I Keep Doing This To Myself

Mazikeen might be more likely to open it than me!

I keep buying complex puzzles. I can't resist them. Especially when they are recommended by another puzzle friend. I had to wait a while for the Gravity box by Alex Owens to come back into stock but as soon as it did, I quickly hit buy and started playing when it arrived. 

It is beautifully made and turning it over in your hands reveals the enticing sounds of all sorts of things moving around inside. I have been working on several SD puzzles at the same time (Twins box, I need my lunch, Emerald vault and Rune lock) recently. Unfortunately, I bought all these complex puzzles and can't seem to get anywhere with any of them! Partly I seem to be working too many days every week but also because I am rubbish at puzzles. 

The gravity box accompanied me to work for a couple of weeks in the hope that I might get somewhere with it. The instructions don't really give much of a clue. I found the first move rather promptly because it's fairly obvious but after that I couldn't seem to find even a second move. OMG - this was going to make me very sad. The panels of the box look like they should slide but which direction? and which ones? I turned the damn thing over and over and over and pushed, pulled, poked and shook all the panels - NADA!

I tried it in every position and still nada. Then I did it all over again and suddenly it moved. I have no idea why it moved this time. Having moved a panel, I was able to try other panels. Sometimes they moved and sometimes they wouldn't. I put it all back to the beginning because I prefer my to and fro approach to give me a memory of a pathway. But I got stuck again with a closed puzzle. More fiddling about for an embarrassingly long time and I eventually got it moving again - still no idea why. Progress was made over a good few days and a panel came off revealing an inner cube and hints of "stuff" inside. Nothing possible for another day or so apart from undoing what I had done with the panel still off. Lots more turning it over and over whilst trying to slide bits. Nothing worked until suddenly it did. No idea why! Oddly, I couldn't undo what I had done until suddenly I could but then not be able to redo it. I was beginning to worry that if I was ever to solve this I wouldn't stand a hope in hell's chance of putting it all back together! At some point I had been forced to abandon the to and from approach! I was hopelessly lost despite having achieved very little.

Several more days of play without a clue what I was doing when I was able to slide something new and then move other panels. At least I think it was other panels but I couldn't keep track of what I had done. Yesterday, after an operating list of hip and knee replacements, I was feeling lucky. Try again. Have some feline help and anything is possible. Stuff moved again and I had a second panel removed and the logo fell off. I'm on a roll:

This is promising!
Everything in the start position with the two panels removed

Today I have continued working on it. I have no idea how I got to this point and I certainly can't undo it. I have a few things that move (apart from when they don't) and I have managed to slide all the moved panels that remain in place back to their start positions. Nothing new has opened up. I haven't found any of the promised tools yet and I struggle to go back to the position I had when the second panel was removed. I can get there sometimes but not every time. I have gone back and forth many many times and failed to find anything new. I have a few ideas for possible moves I'd like to try but they are all blocked.

This is incredibly frustrating! So many random moves that I cannot keep track of. The complexity of the design is incredible but I have no idea what I am doing. At this moment in time, the cat has just as much chance of opening this as I do!