I saw one in a second hand store. Took it apart in less than two minutes. Putting it back together was the hard part. It took me about ten minutes to match the pieces. Too easy to be level 9. I was expecting this to be one of your easier puzzles. A lot of fun though. Will show it to my friends..

fun puzzle! taking it apart: level 1, puting it back together: level 5. nice design.

Another easy puzzle but it's got a really cool design.

*Much* too easy to be a Level 5. I solved this in just a few minutes and a couple of non-puzzling friends have done the same. Reassembly isn't any harder, provided you're careful when you take it apart the first time. This should be, at most, a Level 3. That being said, the puzzle has a fantastic feel in the hand and is enjoyable just to play with. It also gives an initial impression of being obviously impossible, which of course doesn't turn out to be the case. That's fun too. Great puzzle, dinged a star only for the terribly inaccurate difficulty rating.

I got it when I was seven years old. I quikly solved it... Then I spent next five years trying to put it back together... I reallly like it, but I can't say anything about the difficulty level, that everyone has been whining about because I only have this and the Cast Cage.

Very easy, not TOO easy but it is awesome for a puzzle collector like myself because of the shape and it is also great to juggle around while going through everyday life. Mine got stuck :( the puzzle was perfect, it was just a cousin of mine who didn't know how to put it back together and forced it :( I will undoubtedly by another one soon. Really loved it. But its difficulty is overrated.

is really fun at first.... took about 5-10 minutes to take apart.... putting it back together is another thing... but this puzzle seems to be not very well crafted. the thing is that it should come apart only one way. at first it really was so. i've had the puzzle for a few weeks now and i seem to have only one way it doesn't come apart so its not that hard at all to other people i give it to... 5 points for the idea. other than that :(

A very interesting puzzle with such unique mechanism that often make jaws drop for those who try it for the first time. It is decently sturdy with adequate weight, and the solution is very elegant, requiring out-of-the-box-thinking. As others said before, the spiraling staircase patterns that one can make out of it are truly amazing. The unique shape with jigsaw-like indents are sure to catch the player's attention and the enjoyable gameplay makes that attention stay there until the puzzle is solved. A good advice from me and the previous commenters: If you (or the person you gave it to) succeed in taking it apart into 2 sets of pieces, then STOP immediately. The five pieces differ only by hundredths of millimeters or so, but it means you can only put them back together after a good 15-30 minutes of trial-and-error if all pieces get separated and mixed. And if you try to put together two pieces that don't want to get together, then they may become stuck together (this is called the Cast Spiral Paradox).

This was a very fun brainteaser, My Friend had a go first, she got it into all the seperate pieces and didn't know how to get it back together, so i spent hours trying to get it back together, as soon as i got it, it became so obvious to me how it was to be solved, it has been the funnest Brainteaser i have had so far.

I love this puzzle. It's really hard to put this one back together. Even after knowing the solution, I still seem to put the pieces back incorrectly quite often. This is fine, but what bothers me is that if you hand this puzzle off to a friend it often just falls apart in his/her hand while they are messing with it. Since people have no idea how they took it apart, they are now EXTRA stuck on trying to put it back together. Then I'm stuck trying to reassemble it.

I give this puzzle a low rating only because its difficulty level is completely wrong. There is NO WAY this puzzle is a Hanayama 5 (puzzlemaster 9 - gruelling). A 2 or maybe 3. Taking it apart is really easy. Putting it back together is a little harder unless you pay attention to one piece, then fit the others around it properly. It is a reasonably elegent puzzle for one this simple. Just shouldn't have this rating.

I like playing with this puzzle. But, it was very easy to figure out. I solved it relatively fast compared to how I usually do on a puzzle. But it is fun to play with...

2nd only to NEWS, this puzzle is a joy to play with. Perfect pocket size and fun to share...

I'd give this one a skill level 7. Too easy for puzzle die hards. But its look/feel/movement makes it a great coffee table/conversation piece. Only time will tell if my friends/family can jam it up like Lisa mentioned.

I agree this puzzle is not of highest difficulty. The most difficult part is convincing yourself it is possible to disassemble - it seemed impossible to me, at first. Harder to put back together, best follow the solution for this so it doesn't get stuck, or be careful.

This puzzle has a wonderful feel and is fun to do. I am a high school mathematics teacher and I keep puzzles in my room for my students to play with if they finish a test early. They absolutely loved this one. The only problem is that if you put the pieces together incorrectly when you are trying to reassemble it, even if you don't force them, they have a tendency to get stuck. After the first one jammed so badly that we couldn't separate 2 of the pieces, I bought a 2nd puzzle. I thought maybe I just had a defective model. But, it happened again. So, while it's a great little puzzle, I am not going to replace it this time. (I agree with the previous reviewers that it should be rated 7, though. It's not that hard.)

Yeah, this one wasn't too tricky. Should be 7 or 8 maybe, Vortex was tougher. The spiral-staircase pattern that it forms is quite visually appealing though. It took about 15 minutes to get it apart and a bit longer to get it back together.

Too easy to be 5 stars on Hanayma rating....