Tag Archives: Laser Maze Jr

The Mind-blowing Variety of Puzzles

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[A sampling of puzzles of many sorts: crosswords, puzzle boxes,
mechanical brain teasers, tile puzzles, riddles, and more!]

It really is incredible how many forms puzzles can take.

Think about it. Whether you’re talking Rubik’s Cubes, cryptograms, jigsaws, Sudoku, brain teasers, riddles, crosswords, escape rooms, tangrams, word seeks, sliding tiles, deduction problems, coded messages, or anagrams, they all fall under the umbrella of puzzles.

A puzzle can be as simple as pencil and paper or as complex as a multi-stage puzzle hunt or escape room, replete with codes, keys, hidden buttons, mechanical devices to assemble or utilize, and more. The folks at ThinkFun, for instance, have employed everything from ropes and magnets to lasers and mirrors in their puzzles.

That’s some extreme variety.

And the field of possibilities only widens when we add video game puzzles to the mix. We’ve previously talked about games like Tetris and Portal, where you must think in 2D and 3D respectively. We’ve seen games where you change the rules of the world to proceed or even interfere with the coding of the game itself to solve problems.

In the last few years, indie game designers and big studios alike have produced puzzle games that continue to push the boundaries of puzzly minds.

For instance, in Iris Fall you solve puzzles and maneuver around obstacles by playing with light and shadow. By moving light sources and interacting with the environment, both the light and the shadows it creates allow your character to play with perspective and illusion in order to accomplish tasks. It’s very cool!

In a similar vein, the game Superliminal challenges you to solve puzzles and move from room to room by shifting perspective. For instance, if you pick up a small item and then pull it close to you so that it looks bigger, it BECOMES bigger.

Check out this playthrough to see this mindbending puzzler in action:

The game Maquette works off of a similar concept, but requires you to think in both big and small terms. In Maquette, you have a city to explore, and in order to do so, you also need to manipulate a miniature version of the city that affects the world outside.

For instance, there’s a bridge with the center path missing. How can you reach the other side with only a key in your hands?

Easy. You take the key, place it over the same bridge gap in the miniature, and then walk back to the real bridge, where a giant version of that key is now spanning the gap.

And now there’s Viewfinder, a game where you use a Polaroid-style camera to take pictures that you can then place into a three-dimensional world and turn them into structures you can interact with and solve problems!

These sorts of puzzle games help reinforce one of the fundamental rules of puzzle-solving: always be willing to change your perspective and come at the puzzle from another angle. It works with wordplay, it works with brain teasers, and it works in three-dimensional perspective puzzles in video games.

What’s your favorite flavor of puzzles, fellow PuzzleNationers? Have you learned something from one kind of puzzle that you’ve been able to apply in another style of puzzling? Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you.

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Board Games and Puzzle Games For Solo Gaming!

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stack of games

[Image courtesy of StoreMyBoardGames.com.]

Friend of the blog Lori reached out to me last week and asked about the best puzzle games and board games for solo play. A pal of hers was in need of game-centric distraction, and given the current global circumstances, she had no one with whom to play.

Never fear, friend-of-friend! We’ve got you covered.

There are all sorts of puzzles and games out there to keep you busy, and we’ll do our best to collect a few examples from different play style to provide a host of options.

So, without further ado, let’s look at some single-play fun!

Puzzle Games

thinkfun many

ThinkFun

When it comes to one-player puzzle games, ThinkFun should be your first stop. They’ve got puzzles with magnets, electrical circuits, marbles, dominoes, putty, rollercoasters, robots, computer programming, and LASERS. Whether you like disentanglement puzzles, logic puzzles, or mechanical puzzles, any one of these games is a terrific place to start.

[Link for more details.]

Knot Dice

Inspired by Celtic knot designs, Knot Dice is a puzzle game where you must turn, twist, and spin these beautiful dice to complete elaborate patterns. A handbook full of single-player (and multi-player) puzzles is included to get you started, but honestly, sometimes you can just roll the dice out, arrange them, and then challenge yourself to complete the pattern!

