SHASHIBO - The Shape Shifting Box 998709

The “puzzle” is mesmerizing upon the first few inspections and explorations. But there really isn’t anything to “solve;” only shapes and permutations to discover. It can be a bit challenging to rediscover a shape or to reach it in ever shorter times and moves, I suppose; or you can race an opponent to a set solution if you both have your own cube. But I was left less than satisfied. The intrigue soon wore off, although I still mess with it if I’m a bit bored or need a distraction or mild mental stimulation. The maker wildly exaggerates by saying you can make 70 shapes. I’m thinking they have a very loose definition of “shape,” and are including an endless array of irregular asymmetrical shapes that I regard as merely transitional between one fixed shape and another. I think they also include what I call unlocked forms - the magnets don’t hold the form in place and it may collapse if you don’t hold it in position with your fingers (often with two hands required). Maybe they are even counting some forms twice, since they are “shaped” differently when viewed from opposite perspectives. In terms of fixed shapes where the form locks into place and you can rest it on a surface and have it stay that way indefinitely, and counting each distinct form as only one, regardless of its appearance from different angles, there are maybe only a dozen or so; certainly not 70. I have not looked into the app that goes along with this toy. Maybe it makes the play more engaging or challenging? But to me, for a fraction of the cost, twisty puzzles like variations on “Rubik’s” cube, pyraminx, mega minx and X-cube, etc. provide superior mathematical and spatial reasoning challenge. I suppose it makes a good fidget toy and you can smile as your 5-year old says “Look Mom, I made a new shape,” regardless of whether the discovery has any symmetry or pattern to it, in much the same way you smile when someone presents you with all of one color on a single side of a 3x3 magic cube, incorrectly arranged, yet triumphantly announces that they’ve “solved” one side. Okay, sure. As the puzzles are displayed on the listing, it’s difficult to see what the images of each one is really like, so it’s difficult to choose which design you want to get. They need to fix that, so that as you go through the images for each design, you only see shapes that were made from that particular color scheme or theme.