In 1905, French author Maurice Leblanc introduced the world to a charismatic aristocrat who often operated as a force for good from the opposite side of the law, a “gentleman thief” if you will, named Arsène Lupin.

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 …

So sets the stage to start this new year off on an incredible adventure …

Membership in the Cambridge Philosophical Society, the preeminent scientific organization at the distinguished English University, will cost you twenty pounds.

Jesse Born and Robert Yarger, two of the world’s best puzzle box artists, have created a modern masterpiece of mechanical secrets.

Christophe has a mind full of artistic visions, and each of his unique productions has taken inspiration from an identifiable source and story which he meticulously brings to life in his incredible way. Despite the clear and obvious influence of MC Escher’s “Relativity” on his newest masterpiece, Architecto, the roots for this creation began elsewhere.

Neverfear! I’ve just the thing for you, my boisterous Buccaneers, a treasure chest plundered by the Corsairs straight from Davey Jones Locker. How they came to acquire it, we shall never know, as dead men tell no tales.

After investing so much time poring over the classics from twenty years ago it’s time for something new and refreshing. And speaking of investing, you can take this one to the bank. Or rather, from the “bank” – the Hughbank.

The following excerpts were taken from a dusty leather-bound journal, recently discovered amidst the stalls of an old bookstore in Ontario.

We are taking a journey this week back in time and place, to ancient Greece and the realm of the great heroes and gods.

Perhaps it is no surprise then that a puzzle box can serve as a biography of a life as well. It seems perfectly fitting that someone who has spent a lifetime with puzzles should write their own autobiography into the wood.

The “Mecanigma” box is a surreal fantasy inspired by “steampunk” which features an explosion of mechanisms, gears, levers and knobs crafted from veneered wood, plastic, steel and brass.

“The Kidnapped Crossworder” is a self-contained mystery puzzle in a box, delivered to your door by the “Armchair Detective Company”, the brainchild of three interactive media artists who have teamed up to create a fabulous experience.

It’s time to break out the decoder ring again.  The stealth spy operatives over at Cryptic Woodworks are at it again, incorporating hidden clues, codes and riddles into the very workings of the puzzle box.

Nestled in the dangerous shadows deep inside one of America’s secret spy enclaves, Quakertown, Pennsylvania, lives Stephen Kirk, who describes himself as a former “technology guy” in the corporate world who specialized in “data visualization / analytics”.