Castle Builder Set - Tamas Vanyo by Pelikan

I’ve been anxiously awaiting this awesome puzzle by Tamas.  It’s a fantastic build from Jakub that has maximum replay value.

It is currently available as a back-order so be sure to head on over to Pelikan and grab one!

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:

“This incredible design and work of art created by Jakub and Jaroslav is a sort of freeform pattern creating puzzle (I am not actually certain how it should be classified). I saw this design from Tamás back in January when he published it on his FB page and it intrigued me. The beauty and intricacy of the pieces were unusual and I was hopeful that it might be produced in large numbers for the puzzling world to try. I was not surprised when Jakub showed it to me – he is probably the only craftsman that I know who would take on such a huge production challenge like this. The aim is to build a castle with a path from the bottom level to the top that doesn’t involve jumping. This sounds easy and just a matter of lifting the pieces out of the frame and placing them where you want them. BUT…whilst each of the pieces trapped in the frame seems to have a 2×2 footprint and looks like they should lift out, they won’t actually come out easily. There is a gap in a corner and they will slide around but this was not helpful in my early casual play. I remembered the previous framed puzzles that Pelikan had made and realised that the frame comes apart allowing the pieces to be slid out and also shows why they are trapped – The pieces have protruding feet! From here, it can be seen that the pieces are based on a 3×3 footprint with the consequence that they cannot lift vertically out of the frame and also means that constructing your castle requires more thought than just placing the pieces just where you want them for the stairs and paths to line up. This will need a fair bit of space to spread out and then some considerable thought to design your own special castle. I have not tried to solve it yet due to time and space constraints but can’t wait to get to it – it will be a fun new challenge and when finished will look absolutely stunning on display! This will need to go on the sideboard in my dining room – don’t tell Mrs S!”