The Puzzly Legacy of Labyrinth: The Computer Game!

Posted on November 10, 2026 by gmdirect

One of our most popular posts this year was our breakdown of the infamous Two Guards puzzle. We examined the riddle itself, how prone it is to misinterpretation, and how much comedy can be mined from the premise.

I was thinking about the riddle’s origins the other day, and delving into its history sent me down an unexpected rabbit hole involving a cult classic film, a revered author of science fiction, and one of the preeminent game studios of the 1980s and 1990s.

Although versions of the riddle can be traced back to the 1930s, it was popularized by the one-two punch of Raymond Smullyan’s 1978 book What Is the Name of This Book? The Riddle of Dracula and Other Logical Puzzles and the 1986 film Labyrinth.

And it might surprise you to learn that Labyrinth‘s influence in the world of puzzles and games reaches beyond its iconic presentation of the Two Guards riddle, particularly in the computer gaming sphere.

Forty years ago this month, Labyrinth: The Computer Game was released.

Although you don’t hear much about it these days, the game was actually more commercially successful in the United States than the film was!

As the first adventure game released by Lucasfilm (which would later be known as LucasArts), Labyrinth: The Computer Game was a test bed for new technology, new game mechanics, and the development of the sly LucasArts sense of humor that helped define their games for years to come.

There is actually a sequence at the start of the game that encapsulates where the video game / computer game market was at the time. You start off with a short text-based adventure (like the text games that had dominated for years) as your character ventures to the movie theater to see the film Labyrinth.

But then, Jareth the Goblin King appears, transporting the character into his labyrinth (and the players into the graphics-based world the game industry was embracing). This Wizard of Oz-style transition was the brainchild of author Douglas Adams of Dirk Gently and Hitchhiker’s Guide fame.

Douglas already had video game experience from working on text-based games like Infocom’s Bureaucracy and the notoriously difficult Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy game. (To this day, the Babel Fish Puzzle still makes top ten lists of the most challenging — and nonsensical — puzzles in gaming history.)

Adams was part of a brainstorming session for the game, and his fingerprints and sense of humor are all over the game.

Unlike the command-line interface of text-based games (where you would type out commands like “Pick Up Sword” or “Open Lock”) or the point-and-click interface (that Lucasfilm Games would become known for later), they used two “word wheels” where you scroll through options on both wheels and combine them to make commands. Imagine two slot machine wheels side by side.

One wheel would have verbs like “Ask,” “Use,” and “Pick Up” (as well as more specific ones like “Congratulate,” “Manicure,” and “Complain”), and the other wheel had names, items, and other words to match.

This allowed you to create commands like “Ask Wall” (which triggered the response “It’s like talking to a wall. Nothing happens.”) or, incredibly, “Adumbrate elephant” (which in one particular scene, could cause an elephant to break you out of prison by crashing through the wall). As you might guess, “Adumbrate elephant” was a Douglas Adams contribution.

This sort of creativity when employing the word wheels was crucial to solving the many puzzles players encountered in the Labyrinth, often requiring players to utilize the multiple meanings of words to use the commands in unexpected ways.

And with only thirteen real-time hours in which to locale and defeat Jareth in order to win the game, you had to be creative AND efficient with your exploring.

So, we have a game that outperformed the movie it was based on (although history has been kind to Labyrinth as a cult hit and much beloved part of many childhoods). It was the first step on the path to making Lucasfilm Games (and later, LucasArts) a genuine contender in the computer game / video game market.

Not only that, but Labyrinth: The Computer Game was the template for Lucasfilm’s next (and even more successful game) Maniac Mansion, which is still revered today. The plethora of choices and decisions available to players, the occasionally demented story beats, and the comedic silliness that permeated the gameplay helped define the Lucasfilm style.

Maniac Mansion‘s point-and-click SCUMM gaming engine (short for Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) would continue to be used in dozens of Lucasfilm games going forward, including Day of the Tentacle, The Secret of Monkey Island (and its sequels), Sam & Max Hit the Road, and other iconic titles.

And although Douglas Adams wouldn’t return to the world of video games / computer games until 1998 with Starship Titanic, his influence in gaming is still celebrated to this day. (Limited Run Games did a wonderful piece on Douglas Adams’ influence on games earlier this year to honor the 25th anniversary of Douglas’s passing.)

Labyrinth: The Computer Game, and the film itself, both play a fascinating role in the world of puzzles and games. Riddles, puzzles, and the history of computer gaming would not be the same without the saga of Sarah rescuing her brother from the Goblin King (and your digital efforts to escape the labyrinth yourself).

