We’ve got two quick updates for you today from the world of crosswords. And both of them involve opportunities for you to get out there and show off your cruciverbalist talents!
On Monday night’s Boswords broadcast, Will Shortz joined Andrew Kingsley and John Lieb to announce some changes for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
In 2026, the ACPT will be held at the Stamford Marriott, possibly for the last time.
No, worry not, the ACPT is still going strong. So strong, in fact, that it will be moving to Philadelphia for the 2027 tournament! The new space will be able to accommodate up to 1,250 solvers.
It’s a sad moment for Stamford, but not entirely unexpected. Attendance has been pushing the Marriott’s limits for years, and registration for this year’s tournament closed more than a month early because of high demand.
It’s also not the first time Stamford has said goodbye to the tournament. From 2008 until its return in 2015, the ACPT was held outside Stamford.
You can check out the full announcement here:
Will Shortz joined us on our Boswords broadcast tonight to share news about a future location for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT). You can watch the interview at https://t.co/b2iKNr7ExMpic.twitter.com/8Uv6oq6Hz0
Overall, I think this is a great move for the tournament. There’s greater opportunity to attend the tournament, plus a ballroom space fit for voracious solvers of all ages.
I can’t wait to see what 2016 and 2017 bring for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
Remember that registration opens on January 1st for former contestants and on January 8th for rookies!
Reminder: Puzzmo Open Submission Week is Fast Approaching!
From the mecca of in-person crossword solving to one of its most ambitious and welcoming online platforms, we move from one impactful puzzly institution to another that has very quickly made its mark on the world of puzzles.
Puzzmo is holding their next Crossword Open Submission Week from December 29th to January 5th, 2026, with new and established constructors all welcome to submit their puzzly creations.
Themed and themeless puzzles are welcome, as long as they fit Puzzmo’s specs, and the Puzzmo team has created an impressively thorough document to assist aspiring constructors with their efforts. Grid specs, examples of previously published puzzles, and more await anyone hoping to see their work pop up on Puzzmo.
It’s a very cool opportunity to test your puzzly mettle in a creative space known for strong crossword fundamentals as well as playfulness with language and themes (particularly their signature “apt pairs”).
I would highly recommend checking out Puzzmo, whether you’re planning to submit puzzles or not. The minis, midis, and big crosswords are all great fun to solve, and new constructors are bound to learn a thing or two from the terrific names on Puzzmo’s roster of puzzlesmiths.
Will you be attending next year’s ACPT or submitting to this year’s Puzzmo Open Submission Week? Let us know in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you!
Happy Holidays and welcome to the PuzzCulture 2025 Holiday Puzzly Gift Guide!
Each year, we scour the world of puzzles and games for the best, the most engaging, the most creative, and the most enjoyable products we can find, and we think this year’s collection is the best we’ve ever had!
We’ve got three different versions of the Gift Guide for your perusal, each of them absolutely loaded with all sorts of puzzly goodness and designed to make your puzzle and game shopping as easy as possible!
You can scroll to your heart’s content or use our handy quick search links to jump to different sections! The products in this year’s Gift Guide are organized by category, by age group, and by price below!
So, if you’d like to view products sorted by category (puzzle games, board games, puzzle books, etc.), click the wreath!
And if you’d like to view products sorted by price from lowest to highest, click the tangram candle!
A lot of terrific companies and puzzle constructors are taking part in our gift guide this year, and we’re sure you’ll find something for every puzzle lover on your list!
Happy browsing and happy puzzling to you and yours!
Welcome to the PuzzCulture 2025 Holiday Puzzly Gift Guide!
We’re so excited to be bringing you our biggest ever gift guide! There are so many tremendously fun and puzzly products to share with you this year. We just might be your one-stop shop for all things puzzly!
In this edition of the Holiday Puzzly Gift Guide, we have endeavored to strike a balance between the most affordable price we could find for each product and the most reliable outlet to get your gifts to you in time for the holidays!
Please enjoy this assortment of dice games, brain teasers, card games, puzzle books, group & party games, murder mysteries, escape room games, and board games, all organized in price from lowest to highest. We’re sure you’ll find the right gift for any puzzler on your list!
Any amounts in Pounds have been placed where they’d land roughly when converted to dollars. And please note that shipping is not factored into any of these prices.
Since most of the puzzle books, magazines, and puzzle bundles in this year’s gift guide are between $5 and $15, and most subscription services are between $15 and $30 per year, we figured we’d bundle them all up front before we get into all of the games, puzzles, and other terrific holiday treats!
