Rizal, Aquinaldo, Barasoain, Kusing 25, Walang Galang, Katmon, Apolaki, Visayas, Mindanao, Sanib, Bella, Abrihi, Unluck #4, & Luzon
Rex Rossano Perez, Acrylic
Sometime in 2019, not too long before I would discover and join the mechanical puzzle discord group, I saw Visayas by Rex Rossano Perez pop up on PuzzleParadise; it was not so easy to find affordable sequential discovery (SD) puzzles at the time. This was a year or two before Alan from layerbylayerpuzzles would create Bolt Action and its brethren or PuzzledByPiker would create Free the Five or Tye from NothingYetDesigns would create Pair O’ Dice or Brandon from Puzzled Wolf would create Ansel… Puzzles seemed to come out much less often in the olden days of yore, pre-2019, before CR had garnered as substantial a puzzling audience and Covid sent people home to discover that there is great fun to be had with the right bits of wood, metal, and plastic.
As a puzzle with a particular affection for take-apart puzzles, it is not surprising that I find Coin Release to be an excellent sub-genre (after boxes, of course); whether relying on sequential movement (SM) or some kind of trick mechanism (or a mixture of both), I am always drawn to the mystery surrounding a goal with no clear path. Upon seeing Visayas available for pre-order, I was taken by the coin release-iness of it and quickly mashed the buy-out button to await the puzzle’s release.
(Rex tends to sell pre-orders for Buy-Out on PP (using a set price rather than an auction) and states in the listing that shipping will occur after a certain date; I am always happy to order when I can and receive whenever it’s ready – while some puzzlers may hesitate at the sight of a pre-order, there is really no need to do so with Rex: he is a legit and well-known puzzle-maker whose pre-orders are consistently fulfilled. PuzzleParadise is Rex’s main way to sell direct; a few of his puzzles have also been sold in the past by CubicDissection and you can usually find a few designs on PuzzleMaster at any given time – it has several at the time of this writing. I should also mention that Rex produces puzzles from other genres and designers as well – a bit more about this at the end of this post).
After paying the invoice, I did what I generally do upon finding a new puzzle or designer: I scoured the puzzle blogs for information, learning that there were a number of other, somewhat similar looking puzzles by Rex as well (you can check out some of these posts from PuzzleMad, Jerry’s/JL Puzzles, and GF’s Puzzle Collection).
Visayas was the first Rex Coin Release (RCR) that I received and it would take me long enough to solve that I would first end up buying and solving others in the series before finally getting a discord nudge that got me through the opening with a great and powerful “Aha!” Since then, Rex has continued to design new RCRs and other SD puzzles, while occasionally re-releasing older designs as well.
I figured this post might be useful to those who may be curious about Rex’s puzzles generally or any one in particular; selfishly, it was good excuse to re-solve (and open) each of the 14 existing RCRs and do a brief write-up of each. The goal of most of these puzzles (except when it isn’t) is to release the captive coin that can be seen through the circular window on the front the puzzle. The coins on Rex’s are generally Philippine piso or centavos but some later releases decided to forego the coin (likely, to some extent, due to some silly rules about shipping coins internationally…. which is obviously just NATO trying to protect Big Pharma’s fear of puzzle-based mental health support: 3 out of 4 nerds agree: “it’s more effective then (prescription) drugs!”). Some recent reproductions of earlier RCRs have included acrylic coins instead of real currency. Rex evolved and this became an opportunity to thematicize (themate?) RCRs by integrating small tokens into the design, making the acrylic “coins” into playful elements that tie into some other discoveries made along the way. Regardless of whether it is a coin, token, or another goal entirely, the series includes a diverse group of puzzles that vary widely in terms of mechanism, style, and difficulty.
Ok lets (finally) look at some puzzles!
Note on Potential Spoilers: I will not be describing any of the specific steps or mechanisms nor showing pictures of anything other than a puzzle in its reset state; however, Rex’s puzzles generally blend SM and SD mechanisms and I thought it would be helpful to say which type is favored in any individual puzzle. I do not consider this to be a spoiler but wanted to mention it nonetheless.
