ShengShou Master Kilominx

I've wanted one of these for many years, since back when the only one was the mf8 version. But watching videos of that one you could hear the kind of scraping that should only be associated with removing barnacles from an ocean liner.

This Shengshou turns beautifully though and seems much better designed and built. It does need to turn well though because the first thing I noticed about it is that it is heavy. It's marginally the largest puzzle I have but it is substantially heavier than the others. I have lounged and solved it on a sofa but it is more comfortable with a table/surface to rest it on. It is large, weighty, and a long solve after all.

Colours are good but a few stickers are peeling. That said, it came with a full set of replacement stickers so I can't say I mind.

I love the Megaminx and the 4x4 so the solve is right up my street - weirdly the centre building stage is more enjoyable than 4x4. Edge pairing takes a while because there are 30(!!) of them but I find the megaminx solve is actually easier on this than on a megaminx. It's easier to find the paired edge pieces than the dinky little normal megaminx edges. There's 1 parity lurking in there but it's not a monster.

Overall I love it! Quality of the physical puzzle is great, and although It's not reinventing the wheel in any way in terms of the challenges it throws up - it combines enjoyable elements of 4x4 and 5x5 cubes and of course the megaminx to make something a bit different.

I've wanted one of these for many years, since back when the only one was the mf8 version. But watching videos of that one you could hear the kind of scraping that should only be associated with removing barnacles from an ocean liner.

This Shengshou turns beautifully though and seems much better designed and built. It does need to turn well though because the first thing I noticed about it is that it is heavy. It's marginally the largest puzzle I have but it is substantially heavier than the others. I have lounged and solved it on a sofa but it is more comfortable with a table/surface to rest it on. It is large, weighty, and a long solve after all.

Colours are good but a few stickers are peeling. That said, it came with a full set of replacement stickers so I can't say I mind.

I love the Megaminx and the 4x4 so the solve is right up my street - weirdly the centre building stage is more enjoyable than 4x4. Edge pairing takes a while because there are 30(!!) of them but I find the megaminx solve is actually easier on this than on a megaminx. It's easier to find the paired edge pieces than the dinky little normal megaminx edges. There's 1 parity lurking in there but it's not a monster.

Overall I love it! Quality of the physical puzzle is great, and although It's not reinventing the wheel in any way in terms of the challenges it throws up - it combines enjoyable elements of 4x4 and 5x5 cubes and of course the megaminx to make something a bit different.