If you want to try the game out for yourself, the Apple II version of the game is available to play on archive.org.

Are you a Labyrinth (or Labyrinth: The Computer Game) fan, fellow puzzler? Is there another puzzly pop culture property you’d like us to do a deep dive on? Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you.

The Week in Puzzles and Games (November 10th)

Posted on November 9, 2026 by gmdirect

There’s a lot going on in the intertwined worlds of puzzles and games, so let’s skip the intro and get to it.

Fifteensquared Celebrates 20 Years of Cryptic Solving!

A year of big puzzle anniversaries continues as we celebrate 20 years of Fifteensquared.

A crossword blog dedicated to cryptic solving, Fifteensquared was founded November 1st, 2006, and it remains one of the most insightful, valuable centers of puzzly conversation in the world of cryptic crosswords.

Their team of solvers and commenters are some of the most knowledgeable and approachable in crossword commentary, and I love reading their takes and learning new tricks (and what I missed!) in each day’s puzzles.

Please join me in wishing Fifteensquared a very happy 20th anniversary. I hope there are many more years of solving fun to come.

Atlas Games Have an RPG Gift Box for You!

As we gear up for the holiday season (gods the commercials have already started!), companies are running all sorts of promotions.

One of the coolest ones out there for roleplaying game enthusiasts is being run by the team at Atlas Games.

They’re offering a gift box of RPG games and supplements to anyone willing to cover the $12.99 shipping fee.

Obviously, the promotion only lasts as long as supply allows, so if you’re interested in sampling supplements from Over the Edge, Feng Shui, Northern Crown, Nyambe, Penumbra, Ars Magica, or others, be sure to click here to check out their 2026 Gift Box!

Wendy’s Launches WendyQuest, a Playable RPG Game (With Real World Perks)!

I’ve covered the various ways that the worlds of RPGs and fast food have crossed over in the past, but I wasn’t expecting Wendy’s to return to the gaming space like this.

Wendy’s has just launched WendyQuest, a 10-hour free RPG game available on iOS, Android, and Steam for U.S. players.

The retro pixel art (apparently AI-free and crafted by game studio 81monkeys) is terrific, and the gameplay allows you to unlock real world bonuses like a medium fries or a burger with purchase.

It will be interesting to see if any references, obvious or subtle, to their previous RPG efforts will be included in the game.

Click here to check it out!

Where Americans Are Looking Up Answers Most

I love digging into data. It’s fascinating to see what you can learn from sifting through carefully cultivated information.

And I’m not alone in that. The team at UnscrambleX also love data, and they’ve shared some of their findings.

UnscrambleX is a free word scrambler, anagram solver, and Scrabble word finder all in one, and they’ve been crunching solver data for the last year.

And apparently, folks in Washington, D.C. need more help with answers than average. (Please insert your own political joke here!)

According to UnscrambleX:

Over 167 puzzle days from June 2025 to October 2026, Washington, D.C. looked answers up 2.5 times as often as the US average per resident, followed by Vermont and New Hampshire; Mississippi looked them up least, at 21% of the average.

Either Mississippi is chock-full of puzzle pros or they’re in the minority when it comes to puzzle-solving in general. Hard to tell.

Check out their full article on the subject here!

The 2026 Baseball TTRPG Jam Is Complete!

We are loaded with RPG news today. Have you ever wanted to mix baseball with your tabletop gameplay? Well, the 2026 Baseball TTRPG Jam has you covered.

For the uninitiated, a game jam (or just “jam”) is when games are designed and/or coded in a short amount of time and often released free to play, for the love of creation and creativity.

And during the month of October, game designers on itch.io were busy creating roleplaying games based on baseball’s rules and mechanics.

There are discussion games, a dungeon crawler, a revenge game, and even one with a pitcher trapped in a time loop.

I love seeing how wildly inventive game designers can get with a single prompt, and this is yet another example.

Click here to check out the reddit thread collecting this year’s games.

A Puzzle Game Site to Try Out!

One of the coolest things about running PuzzCulture is getting to learn about new puzzles and creators in the puzzle space. Several enterprising constructors have reached out to me recently, and I’m pleased to help spread the word about their puzzly endeavors.

Today’s recommendation is Wordtide.

Imagine one Scrabble-style board available to the entire world. That’s the idea behind Wordtide.

Every word played stays there, and new players build on it. Players are assigned to different teams (called Tides) and the words played by everyone contribute to the map.

As someone who used to have a magnetic Scrabble-style board outside his cubicle for anyone to play, I absolutely dig this idea.

