Moeraki Game No.3
In an interesting story, Ivan Moscovich created the same puzzles and patented their design in the US in 1985 (US patent No.4,509,756)
and were licensed to Meffert Novelties in 1983. Ivan and Kasimir have reached an agreement around the puzzles sale and distribution,
and I'm pleased to be able to once again restore the review with full consent of both Mr Moscovich and Mr Landowski!
Moeraki Game No.3, designed by Kasimir Landowski and Ivan Moscovich, is a two dimensional manipulation puzzle.
The puzzle was awarded with a gold medal at the International Trade Fair
for "Ideas-Inventions-New Products" in Nuremberg for its innovative design.
The name Moeraki originates from the Moeraki Boulders. Moeraki Boulders are up to two meters
high spherical stones which only appear in the south of New Zealand close to Moeraki.
I liked Moeraki Game No.3 at first glance, as it look has turned out well.
The colours fit perfectly together, the beads sparkle and glisten slightly and remind me of candy.
The beads can be shifted very smoothly and it feels very comfortably to hold the puzzles in the hand.
Moreover it makes a solid impression.
The puzzle is accompanied by a game CD with three different difficulty levels.
The puzzles is packed in a stable plastic case which protects the CD and the puzzle from any scratches.
The puzzle design captivates through its simplicity.
Thus, the puzzle consists of two closed elliptical rings which intersect on four places.
Both orbits have the same shape and each contains 26 beads.
One orbit lies orthogonal to the other one so that the outer shape resembles a X.
The four crossing points divide each orbit into four sections with different lengths,
i.e. with 8, 3, 8 and 3 beads. The beads are present in 4 different colours (red, blue, green and yellow).
There are 8 beads per colour as well as 16 transparent beads.
All beads of one orbit can be shifted along it.
Each of the 4 (8-bead long) sections on both orbits is given a different colour.
The aim is to order the beads according to their colour on the orbits as indicated on the board.
Many beads can be easily placed at the beginning in spite of a high combination 48! / (8!8!8!8!16!).
Thus, within a short time I had only two beads left over which were a hard nut to crack.
To develop a solution, I needed to observe where the beads were located after one movement sequence.
I could solve the puzzle within three hours and perceived it as moderately difficult.
There are only few puzzles where the puzzle design is at the same time simple and elegant
and which are nevertheless difficult to solve. This here is one of them.
Especially the fact that at the end only two beads are left over, spurs on to master the puzzle.
Therefore I can highly recommend the puzzle to anyone who likes a challenge and does not give up easily.
You can buy the Moeraki Game No.3 on the official website.