(Arranged in mostly chronological order of design/original availability)
Rizal
2.75″ x 2.25″ x 0.5″, Blue and Black, 5 Layers, 1 Piso
This is the first RCR (I believe) and is probably the least difficult of the bunch – even still, you may find some aha’s as you figure out whether you’re actually on the right track or not. At first, it seems simpler than it is; there are no apparent openings or protrusions on any of its sides and there only seems to be the one panel on the top and bottom. As you begin making some tangible progress through its SM mechanisms, you will realize that there is a bit more going on before this coin will be yours. Resetting the puzzle is essentially solving it in reverse and affords you the opportunity to clarify how you solved it; it can be easy to miss a detail or two that might complicate things in reverse, but it is mostly clear.
Aquinaldo
2.75″ x 2.25″ x .75″, Black and Yellow, 6 Layers, 5 Piso
Aquinaldo takes things a bit further, increasing the thickness of the puzzle to further develop the complexity of the SM mechanism. There is an obvious double-layered panel passing vertically through the puzzle, with a skinny bar passing perpendicularly through the bottom. This puzzle also features a second goal, to “find the hidden secret,” adding more puzzling to the experience. This added goal shows how Rex is looking at ways to maximize the square footage the puzzles’ footprints provide, giving the puzzler more to do sometimes even after the coin has been released; in this case, the additional goal extends the solution a bit and leads to a better understanding of the puzzle’s complexity. The reset is mostly the puzzle in reverse, although I found the second goal to give me a bit of trouble as I had to work out what had happened where; a bit of logic and observation and you can clarify things and get the puzzle back to its initial state. This all makes for a fun SM puzzle, although perhaps not overly difficult.
Barasoain
2.75″ x 2.5″ x 0.75″, Gray, Blue & Red, 6 Layers (5 full and two half layers), 10 Piso
Barasoain again steps up the overall complexity and begins to integrate some SD elements into its mechanisms. The appearance alone makes the added complexity (as compared to Rizal and Barasoain) clear, with multiple sections on the top and bottom that appear as though they may do something, as well as a small protrusion at the top and a hole on the back. If you have solved the previous two RCRs, you may make some relatively quick progress, leading to something that clearly does something else….. only, that something else doesn’t seem to be happening! This puzzle had me confused for longer than I’d care to admit, and was the first of Rex’s puzzles to make me wonder if there was something wrong with it (there wasn’t). Some close and careful observation, combined with a bit of trial & error (and perhaps a bit of that thinking thing), and you should find yourself past this wall, gaining access to the coin. Resetting is straightforward, just reverse the steps and it is ready for someone else (or for you to try again in a year or two when you’ve forgotten how it works….. not that this ever happens to me, of course).
Kusing 25
3.25″ x 3.25″ x 0.5″, Red & Black, 5 Layers, 1 Piso
Kusing 25 is a fan favorite – I considered it one of the top two or three RCRs until some recent releases surpassed it, which doesn’t make Kusing any less good: the difficulty ramps up significantly, with layers of complexity that go well beyond the previous entries in the series. It is significantly larger than previous RCRs, and is the first to feature holes and/or moving sections on all 6 sides, with a thick bar passing perpendicularly through the bottom. The SD elements are more significant, interacting with the SM mechanisms in dynamic ways that make for more possibilities than mere trial & error can comfortably account for – yes, this may be enough to luck you through, but pay close attention and think and you can intentionally work out the steps to solve it. This is a puzzle that I’ve heard many a puzzler say that they needed to re-solve multiple times before they could really understand it; the more time you spend with this one, the more you begin to realize just how much stuff is going on under the hood.
Speaking of which, this was the first RCR that I decided to completely disassemble (sorry, Johnny Five) to see exactly what is going on inside – I am glad I did as it is even more complicated than I had thought! It was very cool to see just how many little bits of acrylic are used and to check how closely my mental image matched the actual puzzle (I’d give myself a B-). I have since made a habit of disassembling his puzzles after solving them – figuring out how it all goes together can be a puzzle on its own, especially if you let it sit in pieces for a few weeks! Just be warned: there’s a lot of individual pieces in there, oftentimes more than you may realize (even in some of the simpler ones), so be sure to open it above a catch-all or dice tray (or whatever you tend to use). While the screws and such can be replaced, everything else is a custom piece and replacing those won’t be as easy.