Plus there’s a Daily Seven game where you try to make the best possible score with the letters available. You get three tries to maximize your puzzling.

Click here to check out both puzzle games.

To close out today’s post, let’s look at one last bit of Halloween costume fun with a puzzly twist.

Inspired by their 7-year-old’s interest in the New York Times‘ daily menu of puzzle games, reddit user rotajota and his family dressed up AS the NYT games for their neighborhood party.

All of their puzzle costumes are solvable, and don’t worry, the kids had other costumes for their trick-or-treating. (I can imagine a windy night would’ve made it tough to complete their rounds and gather that candy!)

Did I miss any puzzly news or fun board game stories from the last few weeks? Let me know in the comments section below! I’d love to hear from you.

Crafting Trivia for an Audience (with Kevin J. Kalis of WrestleTrivia!)

Posted on November 5, 2026 by gmdirect

In September, there was a terrific piece in The Wall Street Journal about a trivia fan’s dream job: writing clues for “Jeopardy!” for the contestants to answer.

The application process involved writing a full show’s worth of clues and categories, and more than 1,300 applicants vied for the position. (It was the first time in the show’s history that a clue-writer position for the show was made open to the public.)

And it got me thinking about writing trivia.

Now, I’m no stranger to crafting trivia questions. I’ve assembled trivia for puzzle magazines and hosted pub trivia on a number of occasions.

So I know firsthand that writing a solid, engaging trivia question is both a skill and an art.

Years ago, I asked Stella Zawistowski about it. The crossword constructor, powerlifter, and Geeks Who Drink trivia contributor said, “Good trivia accomplishes one of two things: teaches people something they don’t know and will find interesting, or nudges them to realize they know more than they think.”

That’s something Thorsten A. Integrity has a lot of experience with. As commissioner of the invite-only Learned League trivia website, Thorsten is responsible for the six questions each day that comprise the quarterly 25-day seasons of Learned League.

In an interview with Milwaukee Mag.com, he shared his thoughts on crafting “a really primo trivia question” for solvers:

But the best kind of question, first of all, it can’t be too long. And it is something that is knowable and worth knowing – you know, interesting to know. And the question itself is written in a way that allows you different ways to come at the answer.

So if you think of it as a big boulder that you’re trying to crack open, and there are lots of soft spots around it. And you can use your tool to kind of chip away at one part or chip away at another, or chip away at the ground underneath it – ruling things out. Having these different kinds of angles of attack, and not necessarily all of those angles of attack are the words of the question itself.

In “Jeopardy!” clue-writing parlance, that’s “pinning the clue.”

According to “Jeopardy!” co-head writers Billy Wisse and Michele Loud:

To avoid unfairness or confusion in gameplay, a writer’s most important task is to “pin” their clue to a single correct response. That means avoiding “pointers,” wordings that could lead to multiple correct responses, and “traps,” such as referring to a creepy scientist from Gothic literature other than Victor Frankenstein.

The difference between writing a softball clue versus a stumper often comes down to the “prompt,” signaled by the words “this” or “these” and the nouns that follow (such as “this horror franchise” or “these Chinese mountains”). “Those extra words, or the lack thereof, slide the difficulty level of the clue,” Loud said.

But I wanted to know more, specifically about writing clues for both live contestants and a viewing audience at home.

So I reached out to “Jeopardy!” and two of my favorite online trivia shows — Um, Actually (Dropout TV) and WrestleTrivia (YouTube) — in the hopes of learning about how they approach the clue-writing process.

Thankfully, one of them replied!

Kevin J. Kalis is the one-man creative team behind WrestleTrivia, serving as both host and triviamaster for every show, crafting everything from the 200 Point Jobber Round to the Final Question.

And Mr. WrestleTrivia was kind enough to take me behind the scenes of the show. (Which is closing in on episode 100 soon!)

How much time does it take to prepare an episode?

The pre-production of each episode begins with the formation of the five primary categories. I try to choose topics that will let me cover multiple decades of pro wrestling history. It’s important to me to highlight a variety of promotions & different eras because I feel that makes the game more complete & earns the distinction of being called “Wrestling Jeopardy” as opposed to “WWE Jeopardy.”

Once the questions are complete & written to my liking, I record in front of a green screen (not quite at the level where I can use a studio), then I edit & produce the entire video, which usually takes two days.

When you’re putting together questions, you have a terrific knack for appropriately scaling your difficulty. How do you judge where to place each question or if a category is too difficult or too obscure?

