THE LABYRINTH Like all Hanayama puzzles, the production quality is very high. My puzzle came with what appears to be a black painted finish. I much prefer the cast copper color used with their other puzzles. That's really my only complaint. Compared to the other Hanayama puzzles, this one is not a favorite. I love the appeal of the puzzle, however I didn't not have as much fun doing the puzzle as others. I suppose the reason for this is that you can't see how you're traversing the maze. Instead of logically thinking how to solve the puzzle, it boils down to repetitive movement of the ring and feeling what works. Although this puzzle was rated a Level 5, it took me less that 15mins to figure it out. That included taking it apart and putting it back together. The Level 1 Key puzzle took me near 20 mins and let me with a much more satisfying feeling when completed. The same with the Level 1 ABC puzzle. Each of those took me longer and required more thought. Take the ratings of each of these Hamayama puzzles with a grain of salt. Overall, this is a beautiful and unique puzzle, but didn't give me the replay value and sense of accomplishment as some of the other Hamayama puzzles. THE VORTEX For whatever reason, when I go to write a review of the VORTEX puzzle, Amazon takes me to my LABYRINTH review. Therefore I'll combine the two. The first thing that struck me is that both puzzles are rated a 5. Absolutely NOT! The LABBY is by far a much easier puzzle. Artistically, the LABBY looks and feels great, but as a puzzle it's not as satisfying. Onto the VORTEX. I had my apprehensions on buying the VORTEX. I could imagine since there where three pieces that looked similar, that the key to the puzzle was somehow aligning and manipulating all three pieces at once such that they snap into place. I'm happy to say this is definitely not the case. It's not a puzzle of dexterity. Overall it's very well thought out. Each piece is unique yet similar. The tolerance on how the pieces is exceptional. I can't say that for all Hanayama puzzle. This one feels solid with no forcing of any moves. Unlike other Hanayama puzzles, I'm writing this review before I even finished the puzzle. I've been working on it for days. However, don't consider that as a comment on how frustrating the puzzle is. It's taken me days because it's quite unique from the other puzzles, and therefore took me a while to understand how it works. Mind you, I'm not rushing to the finish. I love to over analyze the design. And to that I say this puzzle is superb. So well thought out! Not to give any spoilers, but to give depth as to why the design is so nice. Being 3 pieces, you can see each piece weaves with the other two. You end up in an A goes into B goes into C goes back into A loop. But there's two ways that happens. The puzzle will let you start with A goes into C and C can go into B and you can even get B to go into A, but as a solution that loop will not work for all three. So right away you find the first trap. Gives much appreciation for the simplicity and yet complexity of a 3 piece puzzle. Next you can see that any two pieces can actually fit together in two ways. So even when start with A goes into B, you need to get the hook just right. Is it B loops into A, or the other way around. The amusement is that when you work with just two pieces, both will look like valid solutions. That is until you try working piece C into the mix. This puzzle is not frustrating like I thought it would be. It's taken me a crazy long time, but that's more because I've been using it like a figit toy. Because not only is this a nice puzzle, it's a work of art. It's fun just picking up any two of the pieces and sliding them together. The replay value of this puzzle is certainly there. As many have pointed out, getting the puzzle apart and putting it back together are two completely different tasks. I say don't even bother trying to watch how you take it apart. Best to keep fiddling with the pieces until it comes apart. This is one of those puzzles that won't just come apart in your hands. You will spend significant time taking it apart, and you'll spend far more time learning to put it back together. I'm probably within an hour or two of finishing the puzzle. Mostly due to admiring the work of each piece and seeing just how they go together. I can now see how each piece is supposed to fit with respect to each other. Now it's the fun part of making it all happen. As another appreciation for it's design, there is a nice way in which two of the pieces are supposed to lock together. There's that hook concept of does A hook into B, or the other way around. Two of the pieces are created such that you need to perform the hooking of A into B first, then hook B into A, then unhook A from B before laying the two pieces together to form their final solution state. My description sounds confusing, but point being that even the solution isn't a straight forward approach. There is this concept of hinging the pieces in together in a specific step by step fashion. Overall, I rate this puzzle more difficult than the ENIGMA. Many ask why these puzzles are rated the way they are. The VORTEX is clearly a more difficult puzzle. The ENIGMA also being an excellent design. The reasons the puzzle ratings are the way they are has to do with the number of moves it takes to finish the puzzle. The ENIGMA is rated a 6 and the VORTEX is rated a 5. That's because the ENIGMA takes more moves to complete. However, the number of traps a puzzle can have are not considered. That's why the VORTEX is in my opinion a more difficult puzzle. For those that wish to rate the VORTEX as a Level 7, I recommend mastering the puzzle first. Don't just put it back together once. Put it together several times and master all the traps and dead ends. Get to the point you can do the puzzle in less than two minutes. And then you'll understand the ratings better. That's not to say I agree with the ratings. It's just an understanding as to how they're rated. Such things as rating on difficulty are very subjective. It took me longer to solve the KEY2 puzzle than it did the LABRYNITH. In my field trial, I would have rated the KEY2 puzzle, which is incredibly easy, harder than the LABBY. But it's only easy because now I know the solution. Another highly recommended puzzle that impressed me in it's design is the DOT puzzle. Some would do that puzzle and say it's easy. However I'm pretty sure it wasn't easy the first time they did it. Either that, or they just like to brag. The DOT puzzle is rated a Level 2. It only has a few moves to get to the solution. However the puzzle has traps that make doing those moves difficult. Those who say the puzzle is easy just got lucky on choosing the right path. The DOT puzzle is a great example of why Hanayama puzzles are rated they way they are. It's a low Level puzzle. Easy after you master it, but not so intuitive. It's also one of my favorite puzzles I just do over and over as a figit. The Level rating of Hanayama puzzles is a hot topic many can disagree on. Myself included. As you browse the puzzles, know the Level has more to do with the number of unique moves required to complete the puzzle and not so much the actual difficulty. The LABBY, several moves but over all easy. The DOT, only a few moves with a more satisfying result. Best thing to do is read reviews. Ignore the reviews of those who say something is way too easy. Some puzzles (ie: LABBY), can be solved by luck alone. Any puzzle can be solved by luck. The more traps a puzzle has, the less opportunity luck will land a solution. One thing I can certainly agree on is the VORTEX is a definite YES!