[Link for more details.]

enigmasmall

Wish You Were Here

Imagine an entire mystery hidden across a handful of postcards. That’s the multilayered puzzle experience offered by Wish You Were Here, where a series of coded messages awaits you. An entire narrative unfolds based on the clues you uncover and the puzzles you solve. It’s code-breaking, puzzling, and spycraft all in one.

[Link for more details.]

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Puzzometry

If you’re looking for a jigsaw-style challenge, Puzzometry might be your puzzle of choice. These beautiful pieces can be combined in seemingly endless combinations, and yet, there’s only one solution. Available in seven different formats — including Puzzometry, Puzzometry Jr., Puzzometry Squares, and Puzzometry Hex — there are different levels of difficulty and different challenges posed by each.

[Link for more details.]

Board Games Designed for Solo Play

There is a small but thriving market for solo board games, which cleverly alter established game mechanics to pit you against the game itself.

black sonata

[Image courtesy of Board Game Geek.]

Black Sonata

In this movement and deduction game, you are a 17th-century detective, exploring London while trying to hunt down the identity of the Dark Lady who inspired Shakespeare’s sonnets. As you pick up clues to her identity and search for her in different locales, a stealth deck determines the Dark Lady’s movements. It’s a very cool mechanic that holds up after multiple replays.

[Link for more details.]

coffee roaster

[Image courtesy of Board Game Geek.]

Coffee Roaster

Have you ever tried to brew the perfect blend of coffee? Then Coffee Roaster might be up your alley. In this game, you randomly draw tokens representing coffee beans in order to roast them and improve your score based on their taste value. The game quickly becomes a balancing act of roasting the bean to its target level while handling other tasks. This mix of skill and random draw adds spice to a game all about flavor.

[Link for more details.]

sherlock holmes

[Image courtesy of Board Game Geek.]

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective

Have you ever wanted to be the Great Detective, deciphering strange clues, finding evidence, and unraveling peculiar crimes? The closest thing I’ve found to being Holmes is playing Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, where a number of mysteries await the player. (You can play this game with up to 8 people, but the solo game proves to be a challenge worthy of master gamers and puzzlers.

[Link for more details.]

palm island

[Image courtesy of Board Game Geek.]

Palm Island

Many games are designed for ease of travel, but this is the only one I know that fits in the palm of your hand. Build your island, gather resources, and conquer challenges as you hold the fate of your island in your hand. With only 17 cards involved in the entire game, there’s a staggering amount of replay value included.

[Link for more details.]

Solo Mazes/Dungeons/Labyrinths

One subset of the single-player game genre is labyrinth-style gameplay, games where the player must explore and/or escape a labyrinth, dungeon, or other maze that unfolds in front of them and is different every time you play.

one deck

[Image courtesy of Board Game Geek.]

One Deck Dungeon

Essentially an entire roleplaying campaign distilled into a single-player experience, One Deck Dungeon allows you to defeat enemies, outwit other dangers, and explore a dungeon as your character develops new skills and gains valuable insights into their quest. You can play standalone games or an ongoing campaign as your character grows into a full-fledged master dungeon raider.

[Link for more details.]

(There’s another game, 5-Minute Dungeon, that scratches a similar itch.)

onirim

[Image courtesy of Board Game Geek.]

Onirim

Instead of a dungeon or a labyrinth, here you explore a realm of dreams, trying to find the keys necessary to unlock the doors and escape before the deck of cards runs out. With a 15-minute play time, a fun setup, and multiple expansions which add new wrinkles to future games, you’ll want to journey into the dreamworld again and again.

[Link for more details.]

The Abandons

Probably the toughest of the dungeon romp games, The Abandons pits you against a merciless labyrinth with limited resources and the deck literally stacked against you. You’ll need luck, quick decision making, and puzzly skill on your side to see daylight again with this one.

[Link for more details.]

Solo/Multi-Player Games

Finally, here are some great games that are best known as multi-player games, but with solo modes that still capture the playing experience.

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Jetpack Joyride

Plenty of games are about getting from Point A to Point B, but Jetpack Joyride makes the journey a puzzly delight. You must pilot yourself through a random collection of grids, using only a handful of Tetris-like game pieces to represent your path. You must complete your goals and escape, all without reusing a single Tetris piece. Jetpack Joyride combines puzzles and board games for a unique and fun gaming experience.