Pencil-and-paper puzzles are alive and well, and we’re happy to share some of our favorites with you.
Maybe you’re looking for a grab bag full of different puzzles, like their Winter Fun Holiday Pack ($27.95) or a Championship Puzzle Pack of 40 magazines ($33.95)! Or perhaps you’d prefer one kind of puzzle, with the ease of printing at home with Print N’ Solve Magazines and Puzzle Packets (starting at $4.75). Either way, the folks at Penny Dell Puzzles have got you covered.
And be sure to check out their deals on Facebook and Twitter throughout the holiday season. They’ve got bundles and discounts for days!
And while we’re on the topic of puzzle books, some of the best constructors (and many favorites of the blog) have released their own books for your perusal! And with New York Times,Los Angeles Times, and USA Today puzzles to their credit, you’re sure to find some quality puzzlers within these pages!
Many top constructors and organizations market their puzzles directly to solvers, so between email subscriptions and downloadable puzzle bundles, you’ve got plenty of quality choices!
You’re all scientists that have invented time travel, but can you outfit your time machine and outrace your fellow inventors to the day the patent office opens and claim US Patent #1? This strategy game is an all-time favorite and it’s a perfect Print-and-Play joy for friends and family to try out! ($5)
Flip 7 (Eric Olsen/USAopoly, party/group game)
In this push-your-luck card game with the cards numbered one through twelve, the concept is simple: flip over your cards and don’t repeat a number. Problem is, there’s 1 one and 12 twelves, so you’re bound to repeat sometimes. Can you Flip 7 and score extra points? ($7.99)
Math Dice (ThinkFun, dice game)
Can you out-think and out-math your opponents when it comes to addition, division, square roots, and more? That’s what awaits players with Math Dice, a deviously fun game of who can get closest to the target with only their math skills and cleverness! ($7.99)
Coaster Games is a six-pack of games encompassing all sorts of gameplay styles. Counting, word building, deduction, strategy, resource management, and more, and they all fit in your pocket. Perfect for parties or quickplay fun between longer game sessions, you’re guaranteed to find something to enjoy here! (£6.99)
There’s Been a Murder (Pressman, party/group game)
Can you and your friends solve a murder? In this card game, every card can help you solve the crime (or hinder the investigation, if you’re the murderer). It’s amazing how Pressman boiled down all of the elements of a murder mystery into a card game this easy to learn, a game that you’ll happily play again and again. ($8.99)
That’s Not a Hat (Ravensburger, party/group game)
A White Elephant gift exchange is always a fun time, especially watching the gifts getting traded all around. But, if they were still wrapped, could you remember every gift as it moved from person to person? That’s Not a Hat puts your memory to work, asking if you can recall each gift as it is hidden from view and passed around the table. It’s tougher, and more fun, than you think! ($9.99)
Tired of turn-based combat and strategy? Light Speed has you covered. In this real-time card game, you play your ships as quickly as you want until one player runs out of cards, and then you see what happens! With combat, mining, strategy, and speed, this card game is great fun. ($10.95)
FALLING (Crab Fragment Labs, card game)
Some card games go quickly, but FALLING only takes 90 seconds. You’re all falling, and you want to hit the ground last. This game is insanely fast, chaotic, and an absolute riot to play over and over. Give it a shot. Trust me, you’ve got the time. ($10.98)
Get Lucky (Crab Fragment Labs, card game)
In this quick-play card game, you must scheme against your fellow players to be the first to kill Doctor Lucky. But Doctor Lucky is called that for a reason, so it’s gonna take a few tries, even with upgraded weapons, motives, and opportunities. Will you be the one to succeed? ($14.95)
Exit: The Game: Dead Man on the Orient Express (Kosmos, escape room/solve the mystery game)
Exit: The Game products create an escape room experience by combining a deck of cards, a guidebook, a sliding decoder ring, an interactive phone app, and miscellaneous items to be used throughout the game. What sets Dead Man on the Orient Express above and beyond is that there’s a mystery to solve in the background, even as you tackle all the delightful escape room-style puzzles! ($14.99)
All of us have rolled dice in games before, but can you roll what you need as fast as possible? That’s the challenge of Tenzi, a game that pits up to four players against each other in tests of speed and dexterity. Can you roll ten 6’s before everyone else? ($18.95)
