Clever Toys is a Czech based company that produces quality wooden puzzles, some of which using colored beads. An example of that is the Flower puzzle, made entirely of wood, even the beads. It's supposed to be a tricky one, but is it that difficult? Read more to find out...

The Flower puzzle is comprised by a hardwood frame, nicely polished, and three sets of seven beads, each kept in place inside three ring slots. What surprised me in the design of this puzzle was that the beads were also made of wood - usually they're made of plastic. And they're actually natural wood colors, not painted as you'd first think.

The puzzle moves by way of a rotating wheel at the center which makes the beads swap places with one another, thus mixing it. Inside each ring you can also rotate the beads freely. The center wheel only moves three beads from each ring at a time, so you must choose carefully which beads you want to move before turning the wheel. There's a small wooden handle at the bottom of the frame to make turning the wheel much easier. The movement is smooth, it doesn't jam or anything, unless you have the beads misaligned.

The difficulty is surprisingly easier than I was expecting. Rated as a difficulty level of 9/10, I thought this was going to be one hell of a challenge, but I solved it in about 5 minutes or so. And yes, I had it pretty well mixed, so it couldn't have been an easy to solve pattern. I honestly believe the puzzle is no harder than a level 7. I also have solved another one of their bead puzzles (seen below) and the difficulty was about the same.

Closing Comments:

Overall, the Flower is a very fun puzzle to play with, despite being not so challenging. It's an original concept,  simple but fun and entertaining. The company has a few other designs featuring beads, all very interesting and deserving of your attention.

Availability: You can get the Flower puzzle at your favorite Canadian puzzle store, PuzzleMaster. Check out other designs by the Czech company.

Links:

Clever Toys Official Website

I'm sure you've seen this concept in countless puzzles already: You have an object trapped inside a cage and you need to find a way to free it. I happen to own at least two different designs like this, the Ball in a Cage (you can find a metal version here) and the Cast Cage, but there are many more. My latest addition, the Owl in a Cage comes from a Czech puzzle manufacturer, Clever Toys. They have other designs with different animals too, which you can get here from PuzzleMaster.

The Owl in a Cage is a bit bigger than the Cast Cage, measuring about 9cm x 5,5cm (3.5" x 2.2"). Both the cage and the owl are 100% wood with different types used in order to get a distinct contrast. You can find other animals with this same concept, but I really liked the owl design. It's very well made, unlike the others, in my opinion, that don't seem to have taken the same amount of attention to detail as this one (the eyes, or lack thereof, for example).

With all these different designs, but similar concepts, I don't know for certain when was the first version introduced. I did found this Owl in a Cage a bit different from the two I'd tried before, which is a relief, because I was afraid to solve it in a matter of seconds, considering that I already knew how to solve the other two.

The level of difficulty seems to be about the same as the Ball in a Cage, level 8/10, even though I believe the owl version was a little harder to solve. For you to get an idea, the Ball in a Cage doesn't have moveable parts, whereas the Owl does have its wings maneuverable up and down. Also, its different parts, the beak, the claws, the tail, all have an important role in the solving process.

It took me about 20 minutes of fiddling with the puzzle to finally set the owl free. It was as if it were all comfortable in its cage and didn't want to get out... Don't use too much force though, as you might break some of its fragile parts. You might need to apply a little force, but don't insist if you get too much resistance. It's a signal you're not doing it right. After setting it free, you need to return the owl to its cage. I found this task much easier, and subsequent solves were hardly challenging, as I knew all the steps I needed to do.

Closing Comments:

The Owl in a Cage was a very nice find and I don't regret getting it. I would've if I had chosen any of the others in the same series though, like the Blackbird or the Canary. There's just not much originality there and the design is bland to say the least. If you like this type of puzzles, go for the Owl. I'm sure you'll love it.

Availability: You can get a copy of The Owl in a Cage at PuzzleMaster for $15 CAD . For other puzzles in the Clever Toys family, click here.