[Link for more details.]

Sagrada

One of the most beautiful strategy games on the market today, Sagrada is a singularly peaceful gaming experience. In this game, you’re trying to build a beautiful stained glass window out of dice while dealing with the requirements of your particular window AND the random dice rolled for your particular game. It’s challenging, soothing, and infinitely replayable.

[Link for more details.]

on the dot

[Image courtesy of eBay.]

On the Dot

On the Dot is a pattern-matching game. You have four clear cards with randomly-placed colored dots on them, and you must arrange all four cards so that the colored dots showing match a given pattern. Although this game is usually played in groups with the first person to complete the pattern winning that card, you can easily challenge yourself to see how fast you can conquer the various patterned cards awaiting you.

[Link for more details.]

bananagrams

[Image courtesy of Board Game Geek.]

Bananagrams

Bananagrams is a tile game where, much like Scrabble, players pull letter tiles and try to form small crossword-like grids. But in Bananagrams, you can anagram and rearrange the grid as needed, instead of being locked into using the words you’ve already played. This game will test your vocabulary and your anagramming skills, but it’s always satisfying to hear the tiles click as they’re placed beside each other.

[Link for more details.]

castle panic

[Image courtesy of Board Game Geek.]

Castle Panic!

You have to defend your castle in the center of the board from monsters on all sides in this deviously enjoyable game. Careful strategy and planning is critical in stopping them from taking down your defenses, collapsing your towers, and leaving your castle in ruins. Randomness can play a big role in this game, but even when you lose, you still enjoy the adventure.

[Link for more details.]

Honestly, most cooperative games like Castle Panic! can be played solo, since it’s you vs. the game. (You just might have to play more than one character to do so.)

In Forbidden Island, you must collect treasures and escape a sinking island. In Flash Point, you’re a fireman trying to fight a building fire and rescue the trapped occupants. In Burgle Bros., you run a team of robbers trying to pull off a heist in a multi-story building you have to climb in order to escape with the loot.

These are just a few of the cooperative games that really adapt nicely to a one-player game experience. (Some folks would recommend Pandemic as well, but I’ve found that the expansion set Pandemic: In the Lab is a more satisfying solo experience.)

I also went with simpler games here, but for more intensive play sessions, you could tackle solo versions of Terraforming Mars, Scythe, Viticulture, Eldritch Horror, Elder Sign, and Ghost Stories. These games have more set-up and deeper, more complex gameplay, but also provide satisfying gameplay experiences for a single player.

Do you have any other suggestions for puzzle games and board games that are terrific for solo players, fellow PuzzleNationers? Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you.

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PuzzleNation Product Review: Hacker

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[Note: I received a free copy of this game in exchange for a fair, unbiased review. Due diligence, full disclosure, and all that. And this concludes the disclaimer.]

All of the puzzles and games produced by ThinkFun have one thing in common: learning through play. Whether you’re solving logic problems with lasers, creating unique patterns with color wheels, or deducing the culprit of a feline crime, you’re learning valuable skills through puzzling.

Several ThinkFun games are designed with computer coding in mind, as the gameplay mimics some of the rudimentary concepts of preparing and entering commands, then seeing how those commands can interact with an environment.

If you’re familiar with Robot Turtles, or any of their puzzle games from the //Code series, like On the Brink, you’ve already experienced this for yourself or seen someone else putting newfound puzzly skills to the test.

But Hacker offers a new twist on this concept.

[The various game pieces: agents, data files, exit points, commands to move the agent and rotate parts of the playing grid, and others, including the virus, alarm, and locks.]

As ThinkFun’s newest logic game, Hacker goes above and beyond those introductory coding games, challenging players to add their own coding to an established scenario in order to complete a specific task.

Then the players have to locate vulnerabilities and correct them before they can move on to the next challenge.

But by working your way through the various difficulty levels — Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert — the game introduces new elements and challenges to the player gradually, allowing younger solvers to develop their skills and learn new tricks as they work out increasingly complex scenarios.

