We love puzzles that invite us to think just a little differently. We also love puzzles that are both visually and conceptually inviting, that allow for many different levels of challenge, that are easy to learn, well-made and designed, and have solutions that are easy to read; and we have a deep fondness for puzzles that are self storing.
It is, therefore, with consummate glee that we introduce you to Back2Back, another puzzle from that puzzling genius Raf Peeters of Smart Games.
You get are 11 pieces – pleasingly colored, smooth to the touch, inviting to the fingers. Actually, there are only 10 different pieces – one of which is duplicated. Each of the different pieces is a unique color and shape. Each has segments that fit through the holes in the puzzle grid, and at least one segment that doesn’t (it’s half the height). You can put a piece in any of four different positions, on either side of the puzzle grid. I repeat, italically: on either side. Fascinating, this either-sideness – especially given how you can put pieces on one side and cover up the parts of pieces that didn’t go through the holes with the non-hole penetrating parts of pieces that you put on the other side.
Back2Back comes with a colorful booklet of 60 puzzles in 5 different levels, and the solutions thereof. It’s self-storing (which is more than you can say about some people), with enough room for all the pieces and the puzzle booklet.