It’s a race against time to locate all of your spies before your opponents. But in order to do so, you need to communicate information with a single word. Codenames will put your word association skills to work as you try to find secret agents disguised with code words, while avoiding innocent citizens and dangerous assassins along the way! ($19.94)
It’s hard enough to build a cube out of Tetris-style puzzle block shapes, but imagine trying to disassemble — and then reassemble one — INSIDE a 3-D triangular frame. Egyptian Triglyph bends your brain into new shapes and taxes your spatial awareness in very cool ways. A topnotch reinvention of a puzzly classic! ($19.99)
What’s better than a trivia game? A trivia game with bluffing! Can you convince your fellow players that your fake trivia answer is the correct one? Try your luck and your skill with Sounds Fishy! ($19.99)
Enigmas Puzzle Hunt Playing Cards: Midnight edition (David Kwong/Dave Shukan, solve the mystery game)
A puzzle hunt lurking within a normal deck of cards? It sounds impossible, but when you’re dealing with puzzler and magician David Kwong, anything can happen with Enigmas! Can you unravel the mystery hiding amongst these playing cards? ($20)
12 Days (Calliope Games, card game)
A proper holiday-themed game for the holidays? You betcha. This wagering game, based on the 12 Daysof Christmas, has some of the most beautiful art in the entire card game genre. Plus the two ways to earn points — winning each day of Christmas with the lowest card in the pot vs. keeping as many of a certain value card as possible for the end of the game — offer tons of strategic opportunities in a simple card game. What a treat! ($20)
Word Fluxx and Cat Fluxx (Looney Labs, card game)
The chaos and ever-changing rules of Fluxx have taken many forms over the years, from anatomy and astronomy to Star Trek and Alice in Wonderland — and they’ve made their most accessible Fluxx games yet with Word Fluxx and Cat Fluxx. Build your words or delight in your feline friends as you try to win this classic quick-changing card game! ($20)
Up to $30
Alice is Missing (Hunters Entertainment, escape room / solve the mystery game)
Can you and your fellow players solve a mystery without ever saying a word? That’s the challenge offered by the uniquely atmospheric and haunting RPG mystery gameAlice Is Missing.
A game played entirely through text messaging, each player takes on the role of a character in the town of Silent Falls, trying to find out what happened to Alice Briarwood. We promise, you’ve never played anything like it. ($21.99)
Puzzometry (jigsaw puzzle)
For a next-level jigsaw challenge, Puzzometry is tough to top. These beautiful pieces can be combined in seemingly endless combinations, and yet, there’s only one solution. Available in seven different styles — Puzzometry ($22.33), Puzzometry Jr. ($17.58), Puzzometry Squares ($22.33), Puzzometry Hex ($22.33), Puzzometry Steps ($22.33), Puzzometry Six ($22.33), and Puzzometry Jr. 2 ($17.58) — you’ve got distinct challenges appropriate for all different ages!
[Check out the full review of the original Puzzometry by clicking here!]
Fragments of Chaos: An Einstein Tile Challenge (Palmetto Puzzle Works, fill-the-frame puzzle)
Einstein’s influence is still felt today, as we have recently discovered the “Einstein monotile” (a tessellation without symmetry), and naturally, someone clever has turned the idea into a puzzle. Can you place these 23 irregularly-shaped pieces into the hexagonal grid? ($22.50)
Qwirkle (MindWare, board game)
A wonderful mix of Uno and Mexican Train Dominoes, Qwirkle is a tile-placing game where you try to maximize your points while minimizing the help you give to your opponents. With six bright colors and six different shapes to match up, Qwirkle is endless fun that’s so easy to jump into! ($22.99)
The Game of Wolf (Gray Matters Games, party/group game)
In the dog-eat-dog world of trivia, is it better to go alone or with the pack? In The Game of Wolf, trivia and strategy meet as you try to answer questions and double your points! With fresh topics and loads of interesting questions, The Game of Wolf has become my go-to trivia game. ($23.48)
Slapzi (Tenzi, party/group game)
Slapzi will keep you on your toes. In this quick-reaction game, you’ve got to match your picture cards to the clue cards before your opponents. But with clues like “Not sold in a hardware store” or “Two of the same letter together,” this isn’t as easy as it appears! ($23.95)
[Click here to check out our full review of Slapzi!]
