Simply put, a puzzle box’s complicatedness depends entirely on the number of predetermined steps that it would take to open it.
Today, the most common variety of puzzle boxes are the commercial kind that only require anything from four to ten moves to open. Needless to say, these are very simple, and most people can figure it out by a simple application of trial and error.
On the other hand, some Japanese puzzle boxes are much, much, more involved. Imagine if the steps required to open your puzzle box amounted to over a hundred. Such boxes would be considerably harder to crack, and often meant that anyone seeking to open the puzzle box would need to have an intimate acquaintance to the order of the steps.
What’s more, as what is thought to be a ‘added security’ tactic, some puzzle boxes can open on both the top and bottom, and require a different series of steps for each. Chances are, unless you actually know that a given Japanese puzzle box has two openings, you may very well end up overlooking the bottom opening.
Yet other puzzle boxes even have further ‘secret compartments’ concealed at various places within.
With each additional step, and every element of subterfuge that is included in a given Japanese puzzle box, the difficulty to successfully uncover all of its secrets increases dramatically.
Complicated? Certainly. However, the Japanese puzzle box does represent a mental challenge that is both an intriguing, and unique, opportunity.