Walang Galang
2.75″ x 3″ x 0.9″, Green, Blue & White, 7 Layers (6 normal and 2 thin), 5 Piso
Rex continues to impress with Walang Galang, yet another step up in complexity, difficulty, and fun-esstness resulting in a puzzle that also tends to be at one of many puzzlers favorite RCRs. Seemingly random holes are on three sides, with multiple panels that look like the may do something and a hole on the back. The puzzle again mixes in some SD (more than Kusing, I’d say) to give you a bit more control over some aspects of the puzzle, while also confusing things considerably. There is a lot to get through and after some fairly quick initial progress and a false sense that the path was clear, I quickly hit a big wall; despite having things to do, it was difficult to obtain a sense of progress as I chased my tail for quite some time before eventually figuring out what else needed to be done. There would still be several more walls to overcome before I could arrange everything I had discovered into something that made sense. There is enough feedback to work out much of the puzzle and you will benefit from some careful mapping; random poking and prodding and tilting really didn’t get me anywhere except confused. Even still, when I re-solved it and took it apart, I realized that I still hadn’t really understood a good third of what was going on; the amount of complications I discovered was more than I had deduced when working on it. Honestly, WG may have even been a bit too hard for me – I perhaps had more fun with Kusing – but WG earned me some serious self-satisfaction when I finally surmised the solution.
Apolaki
3.5″ x 3″ x 0.75″, Yellow & Gray, 7 Layers (2 double and 3 nornal), 1 Piso
Apolaki rolls back the difficulty from Kusing and WG, making for a more approachable puzzle that again combines SD and SM. There are holes on both the front and back, the coin in one and a narrow channel in the other. Symmetrical holes are on either side, with no clear indication of where to begin. While on the easier side of the RCRs, I may have had a bit more fun solving it than with some of the really difficult ones, relying more on out of the box thinking leading to a good aha moment as opposed to careful mapping. It also provides a real sense of progress, once you are able to work out the basic structure of its mechanisms. This was not a puzzle that had me randomly poking and tilting (well, not as much as some others, at least) and it feels, to some extent, like a departure from some of the other types of mechanisms used in other RCRs. Solving it gave me a good amount of clarity, causing its inner workings to closely match what I had pictured when solving it.
Visayas
2.5″ x 2.5″ x 0.75″, Black & White, 7 Layers, No Coin (Find the Star)
Although not technically an RCR as it has no coin, Visayas shares the same aethetic and nonetheless belongs in the series. Its goal is to “find the star,” the meaning of which is not readily apparent when looking at the puzzle (nor is it necessarily apparent later on; deducing the goal is itself a part of the puzzle). It is smaller than the last few RCRs and there is an empty hole on each side: one black and one white, both appearing to be fixed in place. A little piece of acrylic hangs out from the bottom, moving a bit in two dimensions without doing anything obvious. This was the first RCR I tried and is still one of my favorites, although perhaps general consensus goes both ways, with some people loving it and others not so much. I had a more difficult time getting started on this one than perhaps in any others (not just because it was my first RCR) and I needed a nudge before making that first aha and making some sense of what was going on and doing what needed to be done. Finally getting somewhere, I was able to progress fairly quickly until slamming smack into a wall that would take some seriously out of the box thinking to overcome. The puzzle features a bit of SD and has one particular aha moment that made me laugh out loud. Although one aspect can be a bit fiddly, there is another step that I find to be quite elegant. Visayas is a bit paradoxical: it is rather simple inside and yet the solution is tricky and wholly unique. It is still one of my favorite RCRs, although I suppose you always remember your first.