Athena (Project Genius, brain teaser)
Put your chess skills and tactics to the test with Athena. A puzzle requiring you to think several steps ahead in order to reunite a statue with its pedestal on a busy archaeological dig site, Athena has over 50 challenging patterns for you to solve! ($24.99)
Cracker Games: The Imp Box (The Dark Imp, party/group game)
Six unique family games in a reusable box that looks like a Christmas cracker? What an idea! Voting, collecting, observation, and trading are among the gameplay styles you’ll find in The Imp Box, and this neat little package packs a lot of variety into a small space! (£19.99)
This advent calendar has no numbers on the doors, and solving a daily puzzle is the only way to figure out which door to open! This clever, festive, chocolate-filled treat is a puzzly twist on a holiday classic! ($27)
Spaceteam (Timber and Bolt, card game)
Can you repair your ship and get the engines up and running before a black hole ends your space adventure forever? That’s the name of the game in Spaceteam, a cooperative, communication-based game where you have to accomplish various tasks with your fellow players while sharing tools. It’s delightful chaos, heightened by the five-minute hourglass timer counting down your dwindling seconds before disaster strikes! A definite favorite around here. ($27.95)
Gloomand Gloomier (Atlas Games, card game)
Do you enjoy The Addams Family or the art of Edward Gorey? Then Gloommight be a strategy game worth checking out. In this tactical game with a sinister twist, you’re trying to make your Victorian family miserable for points and the lives of your opponents’ families better! Yup, misfortune equals good fortune for you! With gorgeous transparent cards you can lay over each other to track your scores, there’s no storytelling game out there quite like it.
Tavern Puzzles / Tucker-Jones House Inc. (brain teaser)
These hand-forged beauties are ready to challenge your dexterity and cleverness, as you accept the Tavern Puzzles challenge. Whether you’re trying to remove twice as many pieces in a Collaborative Effort or free the triangle from Tridiculous, you’re sure to put your skills to the test. ($29.95 each)
A trip to the beach in game form, Seaside is all about collecting tokens from the sea and building the biggest stack. This simple game offers surprising depth and strategy, and the tokens are beautiful and environmentally friendly. You could take this game anywhere and set up in seconds! ($31.99)
The Light in the Mist (Allplay, solve the mystery game)
We’ve got puzzles in calendars, puzzle boxes, games, and playing cards, but how about a puzzle AND a story hidden in a tarot deck? The Light in the Mist walks you through the memories of a missing friend and creates a unique puzzle-solving experience! ($34)
Bring your puzzle skills to life as you assemble a working roller coaster from these wooden pieces. Assembling handcranks and gears to operate the machine along with the structure of the roller coaster itself makes this 3-D puzzle more exciting and satisfying than the average 3-D puzzle. ($39.95)
Unlock!Games(Asmodee, escape room / solve the mystery game)
Unlock! games consist of entirely of a deck of cards and your app. The cards provide locations, challenges, helpful items, solutions, and warnings, all identified with numbered or lettered cards in the deck. There are numerous Unlock! escape games to try — covering everything from haunted houses to desert islands — and they’re offered in sets of three! ($39.99)
Wavelength (Asmodee, party/group game)
Can you get your teammates to pick the exact spot on the dial you want… with a single word? That’s the challenge of Wavelength, a literal game of inches that shows where our opinions differ and where they align. A terrific party game you can learn in seconds! ($39.99)
Tsuro: The Game of the Path (Calliope Games, board game)
A path-laying game with tons of style and historical spirit, Tsurocasts up to eight players as flying dragons, and tasks you with laying out your path with special tiles. Try not to meet any other dragons or fly off the board! It’s a simple mechanic with plenty of replay value, and perfect for quick games with large groups. ($40)
Sagrada (Floodgate Games, dice game)
One of the most beautiful strategy games on the market today, Sagrada is a singularly peaceful gaming experience. Compete with other players to build the most beautiful stained glass window, but with dice instead of glass! Unique and challenging, Sagrada is something else. ($40)
Up to $60
Godzilla: Tokyo Clash (Funko Games, board game)
Choose one of these four iconic monsters and let loose your fury all over Tokyo in Godzilla: Tokyo Clash. This tactical monster-vs.-monster game allows you to smash buildings, vehicles, and your fellow monsters on a game board that’s different every time you play! Will you be King of the Monsters by the time Tokyo is in ruins? ($42.99)
[Check out our full review of Godzilla: Tokyo Clashhere!]
Cluebox Escape Rooms in a Box (iDventure, brain teaser)
These multi-stage puzzle boxes are completely self-contained. You need to explore every inch of its surface to find clues and tools to unlock each stage of the puzzle box and reveal further challenges. Whether you delve into Davy Jones Locker ($49.99) or try to unravel the mystery of Schrodinger’s Cat ($44.99), you will definitely find your puzzly mettle tested by these devious devices!
