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How Cast Puzzles began

Puzzles have a long and inspiring history. The oldest known mechanical puzzle appeared in Greece in the late 3rd century – a square divided into 14 parts that created different shapes. In Iran ‘puzzle-locks’ were made as early as the 17th century.

The next known occurrence of puzzles is in Japan. In 1742 there is a mention of a game called “Sei Shona-gon Chie No-Ita” in a book. Around the year 1800 the Tangram puzzle from China became popular, and 20 years later it had spread through Europe and America.

In 1893 Professor Hoffman wrote a book called Puzzles; Old and New. It contained, amongst other things, more than 40 descriptions of puzzles with secret opening mechanisms. This book grew into a reference work for puzzle games and modern copies exist for those interested.

At beginning of the 20th century puzzles became greatly fashionable and the first patents for puzzles were recorded. A boom occurred creating a wide variety of puzzles – the designs of which, a Japanese company Hanayama, drew on and brought back to life as Cast Puzzles.

This company was founded by Naoyasu Hanayama in 1933, and now it is one of the World's leading manufacturers of board games, toys, and puzzles for people of all ages. The company's products are based on creative ideas, and are respected worldwide for their high quality, challenging games and toys.

These disentanglement puzzles are made of zinc alloy and cast into molds – hence the name cast puzzles. The puzzles incredible metal works of art – challenging and great ornaments!

Many of their puzzles were designed by Nobuyuki Yoshigahara "NOB" who was one of Japan's most celebrated inventors and commentators of puzzles. Nob was especially interested in metal mechanical puzzles and he designed many of them.

The first puzzles were released in 1983 and since then, more than fifty different designs have been made. Some of them are remakes of old classics that were popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Puzzle designers Oskar van Deventer and Vesa Timonen have contributed with several designs through the years and many more had their designs picked up by Hanayama.

Each puzzle has its own theme, its name and the company's engraved, which makes each and every one of them, very unique. Their packaging presentation is exquisite and it's very nice to see, in the box, the correspondent Japanese character for each one. If you're a collector and like to have them displayed on a shelf, their box is a nice way to do this.

There are six levels of difficulty, from the easiest (like the Bike) to the extreme (like the Elk). The goal is always the same. Can you take them apart? Some of them are so difficult that sometimes you don't even know where to begin. And, as if it weren't enough, you have to put them back to their original state when you solve them. Don't be fooled, as some might be even harder to assemble back together than to take apart, because when you're trying to separate their pieces, you might not pay attention to the method that you used or you may as well got lucky and you don't know for sure what you did to solve it.

Every Cast Puzzle is a true puzzle masterpiece enjoyable for every puzzle lover!