Mindanao
4″ x 3″ x 0.9″, Black, Reddish Brown & White, 7 Layers, No Coin (Find the Star)
Mindanao goes even further into unique territory, following up on Visayas to once again “find the star”. It is a puzzle that has been downright controversial: puzzlers seem to either love or hate it, responses that are even more extreme than with Visayas or Abraham’s Well. This is one of the largest puzzles in the series and is unique in that there is no circular hole on either the front or back; instead, there is a white hexagon on one side and small holes that form the broken outline of a circle on the back. The sides have no holes or panels and the top and bottom have a small hole with a single panel on top.
It is possible to make some good progress before too long; some of it comes without too much difficulty and then you must begin experimenting and paying close attention to start making sense of things, with the puzzle incorporating a bit of SD into the solution. I was able to figure out how pretty much of all of it worked before I hit a wall even higher than that on Visayas. This one took me quite a while and required some thinking that was way outside the box before an idea hit me that brought me to the solution (there may have been a nudge in there as well). Mindanao has an aha moment that I don’t believe I have seen in any other puzzle and which once again earned a laugh from me – whether you like it or not, this puzzle is original. So, if nothing else, come for the controversy and then stay for the fun.
Sanib
3″ x 3″ x 0.75″, Gray & White, 6 layers, Ghost Piece
It seems that Rex had been running into some customs issues shipping coins internationally, which helped lead to some creative alternatives. Rex takes a thematic turn with Sanib, which eschews the coin for an angry-looking ghost that must be freed from where it is stuck behind bars in the hole that would typically hold a coin. The back has a narrow hole in one corner and there are a number of holes and panels on all four sides, along with a small protrusion on the top.
Sanib is the first in the series to really rely heavily on SD even more so than SM. Some random poking and tilting may afford you some progress, but you will need to stop and think about what you are doing in order to free the ghost. It is most definitely one of my favorites RCRs, combining an amusing theme with logic-based SD puzzling that uses SM mechanisms that have plenty of feedback and simply make sense as you solve it. There is quite a bit going on and taking it apart was a fun way to see it all laid out; solving it requires enough thought that I had been able to work out pretty well what was going on and I could appreciate the design all the more by seeing it packed neatly into a relatively small space.
Bella
2.75″ x 3.75″ x 1″, White & Blue, 8 Layers, Dog Coin
Bella continues on the path Sanib began, further developing Rex’s SD skills and thematic design while increasing the difficulty considerably. Bella is the biggest RCR yet, with a large dog-faced coin trapped behind bars on the front, a protruding disc with a paw print on back, and a number of holes on all six sides: it is definitely not a simple puzzle.
I found there was quite a bit to do from the start; there is a mix of linear and non-linear progression that allowed for some entertainingly confusing options. I got stuck more than once before hitting a major wall towards the end of the puzzle; there were several things that seemed like they should do something and a few things I’d thought might work, but nothing actually did much of anything. I’d collected a few bits of this or that and had to really explore, experiment, and examine in order to come up with what led me to the solution. And man was it tricky! For the most part, this is not something that you will accidentally solve nor will luck be of much help: the solution requires intentional and discrete steps the majority of the time. This is my personal favorite of the series as it is both legitimately challenging and fun.
Unluck #4
5.25″ x 6″ x o.5″, Gray & Yellow, 4 Layers (3 normal and two thin), 5 Centavos
Unluck #4 brings us back to the use of coins while departing aesthetically from the rest of the RCR series; rather than the layered rectangles of the other RCRs, this looks like an oversized acrylic padlock, with the coin in the center and a panel passing horizontally through its body. The goal, of course, is to free the coin and open the shackle. The description on the original listing refers to the (semi)blind maze that is the majority of the mechanism but Rex has added some elements to complicate things. This is a SM puzzle, similar in some ways to a few of the earlier RCRs (and one in particular), but it is still unique to his puzzles, incorporating a new wrinkle that requires some thought to figure out. While not overly difficult, there is a good aha moment and it takes some time and planning to solve. The lock mechanism is fun and lends a sense of added satisfaction to the eventual solution. No need to take this one apart; once solved you will see most of what was going on and what you maybe can’t see, you’ll have already figured out. One of the great things about SM is that luck rarely plays much of a role in the solution, providing the solver with the sense of satisfaction that comes with earning your success.