Knot Dice Celtic Animals (Black Oak Games, dice game)
Can you twist, turn, and spin these dice to complete beautiful, elaborate patterns inspired by Celtic knots? That’s the name of the game with Knot Dice Celtic Animals, a dice game as challenging as it is gorgeous. With single-player and multi-player puzzles included, you’ll be tying yourself in knots for days! ($45, available in several colors)
And you can add new wrinkles and patterns to your solving with Knot Dice and Knot Dice Squared! ($40 and $45, respectively)
[Click here to check out our full review of Knot Dice and Knot Dice Squared!]
Chessplus
The first thing you learn in chess is how the pieces move. But what if that could change? What if you could make new pieces that move in unexpected ways? How would that change the game? With Chessplus, you’ll find out, as you mix and match chess pieces in order to capture your opponent’s king. The possibilities really are endless! ($45)
How about the chance to build your own game? Is that puzzle enough for you? Pinbox 3000 provides all the pieces you’ll need, plus valuable advice for brainstorming and creating your very own pinball game. It’s endlessly customizable, so you can make your Pinbox pinball game as simple or as complex as you like! ($49.95)
The Great Dinosaur Rush (APE Games, board game)
Bring the insane real-life rivalry of paleontologists Cope and Marsh to life in The Great Dinosaur Rush! As you collect fossils and discover your own unique dinosaur, you must also steal bones, sabotage other scientists, and more! Show off your cunning and creativity in this game that proves historical truth is weirder than fiction! ($50)
Arcs (Leder Games, board game)
Each player represents a different alien civilization, trying to complete their established goals and rule the galaxy. Arcs is a fairly complex game, and it’s definitely one that takes some time to play. But the art is beautiful, the gameplay is nicely balanced, and there are tons of different choices to make. ($54)
$70 and Over
Leviathan Wilds (Moon Crab Games, board game)
In this exciting strategy board/card game, you must climb one of seventeen leviathans and scramble all over it to heal it while avoiding its attacks. Be both action hero and environmentalist by scaling these beautiful beasts and trying to save them! ($74)
Lightbox (Eric Clough, brain teaser)
A puzzle box unlike anything you’ve ever seen, Lightboxcreates different patterns of shadow and light as you shift and arrange the various plastic plates that make up the box. As you twist and reset them, different electrical connections are made, and different plates light up. As gorgeous as it is challenging, Lightbox is a very eye-catching puzzle that always wows new solvers. ($85)
[Check out our full review of Lightbox by clicking here!]
Simply the coolest marble run builder I’ve ever seen, the Gravitrax Starter-Set XXL offers hundreds of pieces and a terrific base to build upon. Create ramps, loops, and elaborate patterns with ease! And although there are smaller Gravitrax games to start with, the Gravitrax Starter-Set XXL is an absolute wonder! ($129.99)
Thank you to all of the constructors, designers, and companies taking part in this year’s holiday puzzly gift guide! So great to have so many of you back, and so marvelous to welcome so many new faces and new puzzles and games!
Welcome to the PuzzCulture 2025 Holiday Puzzly Gift Guide!
We’re excited to be bringing you our biggest gift guide ever! There are so many tremendously fun and puzzly products to share with you. We just might be your one-stop shop for all things puzzly!
This guide is broken down by age group, so we’re sure you’ll find the perfect gift for puzzlers of any age on your list!
