Mint - First thoughts and review

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jason
Posts: 56
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:31 pm
Location: Arizona, USA

Mint - First thoughts and review

Post by jason »

I ordered the Mint on May 7th and received the tracking number from Phil on May 9th. Looking at the tracking history on royalmail.com, it was dropped at the post office on May 8th, arrived at Heathrow on May 9th, was on its way to Los Angeles on May 11th at 9am and arrived in Los Angeles on May 11th at 10:20pm. From there it arrived at the USPS regional facility in Santa Clarita on May 13th. Then, in transit to the next facility on May 14th and then in transit again to the next facility on May 15th. On May 16th it arrived in Arizona and was delivered the same day. I was lucky my wife was home today as you have to sign for the package.

The mint is my first Revomaze. I am waiting for the 7 puzzle set to arrive and wasn't planning on ordering any more until they arrived and got a chance to try them out first. But after seeing the positive reviews on the forum, I decided to go for it. When I ordered it I believe there were 4 left in stock and shortly thereafter it went into pre-order status. I think others may have seen the positive reviews and ordered it on that basis.

The packaging was well done, with the outermost layer in bubble wrap marked in huge red letters "FRAGILE". My 3 and 5 year old kids were very excited and could not wait to see what was inside. After very carefully removing the bubble wrap with a razor, Inside was a brown cardboard box wrapped in sealed plastic. Finally, inside the cardboard was the Revomaze box. The box is well crafted and the opening flap is magnetized, resulting in a satisfying experience opening and closing it. Inside the box there is a cloth flap over the maze. The maze is packed tightly between foam blocks. There is a card inside with some basic instructions and links to the websites. The maze is wrapped in sealed plastic. Finally after months of waiting, I got to try the Revomaze.

The puzzle has a good amount of weight to it. It is a beautiful green color. The nut moves in a full 360 radial turn in one direction, with one spot giving some tension, followed by a click. In the other direction the puzzle does not turn past the point of the click. I could not for the life of me get the puzzle to do more than this. My 5 year old kept giving me advice which was greatly amused me. I handed it to him who commented immediately about how heavy it was. Almost immediately after that he was able to enter the maze, much to my disbelief. He was able to open the shaft about halfway to reveal past the serial number. After being reset he handed it back to me. I still could not figure out how in the world he entered the maze. Handed it back to him and he entered it again. Outwitted by a 5 year old. Unbelievable! He showed me how to enter and from there I played around with it for 20 minutes or so.

I could feel various features, and wondered if they were relevant to the solution. I could get to one area and not know how I got there and was not able to repeat the movements again. Sometimes I ended up in one area and sometimes in another mysteriously.

I handed it to my wife who after about 1 minute said to me, "thanks for getting me addicted to this thing".

After a few minutes, it's a bit uncomfortable to hold the nut and turn it... is this allowed to say on the forum?

I attached the puzzle grip that ReallyBigTeeth designed and uploaded to thingiverse. I highly recommend it. I don't feel any discomfort in my right hand any more. I don't have any screws to secure it tightly, but it fits snugly enough to use by itself. I'll stop at the hardware store over the weekend and buy a screw and nut.

For the first 20 minutes I kept thinking, I've explored everything, there's no way to progress. Up and down and around, holding the edge of walls. Then the click and reset. Again and again with no progress. Maybe I was missing something. Then suddenly a new area appeared. It was quite exciting and a great feeling to find this area and it gave me great hope. I had no idea how I got there but after several retries I can now get there consistently.

I still don't know exactly how I fall into some of the traps. It is fun to work through it slowly. My brain automatically and naturally started to create a 3d map of things and I believe I'm starting to understand what's going on in a few parts. I've used it for about 40 minutes to far.

I commented to my wife that it's satisfying and relaxing just to move the maze around and explore casually, to which she replied, "no it's not".

Overall, I am satisfied with the purchase. After the long wait, it's definitely worth it. The puzzle itself is of exceptionally high quality and the box is also high quality. I'll keep puzzling around with it until the easier puzzles arrive and probably switch to one of those.
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Tim
Posts: 26
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2018 5:53 pm

Re: Mint - First thoughts and review

Post by Tim »

Welcome! Sounds like you’re hooked! :mrgreen:
Ratdz
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:06 am
Location: Missouri, USA

Re: Mint - First thoughts and review

Post by Ratdz »

Very nice review. Sounds like your hooked, especially if you've ordered the 7 piece set!
Bronze BR02400
Mint MT01015
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darctangent
Posts: 534
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2014 3:17 pm

Re: Mint - First thoughts and review

Post by darctangent »

Very nicely written.
Thanks!
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jason
Posts: 56
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:31 pm
Location: Arizona, USA

Re: Mint - First thoughts and review

Post by jason »

I am definitely hooked. I really appreciate the design of the maze so far as it seems intentionally designed to be an enjoyable experience. I really can't say more without giving away anything about the puzzle.

I have one question about the core. The core on my maze has very small but noticeable machine marks on it. They are like circles stacked one each other all the way up the core. This results in a scratching sounds as the core moves up and down, similar to a fingernail on a vinyl record. I can also feel this in my hands as I navigate and explore. Is this typical for these puzzles? It would be nice if the core was completely smooth.

Also, can I be added to the mint user group?
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darctangent
Posts: 534
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2014 3:17 pm

Re: Mint - First thoughts and review

Post by darctangent »

Added you to the Mint Owner group. :)
Are the machine marks on the main cylinder surface or in the maze channels?
Cheers,
Shane.
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jason
Posts: 56
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:31 pm
Location: Arizona, USA

Re: Mint - First thoughts and review

Post by jason »

They are on the main cylinder surface, not in the tunnels. I can run my fingernail on it and hear a scratching sound. I'll try to figure how how to send you a picture.
jason
Posts: 56
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:31 pm
Location: Arizona, USA

Re: Mint - First thoughts and review

Post by jason »

Attached is a picture of the core. I had to reduce the image size, but hopefully you can see the rings left by the machine.
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20180517_100309 sm.jpg
20180517_100309 sm.jpg (101.36 KiB) Viewed 9154 times
jason
Posts: 56
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:31 pm
Location: Arizona, USA

Re: Mint - First thoughts and review

Post by jason »

Below is a link to a higher quality image

Image
jason
Posts: 56
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:31 pm
Location: Arizona, USA

Re: Mint - First thoughts and review

Post by jason »

Image
The rainbow pattern near the sleeve is just the light reflecting in an odd way. In reality there are straight perpendicular rings here just like on the rest of the core
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