...Kuchenstuck?

 One of the things I wanted to do when I started this blog was to occasionally review bad puzzles. Most bloggers understandably, for very good reasons, concentrate on puzzles they enjoy and want other people to enjoy too. There are very few resources to warn people away from things that just suck. And there are plenty of puzzles out there that suck, I should know, I made some of them.

Even accounting for personal taste, whatever objective criteria we use to define what makes a good puzzle, there are some that fall short and still, somehow, get released into world for an unsuspecting idiot to buy. There are some with poor build quality, some with unforeseen shortcuts, some that can be bricked through no fault of the solver. Worst of all, there are some that are just dull, unoriginal and feel like a slog to solve. 

Which brings me to Kuchenstuck... 

I LOVE THIS PUZZLE! 

Ok, fine, I'll talk about a bad puzzle next time.
Maybe. 
If I feel like it. 
You can't make me, you're not my real dad. 


Can an idiot solve Kuchenstuck? 

It's not about the destination, man. It's about the journey. 

This is a tricky little bugger, though it doesn't quite rise to the level of 'difficult'. The important thing is that it never, ever gets frustrating. Even when you're going round the same circle of moves for the billionth time, the feel of it is always a joy. Part of that is Pelikan's build quality, unbelievably smooth and precise. A 3D print would still be tricky, still be good, still be a very smart design, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as tactile. 
It's like one of those video games where they get the controls in such a sweet spot that you don't really care about progressing, just playing is enough.

I was about to propose a new genre of 'haptic puzzles' but then realised that's basically just fidget toys. 

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