The first thing you learn in chess is how the pieces move. But what if that could change? What if you could make new pieces that move in unexpected ways? How would that change the game? With Chessplus, you’ll find out, as you mix and match chess pieces in order to capture your opponent’s king. The possibilities really are endless! ($45)
A wonderful mix of Uno and Mexican Train Dominoes, Qwirkle is a tile-placing game where you try to maximize your points while minimizing the help you give to your opponents. With six bright colors and six different shapes to match up, Qwirkle is endless fun that’s so easy to jump into! ($22.99)
For Ages 7 and Up
Tenzi (dice game)
All of us have rolled dice in games before, but can you roll what you need as fast as possible? That’s the challenge of Tenzi, a game that pits up to four players against each other in tests of speed and dexterity. Can you roll ten 6’s before everyone else? ($18.95)
Tsuro: The Game of the Path (Calliope Games, board game)
A path-laying game with tons of style and historical spirit, Tsurocasts up to eight players as flying dragons, and tasks you with laying out your path with special tiles. Try not to meet any other dragons or fly off the board! It’s a simple mechanic with plenty of replay value, and perfect for quick games with large groups. ($40)
For Ages 8 and Up
Flip 7 (Eric Olsen/USAopoly, party/group game)
In this push-your-luck card game with the cards numbered one through twelve, the concept is simple: flip over your cards and don’t repeat a number. Problem is, there’s 1 one and 12 twelves, so you’re bound to repeat sometimes. Can you Flip 7 and score extra points? ($7.99)
Word Fluxx and Cat Fluxx (Looney Labs, card game)
The chaos and ever-changing rules of Fluxx have taken many forms over the years, from anatomy and astronomy to Star Trek and Alice in Wonderland — and they’ve made their most accessible Fluxx games yet with Word Fluxx and Cat Fluxx. Build your words or delight in your feline friends as you try to win this classic quick-changing card game! ($20)
A trip to the beach in game form, Seaside is all about collecting tokens from the sea and building the biggest stack. This simple game offers surprising depth and strategy, and the tokens are beautiful and environmentally friendly. You could take this game anywhere and set up in seconds! ($31.99)
Simply the coolest marble run builder I’ve ever seen, the Gravitrax Starter-Set XXL offers hundreds of pieces and a terrific base to build upon. Create ramps, loops, and elaborate patterns with ease! And although there are smaller Gravitrax games to start with, the Gravitrax Starter-Set XXL is an absolute wonder! ($129.99)
It’s hard enough to build a cube out of Tetris-style puzzle block shapes, but imagine trying to disassemble — and then reassemble one — INSIDE a 3-D triangular frame. Egyptian Triglyph bends your brain into new shapes and taxes your spatial awareness in very cool ways. A topnotch reinvention of a puzzly classic! ($19.99)
Coaster Games is a six-pack of games encompassing all sorts of gameplay styles. Counting, word building, deduction, strategy, resource management, and more, and they all fit in your pocket. Perfect for parties or quickplay fun between longer game sessions, you’re guaranteed to find something to enjoy here! (£6.99)
A White Elephant gift exchange is always a fun time, especially watching the gifts getting traded all around. But, if they were still wrapped, could you remember every gift as it moved from person to person? That’s Not a Hat puts your memory to work, asking if you can recall each gift as it is hidden from view and passed around the table. It’s tougher, and more fun, than you think! ($9.99)
Put your chess skills and tactics to the test with Athena. A puzzle requiring you to think several steps ahead in order to reunite a statue with its pedestal on a busy archaeological dig site, Athena has over 50 challenging patterns for you to solve! ($24.99)
Knot Dice Celtic Animals (Black Oak Games, dice game)
Can you twist, turn, and spin these dice to complete beautiful, elaborate patterns inspired by Celtic knots? That’s the name of the game with Knot Dice Celtic Animals, a dice game as challenging as it is gorgeous. With single-player and multi-player puzzles included, you’ll be tying yourself in knots for days! ($45, available in several colors)
And you can add new wrinkles and patterns to your solving with Knot Dice and Knot Dice Squared! ($40 and $45, respectively)
[Click here to check out our full review of Knot Dice and Knot Dice Squared!]
Cracker Games: The Imp Box (The Dark Imp, party/group game)
Six unique family games in a reusable box that looks like a Christmas cracker? What an idea! Voting, collecting, observation, and trading are among the gameplay styles you’ll find in The Imp Box, and this neat little package packs a lot of variety into a small space! (£19.99)
Math Dice (ThinkFun, dice game)
Can you out-think and out-math your opponents when it comes to addition, division, square roots, and more? That’s what awaits players with Math Dice, a deviously fun game of who can get closest to the target with only their math skills and cleverness! ($7.99)
A proper holiday-themed game for the holidays? You betcha. This wagering game, based on the 12 Daysof Christmas, has some of the most beautiful art in the entire card game genre. Plus the two ways to earn points — winning each day of Christmas with the lowest card in the pot vs. keeping as many of a certain value card as possible for the end of the game — offer tons of strategic opportunities in a simple card game. What a treat! ($20)
Slapzi (Tenzi, party/group game)
Slapzi will keep you on your toes. In this quick-reaction game, you’ve got to match your picture cards to the clue cards before your opponents. But with clues like “Not sold in a hardware store” or “Two of the same letter together,” this isn’t as easy as it appears! ($23.95)
[Click here to check out our full review of Slapzi!]