Two-thirds of my audience are between the ages of 35-54 years old, so the questions skew more to the ‘80s, ‘90s, & early 2000s. Plus, the more obscure the clues are, the more likely they will be worth 800 or 1000 points. Being a one-man operation & not having a research team to bounce ideas off of is a challenge that probably takes more time than it should. The phrase “perfect is the enemy of good” affects my workflow at times, but I enjoy the process of trying to figure out the degree of difficulty on my own.

Are there categories or questions you’ve ditched for being too difficult or obscure?

The one category that sticks out to me was in Episode 21 called “Extreme Anagrams.” I scrambled the first & last names of ECW wrestlers & those watching had the tough task of figuring them out. For example, Kent Furry is an anagram for Terry Funk. I got a lot of complaints in the comments, so that category has been tucked away for some time.

It was also around this time early on that I realized I was making the questions way too difficult for the average wrestling fan. There are some hardcore ‘rasslin trivia buffs out there, but I needed to cast a wider net in an effort to build an audience, & that’s where the 200 Point Jobber Round came from!

Much like crossword cluing, trivia writing demands that the solver meet the constructor/writer halfway. You must bring your own knowledge to the table in order to participate.

But there are degrees of this when it comes to trivia. Some falls into the YEKIOYD valley: You Either Know It Or You Don’t. Other questions have small hints or ways of leading you toward the answer without giving it away.

Your mileage may vary on which type of trivia writing you prefer.

But as you can see, writing great trivia is a careful balancing act of accessibility, surprise, and phrasing.

When I write trivia, I always want it to feel fair, regardless of whether the players get the answer or not. It should be fun whether you know every answer or only a few.

This is absolutely a topic I’d love to return to in the future, so please let me know if you have any favorite trivia shows, big or small, and maybe they’ll let us behind the clue-writing curtain.

Many thanks to Kevin J. Kalis for his time and insight into the creative process. If you’re a wrestling fan, you should absolutely check out WrestleTrivia on YouTube.

Product Review: Learn About Life Christmas Trivia Puzzle

Posted on November 3, 2026 by gmdirect

[Note: I received a free copy of this game in exchange for a fair, unbiased review.]

I don’t normally review jigsaw puzzles for the blog.

Not that I have anything against them; in fact, I quite enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles with my mom and sister. (My sister is an absolute master of jigsaws. 3D puzzles, edgeless puzzles, intentionally confusing and repetitive patterns… she’s bested them all.)

But when it comes to PuzzCulture reviews, I usually prefer jigsaw-style puzzles that offer a bit more challenge than the traditional jigsaw.

Which brings me to today’s review.

Yes, Livuzzle’s Learn About Life Christmas Trivia Puzzle is a traditional jigsaw, but it also has the answers to trivia questions lurking amidst the many colorful details of the puzzle’s imagery.

Seventy-two nuggets of (mostly) holiday-themed trivia are depicted by the items and events in the puzzle, so you have a scavenger hunt for each trivia question’s inspiration as you assemble this thousand-piece puzzle.

Although both questions and answers are provided, I do wish there was a sheet with just the questions, because it would have been fun to see how many trivia questions I could answer with only the puzzle in front of me. That being said, the scavenger hunt element added to the holiday fun as all sorts of Christmas ephemera came to life with each puzzle piece placed.

I also appreciated the variety of different jigsaw pieces. That might sound silly, but when you’ve done enough jigsaw puzzles, you get used to very similar-sized pieces and cut patterns, and it gets a little underwhelming.

Look at the variety of piece sizes and styles for just these edge pieces.

These little details and differences mean a lot.

The art style is another selling point. The mix of thin and thick outlines, all the patterning… a lot of care and attention went into the imagery.

Trevor Petersen’s art evokes classic holiday art (especially the Santa in the center of the puzzle) and gives the puzzle a timeless feel.

If you’re a jigsaw fan (or a trivia-hound like myself), this is a great addition to your shelf.

[This Christmas Trivia Puzzle is for all ages, and it’s available from Livuzzle and participating websites, starting at $24.99. It can also be found in this year’s Holiday Puzzly Gift Guide, coming soon!]

The Week in Puzzles and Games (November 2nd)

Posted on November 2, 2026 by gmdirect

There’s a lot going on in the intertwined worlds of puzzles and games, so let’s skip the intro and get to it.

The End of The Independent Crossword

Despite the outcry of support and messages and kind words about The Independent‘s daily cryptic crossword, there is no sign that The Independent will be reversing their decision. Which sadly means that the 31st was the final crossword.

