AGALP. That’s right, AGALP. What does AGALP mean I hear you all murmur? Well, you’ll have to keep reading to find out...Isn't that tedious?
I’m thrilled to announce that I had the pleasure of receiving an early copy of a brand new puzzle designed and manufactured by infamous puzzle designer, Alan Lunsford.
Introducing – Cash Back!
Big things in a small package
Before I get onto the new puzzle, if you’re not aware of Alan’s previous works, then allow me to put it simply for you – Alan creates little cuboids of wonder, packing in arguable some of the best puzzling value into a 2in” x 2in” x 2in” 3D printed package!
The three Sequential Discovery puzzles Alan has designed and released prior to Cash Back are as follows – Unsafe Deposit, Bolt Action and Mighty Pin. The last and most recent of those three puzzles, Mighty Pin, was released in August 2021 – near on three years ago at the time of writing this review.
Standing out from the crowd
Since the release of Mighty Pin, Alan had taken a little break from puzzle design and manufacture, but 2024 has seen the exciting re-introduction to the puzzle scene for Alan, seeing the release of his brand-new website and brand name, Kinetic Crafts.
It’s been a long wait for the next puzzle in the series, and as soon as Cash Back landed at my doorstep, I couldn’t wait to dig in to see what Kinetic Crafts had been cooking up over the last few months.
The puzzle, on closer inspection, has all the great hall marks of an Alan Lunsford creation – the puzzle name printed boldly on the front, a (at this point hallmark) bolt that protrudes out of the puzzle, and then a total of 4 openings on the other sides of the puzzle – with the prized coin being visible through one of the windows.
The goal is simple – Remove the coin & reset the puzzle.
Progress was quick to begin with, I’d found myself with a tool and things had started moving along nicely, both literally and figuratively – then a sudden halt. I had to take some time going back and forth doing what I’d done until eventually I realised I could do something else by doing something else (ambiguity at it’s finest!).
After a few more moves I was presented with the prized coin, and I was left feeling satisfied that I’d conquered this little cube, filled with sneaky turns and unexpected moves. A glance over at the rule card – “Remove the coin & reset the puzzle” – Time to reset the puzzle.
My audible ‘ahhhh okay’ worked it’s way out of my mouth, as the realisation that this puzzle isn’t just a one way street, and that you’re going to have to do a lot more thinking to get everything back to where it was.
Cash Back is a wonderful addition to the cube collection from Kinetic Crafts, at this point it really is a triumph to see how different mechanisms can be used in such a small form factor across 4 different designs.
Simply put, Another Great Alan Lunsford Puzzle – AGALP.
Cash back will be available on 17th May at 1pm Mountain time from https://kineticcraftspuzzles.com and will be priced at $45.25 or £39.00.
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