This advent calendar has no numbers on the doors, and solving a daily puzzle is the only way to figure out which door to open! This clever, festive, chocolate-filled treat is a puzzly twist on a holiday classic! ($27)
Leviathan Wilds (Moon Crab Games, board game)
In this exciting strategy board/card game, you must climb one of seventeen leviathans and scramble all over it to heal it while avoiding its attacks. Be both action hero and environmentalist by scaling these beautiful beasts and trying to save them! ($74)
US Patent #1 (Crab Fragment Labs, board game)
You’re all scientists that have invented time travel, but can you outfit your time machine and outrace your fellow inventors to the day the patent office opens and claim US Patent #1? This strategy game is an all-time favorite and it’s a perfect Print-and-Play joy for friends and family to try out! ($5)
Godzilla: Tokyo Clash (Funko Games, board game)
Choose one of these four iconic monsters and let loose your fury all over Tokyo in Godzilla: Tokyo Clash. This tactical monster-vs.-monster game allows you to smash buildings, vehicles, and your fellow monsters on a game board that’s different every time you play! Will you be King of the Monsters by the time Tokyo is in ruins? ($42.99)
[Check out our full review of Godzilla: Tokyo Clashhere!]
Sounds Fishy (Big Potato Games, party/group game)
What’s better than a trivia game? A trivia game with bluffing! Can you convince your fellow players that your fake trivia answer is the correct one? Try your luck and your skill with Sounds Fishy! ($19.99)
Light Speed (Crab Fragment Labs, card game)
Tired of turn-based combat and strategy? Light Speed has you covered. In this real-time card game, you play your ships as quickly as you want until one player runs out of cards, and then you see what happens! With combat, mining, strategy, and speed, this card game is great fun. ($10.95)
Pinbox 3000 (Cardboard Teck Instantute)
How about the chance to build your own game? Is that puzzle enough for you? Pinbox 3000 provides all the pieces you’ll need, plus valuable advice for brainstorming and creating your very own pinball game. It’s endlessly customizable, so you can make your Pinbox pinball game as simple or as complex as you like! ($49.95)
Unlock!Games(Asmodee, escape room / solve the mystery game)
Unlock! games consist of entirely of a deck of cards and your app. The cards provide locations, challenges, helpful items, solutions, and warnings, all identified with numbered or lettered cards in the deck. There are numerous Unlock! escape games to try — covering everything from haunted houses to desert islands — and they’re offered in sets of three! ($39.99)
Bring the insane real-life rivalry of paleontologists Cope and Marsh to life in The Great Dinosaur Rush! As you collect fossils and discover your own unique dinosaur, you must also steal bones, sabotage other scientists, and more! Show off your cunning and creativity in this game that proves historical truth is weirder than fiction! ($50)
Spaceteam (Timber and Bolt, card game)
Can you repair your ship and get the engines up and running before a black hole ends your space adventure forever? That’s the name of the game in Spaceteam, a cooperative, communication-based game where you have to accomplish various tasks with your fellow players while sharing tools. It’s delightful chaos, heightened by the five-minute hourglass timer counting down your dwindling seconds before disaster strikes! A definite favorite around here. ($27.95)
One of the most beautiful strategy games on the market today, Sagrada is a singularly peaceful gaming experience. Compete with other players to build the most beautiful stained glass window, but with dice instead of glass! Unique and challenging, Sagrada is something else. ($40)
For Ages 11-12 and Up
Enigmas Puzzle Hunt Playing Cards: Midnight edition (David Kwong/Dave Shukan, solve the mystery game)
A puzzle hunt lurking within a normal deck of cards? It sounds impossible, but when you’re dealing with puzzler and magician David Kwong, anything can happen with Enigmas! Can you unravel the mystery hiding amongst these playing cards? ($20)
FALLING (Crab Fragment Labs, card game)
Some card games go quickly, but FALLING only takes 90 seconds. You’re all falling, and you want to hit the ground last. This game is insanely fast, chaotic, and an absolute riot to play over and over. Give it a shot. Trust me, you’ve got the time. ($10.98)
Puzzometry (jigsaw puzzle)
For a next-level jigsaw challenge, Puzzometry is tough to top. These beautiful pieces can be combined in seemingly endless combinations, and yet, there’s only one solution. Available in seven different styles — Puzzometry ($22.33), Puzzometry Jr. ($17.58), Puzzometry Squares ($22.33), Puzzometry Hex ($22.33), Puzzometry Steps ($22.33), Puzzometry Six ($22.33), and Puzzometry Jr. 2 ($17.58) — you’ve got distinct challenges appropriate for all different ages!
