Quartet Hanayama Metal Brainteaser Puzzle Mensa Rated Level 6, for Ages 12 and Up

Super Brain Game: This Puzzle is a real challenge! It took my husband (a software engineer who loves puzzles) about 3 weeks to figure out. It's rated level 6 by Mensa, so it's tough but fun. If you like puzzles that make you think, this one's for you! Strong and Durable: This puzzle is really well-made. It's made of metal and feels solid. You can play with it a lot without it breaking. Fun for Everyone: Whether you're playing alone or with friends, this puzzle is a blast. It's a great way to have fun and test your brainpower. Overall, I'd say it's a winner!

My Husband loves getting these each Christmas. Definitely challenging and still hasn’t solved it

This is the hardest Hanayama I've tried so far, have to admit after taking it apart and trying for a few days to put it back together, I peaked at the solution...that didn't help! I think it would be a lot easier if the pieces were bigger; and that, really, is what makes it so hard; not the complexity so much as the corners and angles get in the way of each other, I end up w/a tight metal knot!. One interesting aspect is that if you form the 4 pieces in a square w/ the open ends in the center, you can close it up to form a solid, bigger square, 2 levels deep, and you can keep the thing together this way until ready to tackle it again. Like all the Hanayama's, it's well machined, sturdy.

It really is a unique device, fits in the palm and is hard but perplexing to figure out simply because there is not very many moving parts. It is a cool nick-nack which can be figured if held for some time and dimensions understood. The metal is a nice material which has faint engravings throughout its body, if I recall correctly.. Enjoy this if these masterful brain busters are your collection or forte. Very interesting to understand the dynamics of this physical object combined together which lasso reality in challenging ways, though not undermined of natural dimensions. Believe it to be a chain hanging loosely upon the open lock over our world. Twist and turn to reveal the simplicity which greatness of freedom lives upon. When you first pick this one up it appears that all the pieces are identical but in reality they are not - they are actually 2 pairs of identically shaped pieces and within each pair 1 piece has the maker's name stamped and the other has Quartet stamped on it. Initial attempts rapidly lead to the conclusion that this is not going to be a quickie! One movement is possible on either of the pairs (one easily and one with more difficulty) and after this you meet a dead end! At this point it dawned on me that being systematic may be important - I decided to try each of these movements with the other pieces starting in different positions. I decided to try each of these movements with the other pieces starting in different positions but now moving in different directions! Many things are possible and they all seem to end up more or less with the same impasse! At some point during this laborious trawl through multiple orientations and directions I managed to get 2 pieces rotated, progress 8) Again I could go no further and this time I struggled to put it back the way it came! So far I had been at it for about a week (not continuously, you dope! I do eat and drink and unfortunately have to work! about 3 or 4 hours in total). Just try not to drop it around

I bought this little guy about 6 months ago. I solved it after about a half hour of intense puzzle-solving, and I felt pretty satisifed with myself. I immediately tried to reassemble it, but only spent about five minutes on it before giving up and pledging to "do it later." Well, 6 months later with this little guy sitting on my desk, I've decided to give it another ago and...well, it's hard to describe how much more difficult it is to put this little puzzle back together than it is to solve it. Solving it isn't even the half of it. It probably doesn't help that I waited half a year between disassembly and reassembly, but this thing is definitely testing my brain. I've worked on it for about 3-4 hours total over the course of a week at work, and I feel like I'm still not close to a solution. So, in short, this thing is definitely worth the few dollars it costs. Although I see a little paint chipping over the piece, it doesn't really have an effect on the durability at all. This little guy is durable, so you could hand it to your kids to have them solve and put back together (which, if they do, you might want to register them in gifted and/or honors classes) with no worry of it breaking. I suppose you could be a little wary of possibly losing one of the four pieces when it's fully disassembled, but that's it. I'm new to the Hanayama puzzle hobby, so I'm not a veteran of the industry or anything, but I can say as an 'of average intelligence' male, this puzzle is incredibly difficult and it will definitely test your aptitude and motor skills. Buy it. Edit: After about 10 hours total of on-and-off attempts, I finally got this sucker put back together. It still blows my mind how difficult it is. If any other Hanayama puzzles are even close to the challenge this little guy is, I'll be buying Hanayama puzzles for a long, long time. What is crazy about this puzzle is I don't feel like it was a waste of time at all (it helps that I only worked on it at work). I was constantly being challenged by it, finding out new ways pieces fit, etc. It was a big learning experience and a huge brain teaser. One co-worker mentioned, "Thanks to that thing, you just prevented getting Alzheimer's disease", which is a homage to how much time I put into this. I suspect other people will have a similar experience.

This puzzle is indeed difficult, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who does not have patience or as an introductory piece into these types of puzzles. I have not yet solved it, as I have received it just a few minutes before this review is posted. Shipping was incredibly fast, I used the "normal" shipping (4-14 days). I ordered the puzzle yesterday. It arrived a few minutes ago, like I had stated earlier. Much, much faster than I had expected. I don't really understand the point of the educational value rating as the puzzle isn't really an educational tool (to teach patience and ingenuity maybe?). And rating how "fun" it is, is completely subjective. If you enjoy difficult puzzles, you'll enjoy this, if you are buying it just for the heck of it, don't you will not enjoy it. Be aware, this is a heavy puzzles. I was slightly careless, I held the puzzle above my face as I was laying down. Not a very good idea (I have a bruise on my cheek). It does feel incredibly tough but it has a shiny finish to the metal, which will probably scratch up and wear away with time. Can't really think to say anything else at the time of this review. If you have questions, ask and I'll try my best to answer. I'll update my review in time but there will probably be no significant changes for a few years. Thanks for reading. =)

Ok... so I know everyone thinks their kid is the smartest around... well my kid is... (I taught him algebra at age 4)...and he loves challenging puzzles... most of them he solves in less than 3 minutes. We have bought level 6 puzzles before...which he quickly defeated. This one took him an entire 12 minutes... which means the average person (adults included) would find this to be more than a bit challenging. Nice puzzle!

Quartet Puzzle: This puzzle is the hardest one I have from Hanayama. I still have not solved it which makes me love it even more. Once I get it apart I'm sure it will be even more of a challenge to get it back to square one. I love these products. I've always been a fan of puzzles but never cared for the wooden ones. The reason behind this was due to the build quality and how it feels in your hands. Since you will be playing with these puzzles all in your hands, it needs to feel study yet achievable. I currently own 6 of the Hanayama products and I enjoy each one thoroughly.