Puzzibits could generate some nice repeat sales. – Alison Marek 6/30/08
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Name: Glow in the Dark Dino 3-D Puzzles
Company: PUZZLED, INC.
Age: 5 and up
Price: $9.99
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: Mario Kart DS Visual Echo 3D Puzzle (Luigi Kart)
Company: HOBBICO
Age: 6 and up
Price: $7.99
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: Ball of Whacks
Company: U.S. GAMES SYSTEMS, INC.
Age: All Ages
Price: $29.95
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: Mini Tangoes Puzzle Game
Company: SMART TOYS AND GAMES INC
Age: 5 and up
Price: $4.5
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: Sudoku 4x4
Company: THINKFUN
Age: 5-7
Price: Not Specified
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: Eric Carle Books Block Puzzle
Company: MUDPUPPY PRESS
Age: 3 and up
Price: $13
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: Pirates Scramble Squares®
Company: b. dazzle, inc.
Age: 4 and up
Price: $9.95
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: Swimming Champions Scramble Squares®
Company: b. dazzle, inc.
Age: 4 and up
Price: $9.95
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: Happy Cube
Company: KYP SALES & DISTRIBUTIONS
Age: 5 and up
Price: Not Specified
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read this TDmonthly's Toy Expert review.
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Name: Boyz & Girlz Puzzles
Company: PLAYROOM ENTERTAINMENT
Age: 4 and up
Price: Not Specified
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read this TDmonthly's Toy Expert review.
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Name: Alaska Scramble Squares
Company: b. dazzle, inc.
Age: 4 and up
Price: $8.99
Category: Puzzles & Skill
Please click here to read this TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review.
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Name: The Continent Puzzles: North American Edition
Company: A BROADER VIEW
Age: 7 and up
Price: $9.95
Category: Puzzles & Skill
What Is It?
This 12.25” by 15” map of North America uses different colors to depict all U.S. states and their capitals, all Canadian provinces and their capitals, and most countries of Central America and their capitals. The thin cardboard map includes over 25 pieces and makes a solid educational tool for anyone who wants to learn their geography for the first time or just brush up on lessons they learned years ago.
What We Thought
This puzzle map stands out because most geography puzzle maps only include the states and capitals of the United States. As globalization increasingly brings world events closer to Americans’ doorsteps, it’s encouraging to see a product that offers children — and adults — the opportunity to learn about foreign lands in a fun and challenging way. However, this reviewer would have liked to have seen a single puzzle piece for a single state or country, rather than, in some cases, multiple states or countries on one puzzle piece. Also, eight countries in Central America were not included on the map, which is a little concerning if this product is to be used as an educational tool. However, it is understandable that the puzzle is only so big and that puzzle pieces need to be of a certain size due to small part choking rules. Also, the back of the puzzle does make note of the missing countries, left out due to their small size.
Why They’ll Want It
The pieces easily fit into the proper place on the board, and the colorful pieces excite imagination while kids learn their geography. It is a useful, fun and reasonably-priced product that will help kids better understand the world around them. Also, it makes learning the capitals of the United States easier come quiz time.
A Broader View´s ToyDirectory Listing
-- Vanessa VanderZanden, 7/29/05
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