Let’s look at one Intermediate-level challenge to give you a better idea of how the game works.

The first part of each challenge is the coding. Each challenge card presents you with the initial layout of the grid, as well as which commands are hard-coded into the scenario (listed on the Platform line), and the openings for you to code movements for your agent (shaded in on the Red Agent line).

In this scenario, the agent must retrieve a single data file and deliver it to the exit point.

[The commands I “coded” in order to complete the scenario.]

You will use the arrow tiles to indicate where you want the agent to move. The rotation tiles are hard-programmed at certain times, so you can’t move them; you have to plot your path and code your agent to take advantage of those rotation commands.

[A full scenario ready to go. Clockwise from the upper left, we have the Challenge Booklet, the playing grid, the coding Control Panel, and the Solutions Booklet.]

As the scenarios grow more complex, those hard-coded rotation tiles will offer greater challenges, forcing you to become more creative and more tactical in your programming.

In addition to handling the rotation tiles, you must pick up the data file and reach the exit point while avoiding any contact with the virus.

[Here, the command as coded plays out. The agent moves left and acquires the data file, then moves down. The platform rotates twice, and then it’s a straight shot right to the exit point.]

And by using the special answer flipbook — which separates each challenge into three different pages for Code It, Hack It, and Fix It, so you can look at each individually without spoiling the rest of the solve — we can confirm our coding is correct.

The second part of the challenge is an element I haven’t seen in any previous ThinkFun release: hacking.

In this stage, you’re trying to debug your coding by seeking out vulnerabilities in the code that would allow the agent to encounter a virus. You’re essentially troubleshooting yourself!

To do so, you have to play the role of a malicious hacker hell-bent on corrupting your coding and delivering the agent directly into the hands of the virus.

This part of the game is more like a traditional sliding-tile puzzle, as you try to manipulate the tiles already in place to engineer a different outcome. In this case, I’ve moved the platform command forward and the down movement command over, altering the agent’s path.

As you can see here, by “hacking” our code, we picked up the data file and delivered it right to the virus, corrupting the entire program. Although our original program avoided the virus entirely, it isn’t safeguarded against hacking. Yet.

That brings us to the third part of the challenge, fixing, which allows you to correct the flaws you identified in the second part.

You can do so by placing an alarm on an open tile, which prevents the agent from encountering the virus; but you must do so without interfering with the successful completion of the original coding’s goal. In more difficult scenarios, you can also fix your coding by using a link token to link certain commands together, so a hacker has to move them as a whole, rather than as individual commands.

So in order to have a successful fix, you should be able to play through the original coding and succeed, but the hacked coding should be thwarted by the changes you’ve made.

[Below the blue agent and the blue exit point, you have the primary tools used in the Fixing phase of gameplay: the transaction link and the alarm.]

It’s an effective metaphor for the amount of review and beta-testing that goes into actual coding, since tiny mistakes can have dire consequences. By requiring younger players to review the same data in three different ways, you’re subconsciously encouraging diligence and care in one’s programming.

It’s a simple lesson, but an important one, and the gameplay promotes it without feeling preachy or heavy-handed. Instead, you’re almost partners-in-crime with the game as you develop new tricks to outwit each scenario.

Hacker is one of ThinkFun’s most complex and immerse logic games yet, one that never forgets to be great fun and an engaging, multilayered puzzly challenge, even as it educates. Other ThinkFun games might look flashier at first glance, but I think they’ve truly outdone themselves this time around.

Hacker is available from ThinkFun and participating retailers, starting at $24.99.

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PuzzleNation Product Review: ThinkFun’s Cat Crimes

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[Note: I received a free copy of this product in exchange for a fair, unbiased review. Due diligence, full disclosure, and all that.]

ThinkFun is a company that excels at creating logical deduction puzzles for solvers of all ages. Whether it’s moving robots toward a rocket ship in Lunar Landing, completing electrical circuits in Circuit Maze, or placing mirrors to reflect a laser’s beam in Laser Maze Jr., these clever puzzly challenges introduce classic puzzle concepts to younger solvers in engaging, unique ways.