It’s a loss for solvers, setters, and the puzzle community in general, but there have been some lovely posts and tributes in honor of The Independent crossword’s legacy, so I want to share a few here.

I think bluesky user Jalata covered everyone’s feelings with this post.

Setter Methuselah shared this cryptic in honor of the setters of The Independent.

Setter Phi posted about the intertwined history of The Independent and his puzzles. You should absolutely make time to read this piece.

And setter Bard shared this terrific picture from the York Sloggers & Betters event this year, featuring two dozen setters! What a lovely way to send off this influential outlet.

Farewell, Independent‘s daily cryptic crossword. You will be missed.

David Kwong’s The Puzzle Room Returns for Season 2!

If you enjoy interactive puzzle-solving and magic tricks, The Puzzle Room on Netflix is right up your alley.

David Kwong — crossword constructor, magician, and all-around expert in baffling people with both words and visuals — has already dazzled audiences with 26 episodes of this show, and it turns out they’re already filming Season 2!

David shared some of his thoughts and a bit of behind the scenes detail on his mailing list. Here’s a snippet:

Every episode is a real labor of love. Leading up to each shoot day, the producers and I research our guests and build out the interviews. Producer (and resident genius) Dave Shukan, whom I call the Puzzle Wizard Behind the Curtain, oversees the puzzles and games.

For me, though, the most challenging part of the show is the weekly magic trick. John Stessel, Chris Chelko, and I set out to create original, TV-friendly magic: effects that haven’t been done before and that hold up on camera (and, ideally, against exposure online, though nothing is truly safe anymore). Coming up with new magic on such a tight turnaround keeps me on my toes, and you’ll often find me testing tricks on unsuspecting folks at my local cafe or at the Magic Castle.

I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve seen so far from The Puzzle Room, so congratulations to them on the upcoming season 2!

Puzzmo’s Jubilee Continues!

What a celebration it has been so far! Four new games have been launched: (not) solitaire, Draw 2 Solitaire, FlipFlop Solitaire, and FreeCell.

Plus they’ve made an All Games page (so all their puzzle game options are available) and a customizable Playlist feature so you can make sure only your favorite puzzles are waiting for you daily, no scrolling or sifting required.

The Puzzmonauts have plenty to celebrate and keep themselves busy with, and I suspect the team at Puzzmo isn’t done with the surprises yet before the year is out.

No Westwords Tournament in 2027

There’s loads of exciting crossword tournament news for 2027, including the debut of two new tournaments, the Rain City Crossword Tournament and the Canadian Crossword Open.

But sadly, yesterday it was announced that the team behind the Westwords tournament will not be hosting a Westwords event in 2027.

Although this is disappointing news, we wish all the best to the incredible team that has shepherded Westwords for the last three years, and we hope 2027 is kind to all of them.

The team also shared one of the best resources for tournament solvers, this awesome spreadsheet, for those looking to engage in some tournament solving fun next year.

Two Puzzle Game Sites to Try Out!

The first is Word Burger from Joyella Studios.

Word Burger is a daily vocabulary challenge where you come up with as many words that start with one particular letter and end with another particular letter. Those letters are the buns, and you need to fill the burger with words!

For example, the top bun could be U and the bottom bun E, and you need to type everything from UPDATE to UNITE.

There’s a 60-second version and a Slow Cook version if you want to take your time.

You can try it out on the Word Burger website, and it’s also available for iPhone and Android!

My other recommendation for you today is Movie Horse.

In this movie trivia game, everyone starts with the same movie, and you have to name an actor from that movie. The game then picks another movie featuring that actor, and you name another actor.

On and on it goes, until you’ve either completed ten links or you’ve exhausted your five misses (either through clicking pass or guessing wrong) and you’ve spelled MOVIE (like spelling HORSE in basketball).

I’ve mentioned playing something similar to this with friends for years now, but I love seeing it gameified like this. You can test your skills against friends, and even see some of the most obscure connections made by other players through the Movie Horse Instagram.

It’s cool to see how many different pathways to success players can take, based on their movie and actor choices.

Click here to try it out for yourself!

To close out today’s post, let’s enjoy something puzzly and seasonal with Cool Patch Pumpkins in Dixon, California.

Launched in 2003, the Cool Patch Pumpkins corn maze revitalized the Cooley brothers pumpkin business, attracting loads of new eyes.

They’ve even been honored twice by the Guinness Book of World Records, including in 2007 for “World’s Largest Temporary Corn Maze.” (Gotta love the specificity there.)

It supposedly takes between 90 minutes and 2 hours to complete the maze, which spans dozens of acres!

Check out their website here for more details.