A puzzle box full of secrets is more than enough. But add well hidden elements that reveal themselves through exploration, little tools that are discovered and must be used in unexpected ways to proceed and open the box, and a puzzle box becomes an adventure.
Lex Luther, Dr. Doom, Magneto, Joker – arch enemies are easy to identify in hero centric fiction, and always seem to be the evil characters. I’m particularly fond of Moriarty, if we’re picking favorites.
There’s something thrilling about receiving mail. Perhaps the excitement of getting a physical letter from someone wears off as we get older, likely tempered by all the bills and junk mail, but even now in my jaded days it’s still nice when that happens. And if getting a special letter is a nice surprise, well I don’t need to tell you what it’s like to receive an eagerly awaited puzzle box.
There was a time, once upon a time in the not too distant past, when becoming a metagrobolotegestolomixologist was merely a speculative thought experiment meant as clever wordplay.
If mechanical puzzles came with a soundtrack, this one would elicit fine chords of acoustic guitar to placate you every time you picked it up, soothing your frustration in failing to solve its secrets. And if you found yourself with a selection of well made, compact, clever, multistep, elegant and entertaining sequential discovery puzzles to choose from this year, you would surely heed the call of this one, to Pick Me.
In ancient Greek lore, the Titan Cronus was overthrown by his children, the gods Zeus, Hades and Poseidon, who divided the skies, the seas and the underworld amongst themselves.
It’s been really cold here in Houston over the past week or two, and any time the temperature gets below freezing the city goes into crisis mode. We can’t handle the cold!
Call me Ishmael … no, that doesn’t sound right. You can’t start anything good with a line like that. Hmmm … Call me Idan.
This holiday episode of Stream of Consciousness is brought to you by our sponsor, Doog Menzies of Doogaloo Games.
Enter a winter wonderland that is just in time for the holidays courtesy of Dee Dixon, master storyteller at DED Wood Crafts, who presents his most whimsical puzzle adventure yet in the form of a magically mysterious wardrobe.
Listen closely, or you may well find your ears roughly severed and mailed to your next of kin, packed in salt in a cardboard box. The game is afoot again in Scotland Yard …
We are celebrating our collective love of the TV with a limited series on the B&B Network. Tune in!
Fans of Brian Young know of his occasional “limited edition” puzzles, which he has released in small numbers since practically the start if his business.
Here at Boxes and Booze, we love books. Someday, when I need to give up drinking entirely (is that possible?), I might change the theme here to Boxes and Books, in fact. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
We are returning to the French Alps to brush up on some basic arithmetic this week, where our host Doug “Doog” Menzies has written a puzzling equation to ponder.
I continue to be impressed and inspired by the big ideas from QuizBrix, and thrilled with their wonderfully fun creations which are made completely out of Lego bricks.
Kyle Chester’s original puzzle box from his fledgling company, Perpetually Perplexing Puzzles, the Dual Dial.
“De Vliegende Hollander” is a myth, a legend, a ghost story from the seventeenth century era when the Dutch East India Company controlled commerce on the seven seas.
The story begins in 1975, when the Japanese amusement ride company TOGO released Mogura Taij (Mole Buster), a franticly fun mole smashing game invented by Kazuo Yamada.
Dee Dixon is on a roll. Or at least, his newest puzzle box is, if placed on end at the top of a slope.
Any witch or wizard worth their wand and in need of transportation, because they are too young to aparate or too old to bother, knows all that is required is to hail the bus.
Kagen Sound is trying something new. The American master of finely crafted secret opening boxes is incorporating electronics now, but at least in this case, the batteries are included.
Something special typically surfaces around this time of year, out of the cold winter weather experienced in the southern hemisphere, on the other side of the world from my spot on earth.
On June 8, 1879, George Washington issued the first official presidential order in United States history.
A staple of the northern European diet for over three thousand years, the tasty sardine and its big brother the herring can be enjoyed raw, salted, pickled and dried, just to name a few common preparations.
For those of you following along with the robot wars saga (aka the “robopocalypse”), there has been a development.
Inspiration strikes when you least expect it, and nothing motivates some people quite like a challenge.
I’m always curious how people come up with their ideas, and how they see them to production. Akhil Sudeep, a designer from India, recently shared his story and the origins of his new puzzle box with me.
They say you never forget your first love, and it’s likely true with puzzle boxes too. I’d argue that with a Mowen’s puzzle box, on the other hand, you might try not to forget, but try as you might, you’ll get lost every time – and probably love every moment all over again.