But with their latest release, they’ve taken a step back from more high-concept, high-tech puzzles and embraced a more traditional logic puzzle format.

In Cat Crimes, you’re given a series of clues, and it’s up to you to place the six cat characters around the living room in order to determine which one has been up to some destructive mischief.

For instance, a given challenge card will list the crime in the upper right corner — a flowerpot that’s been knocked over, for instance — and the clues listed beneath will tell you which cats are your suspects, along with hints for where to place them in the living room.

The living room is covered with little bits of visual evidence — scratches on the floor, paw prints, mouse toys, etc. — that can be used to help you figure out where each of the cats were sitting when the crime was committed.

The beginner-level mysteries start out simple, with the clues mostly focused on the placement of the cats (across from a sock or next to some catnip, for instance). As the mysteries cards grow more complex — moving from beginner and intermediate levels of difficulty to advanced and, finally, expert — more options emerge. A cat could be in one of two places, or is only referenced with regards to another cat it’s sitting next to or across from.

Higher-level challenge cards will also refer to qualities of the cat suspects themselves. Some wear bows or have bells on their collars, while others are referenced by eye color. Solvers need to keep increasingly greater amounts of information in their head in order to place all of the cats in their proper positions and solve the crime.

I repeatedly found myself discussing possibilities out loud as I solved. “Well, if Sassy is between two of these cats, it can only be Mr. Mittens and Ginger, and Ginger can’t be in front of a scratch mark, so…”

With only six possible crimes and six possible suspects, you’d think that repeated play would lead to player burnout or quickly exhausting the possible permutations, but that’s not the case here at all. As you ascend through the deck of challenge cards, the ThinkFun team throw new twists and cluing styles at you, keeping you on your toes. A lot of creativity and hard work went into the cluing here, and it shows.

[Image courtesy of Logic Puzzles.org.]

It’s not only an absolutely adorable way to bring logic puzzle solving to a new audience, it’s also a refreshing change of pace for solvers accustomed to traditional logic puzzles (complete with those tables where all of the possible permutations are listed, and you can simply cross off the incorrect ones as you go). Cat Crimes requires you to keep more of that information in mind as you determine where each cat goes.

With up to six feline suspects to place per crime and 40 different crimes to solve, Cat Crimes will keep your deductive skills sharp, even as the easier challenge cards introduce younger solvers and logic newbies alike to a different style of puzzle-solving. Cat Crimes is not just one of the cutest puzzle games I’ve played in a long time, it’s the perfect gateway puzzle to strip away some of the intimidation factor of logic problems.

[Cat Crimes is available from ThinkFun and other select retailers for $12.99!]

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PuzzleNation Product Review: Roller Coaster Challenge

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ThinkFun’s products are all about learning through experimentation. Whether you’re making music note-by-note with Compose Yourself, mastering the basics of programming in Robot Turtles, or tackling complete-the-path puzzles with marbles, lasers, robots, or electronic circuits, kids and adults alike get the chance to put their puzzly chops to the test.

Roller Coaster Challenge is the largest, most ambitious ThinkFun puzzle game to date, featuring several dozen pieces and challenge cards galore to test your ability to bend momentum and gravity to your will as you complete unfinished roller coaster tracks!

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[With multiple track lengths, posts for building support pylons, 90-degree turns to navigate, and even a loop you can construct, you’ve got all the ingredients you need for a roller coaster worthy of the name.]

The concept is fairly simple. You have challenge cards that offer a starting layout. You’re given the beginning and ending points of the track, and some pieces in between. You are also told which pieces you’ll need to use to bridge the gaps and finish the track. Now it’s up to you to place them correctly and then test your creation with the little red roller coaster car.

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Not only is the building plate bigger than those in any previous ThinkFun puzzle game, but the sky is the limit as you build onwards and upwards in order to solve your challenge card and give your little roller coaster car the ride of its life!

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The challenge cards serve as the perfect introduction to solving the game’s puzzles, teaching the solver how to identify pieces by length, how to avoid missteps, and even how to get the most out of the available pieces.

But the challenge cards are just the beginning. Roller Coaster Challenge encourages you to develop your own roller coaster layouts, and even share them with the company!

