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The Shashibo puzzle box

- by Inge Lindemann

I love having my hands busy, but fidget toys are a little too brainless to keep me happy for long and I get bored of them very soon.

I was happy to find the shashibo cube. This little cube is tricky as it is beautiful! You can choose between 16 different cubs, and each cube has four patterns. Closed you can only see one pattern. But open the cube up, and you can discover the other three designs. the hidden magnets in the sides of the cube make it click into several three-dimensional shapes. Apparently, you can create more than 70 different shapes. But I’ll be honest to say I was only able to create about 20 of them so far. But getting the cube back into its original box-shape was probably the hardest part.

I really like the feel of this puzzle box. It is sturdy and the clicking together of the magnets is satisfying. It is not really a fidget toy, as you cannot play with it absent-mindedly, and you need both of your hands to change the shapes. But it is a very intricate and fun puzzle to play around with. And it does absorb you for nice stretches of time, as you try to get a new shape. And I can also vouch that 5-year old boys love to play around with it too!

It has been a finalist in the Innovative Toy of the Year Award for 3 years in a row. And should you ever be able to create all 70 different shapes, you can always combine two or more Shashibos to build larger shapes and create more possibilities.

Inge Lindemann