Abrihi
3″ x 4″ x 0.3″. Orange & Blue, 5 Layers, No Coin
Abrihi isn’t a coin release nor does it look like any of the RCRs (other than Unluck #4) – still, I figured I would include it as it is another great SD puzzle from Rex. While it is somewhat similar in appearance to Unluck #4 (albeit considerably smaller), it is nothing like it: Abrihi is shaped like a lock and the goal is (obviously) to open the shackle but, in contrast to Unluck #4, Abrihi is mostly SD, with a good amount of trickery involved. This one eluded me for some time, with the final steps sitting high atop a wall for quite a while. Eventually, with a bit of a head smack, I had the final aha and solved it. I had a pretty good overall understanding of how it worked and yet, opening it up to look inside, I discovered a few things that were more complex than I’d realized . This is not a puzzle where you are likely to solve it by luck; as with his other puzzles that are primarily SD, you need to comprehend what is going on inside in order to reach the end, although a bit of luck can’t hurt.
Katmon
Green & Red, 7 Layers, 25 Centavos
Katmon is the only existing RCR that I do not actually have (and am unfortunately unlikely to get, much to the consternation of my inner completist collector). This was commissioned by a puzzler who sent me a couple pics to include here and told me a bit about its mechanism: the puzzle shares its basic aesthetic with most of the RCRs, adding a wide vertical panel and two small protrusions on one side. It is essentially an SM puzzle that is “N-Ary based”; interestingly, it requires a fairly high number of moves as compared to most of Rex’s other mostly-SM RCRs. Matt did offer to bring it with him the next time we have the good fortune to puzzle irl, so I hope to give it a try sometime down the road.
Luzon
Black & Orange, 8 Layers, No Coin (Find the Blue Star)
Luzon is the newest in the series, currently on its way to a few lucky puzzlers (including me :-). It features an orange frame on its face, with some rune-like symbols inside. There are three holes on the face as well, including a diamond shaped hole in the center. The goal is to “find the blue star” and Rex has said that this is the final Find the Star puzzle in the series (along with Visayas and Mindanao). It is described as SD and I am looking forward to solving it (or trying to, at least). Rex also said that “if you are not a fan of the previous [find the star puzzles], then this is not for you.” As mentioned above, the two previous star puzzles in the series have been a bit contentious; I personally think that they are great puzzles with unique aspects and fun mechanisms, so I am looking forward to Luzon. (I will add in an update once I have had a chance to try it).
(pic taken from original PP listing)
Well – that’s it! Hopefully, some folks found this useful (and maybe a few even made it to the end!). I am a big fan of Rex’s RCRs and both his SM and SD designs: they can offer great puzzling value (especially if you manage to get them direct from Rex when listed on PuzzleParadise).
It is worth noting that these are not the only kind of puzzles that Rex produces and / or designs (some of which can be found on PWBP). He has excellent acrylic skills that he puts to great use, giving puzzlers the chance to try puzzles from a number of genres: Tray Packing, Restricted Entry, & Sliders, Interlocking Assembly & Disassembly, and 3D Packing & Apparent Cubes. The puzzles are from a diverse group of designers, including himself, Haym Hirsch, Goh Pit Khiam, Tamas Vanyo, Oleg Smol’yakov, Lucie Pauwels and Alexander Magyarics (quite probably others, as well). I have bought several of these over time and can confidently say that all are well-made and some are crazy hard (I am pretty sure that Oleg’s Slider, Around, is physically impossible), oftentimes for as little as $20-30. While I can’t keep up with every single puzzle he produces, I will always (always) buy any new RCR or SD puzzle he makes without hesitation, sight/description unseen. If you are more cautious with your puzzle money, hopefully this post can help you narrow down the ones you think might most delight and challenge your inner puzzler. In my opinion, you really can’t go wrong, although of course some may better hit your particular puzzling itch.
I will try and add to this post as future RCRs and SD puzzles are released by Rex; feel free to mock or shame me should I forget (not that the interweb needs anyone’s permission to do that).
Overall Grade: Five Sinatras
………no? Just me, then?
Oh.
…..that’s probably not good.
Puzzle Ramblings 
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