View post on imgur.com

After battling my way through numerous challenge cards of all difficulties — ranked from easy to super hard — I began indulging my creative side by constructing my own layout.

Naturally I had to go above and beyond, trying to weave two tracks together so one would use the loop, and the other would rocket the roller coaster car through the loop and over a gap before reuniting with the track itself.

View post on imgur.com

[OSHA would shut down my roller coaster so fast…]

In terms of scale, creativity, and sheer visual panache, Roller Coaster Challenge is the most ambitious and impressive ThinkFun puzzle game to date. The DIY encouragement built into the solving experience really adds something extra to the enjoyable (and sometimes challenging) layouts provided by the game’s designers.

Roller Coaster Challenge was the result of ThinkFun’s first venture into crowdfunding, and when it came time to go big or go home, they went big, and solvers reap the benefits with this dynamic, fun product.

Roller Coaster Challenge is available through ThinkFun and other vendors for the very affordable price of $29.99.

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PuzzleNation Product Review: Lunar Landing

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all-lunar-6802-hiresspill

[Note: I received a free copy of this puzzle in exchange for a fair, unbiased review. Due diligence, full disclosure, and all that.]

ThinkFun has emerged as the premiere vendor of logic puzzles for solvers of all ages. Whether they’re challenging you with marbles, lasers, or electronic circuits, their complete-the-path games offer lots of puzzly fun.

Their latest offering, Lunar Landing, seems at first to fall into the same pattern, but as you learn the rules and begin tackling the challenge cards included, you quickly realize there’s more than meets the eye at play.

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In Lunar Landing, your goal is to pilot the red shuttle to an emergency entry port in the center of the landing grid. Sounds easy enough, right? But the twist is how you get there.

Scattered across the landing field are helper bots which help your shuttle move around the landing field. The shuttle can only move toward one of the helper bots in the same row or column. The shuttle must move from helper bot to helper bot until it reaches the emergency entry port.

Because Lunar Landing is set in space, the shuttle can’t just stop wherever it chooses. Once the shuttle is set on a path toward a helper bot, it continues along that path until it reaches that bot. This means you can pass right over the emergency entry port unless there’s a helper bot in the correct position to stop the shuttle on that red square.

solvell

This movement mechanism is the engine behind each of the 40 challenge cards in the deck. Progressing in increasing difficulty from beginner to intermediate to advanced to expert, the challenge cards provide you with the starting layouts for each landing grid. You place the shuttle and helper bots as instructed, and then try to puzzle out how to complete the task at hand.

The early scenarios are all about moving the shuttle from place to place. In later challenges, you’ll have to move the helper bots as well, positioning them to form a path that’ll bounce your shuttle to the center of the grid.

The helper bots move in the same way as the shuttle — toward another helper bot along a row or column — and as the scenarios evolve, you’ll rely on moving the helper bots more and more.

It’s a bit like a sliding-tile puzzle, since you can only move the shuttle along certain paths, as determined by the locations of the helper bots. Many of the challenge cards can only be conquered by setting up a chain reaction, which gives Lunar Landing the feeling of a one-person chess game: You’re trying to see several moves ahead, looking for the perfect sequence of moves that will let you achieve victory.

Taking a simple scientific concept — objects in motion tend to stay in motion — and building a logic game around it is very clever, and it makes for a solving experience that feels new and challenging. Since each piece can potentially move, depending on the challenge card layout, there are more variables at play here than in previous ThinkFun logic puzzles.

helperbot

The helper bots are modeled on classic robot designs from the 1940s and 1950s, and that adds to the game’s charm, as if the vivid Technicolor visions that predated the Space Race have finally been realized.

The landing grid doubles as storage for the challenge cards and game pieces, making for an easily transported puzzle game that can be enjoyed anywhere at the drop of a hat.

Lunar Landing continues the fine tradition of ThinkFun puzzle games, keeping even experienced puzzlers on their toes with inventive gameplay and outside-the-box thinking. What a treat.

Lunar Landing is available from ThinkFun through Amazon and other online retailers. Click here to check out other ThinkFun product reviews!

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You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!