[Check out the full review of the original Puzzometry by clicking here!]
Get Lucky (Crab Fragment Labs, card game)
In this quick-play card game, you must scheme against your fellow players to be the first to kill Doctor Lucky. But Doctor Lucky is called that for a reason, so it’s gonna take a few tries, even with upgraded weapons, motives, and opportunities. Will you be the one to succeed? ($14.95)
Exit: The Game: Dead Man on the Orient Express (Kosmos, escape room / solve the mystery game)
Exit: The Game products create an escape room experience by combining a deck of cards, a guidebook, a sliding decoder ring, an interactive phone app, and miscellaneous items to be used throughout the game. What sets Dead Man on the Orient Express above and beyond is that there’s a mystery to solve in the background, even as you tackle all the delightful escape room-style puzzles! ($14.99)
Gearjits Roller Coaster (Gearjits, marble puzzle)
Bring your puzzle skills to life as you assemble a working roller coaster from these wooden pieces. Assembling handcranks and gears to operate the machine along with the structure of the roller coaster itself makes this 3-D puzzle more exciting and satisfying than the average 3-D puzzle. ($39.95)
For Ages 13-14 and Up
Words Apart by Aimee Lucido, illustrated by Phillippa Corcutt and Rachael Corcutt (puzzle book)
Olive and Mattie are sisters, two years apart, but in the same grade. While Olive expresses herself with an impressive vocabulary and a love of wordplay, Mattie struggles with reading but finds comfort expressing herself through cartoons, sketches, and comic strips.
This wonderful coming-of-age story mixes poetry, prose, comics, and crosswords to tell a lovely story that everyone will find relatable. ($9.99)
[Click here to check out our review of Words Apart!]
The Game of Wolf (Gray Matters Games, party/group game)
In the dog-eat-dog world of trivia, is it better to go alone or with the pack? In The Game of Wolf, trivia and strategy meet as you try to answer questions and double your points! With fresh topics and loads of interesting questions, The Game of Wolf has become my go-to trivia game. ($23.48)
There’s Been a Murder (Pressman, party/group game)
Can you and your friends solve a murder? In this card game, every card can help you solve the crime (or hinder the investigation, if you’re the murderer). It’s amazing how Pressman boiled down all of the elements of a murder mystery into a card game this easy to learn, a game that you’ll happily play again and again. ($8.99)
Arcs (Leder Games, board game)
Each player represents a different alien civilization, trying to complete their established goals and rule the galaxy. Arcs is a fairly complex game, and it’s definitely one that takes some time to play. But the art is beautiful, the gameplay is nicely balanced, and there are tons of different choices to make. ($54)
The Light in the Mist (Allplay, solve the mystery game)
We’ve got puzzles in calendars, puzzle boxes, games, and playing cards, but how about a puzzle AND a story hidden in a tarot deck? The Light in the Mist walks you through the memories of a missing friend and creates a unique puzzle-solving experience! ($34)
Gloomand Gloomier (Atlas Games, card game)
Do you enjoy The Addams Family or the art of Edward Gorey? Then Gloommight be a strategy game worth checking out. In this tactical game with a sinister twist, you’re trying to make your Victorian family miserable for points and the lives of your opponents’ families better! Yup, misfortune equals good fortune for you! With gorgeous transparent cards you can lay over each other to track your scores, there’s no storytelling game out there quite like it.
Cluebox Escape Rooms in a Box (iDventure, brain teaser)
These multi-stage puzzle boxes are completely self-contained. You need to explore every inch of its surface to find clues and tools to unlock each stage of the puzzle box and reveal further challenges. Whether you delve into Davy Jones Locker ($49.99) or try to unravel the mystery of Schrodinger’s Cat ($44.99), you will definitely find your puzzly mettle tested by these devious devices!
Wavelength (Asmodee, party/group game)
Can you get your teammates to pick the exact spot on the dial you want… with a single word? That’s the challenge of Wavelength, a literal game of inches that shows where our opinions differ and where they align. A terrific party game you can learn in seconds! ($39.99)
Tavern Puzzles / Tucker-Jones House Inc. (brain teaser)
These hand-forged beauties are ready to challenge your dexterity and cleverness, as you accept the Tavern Puzzles challenge. Whether you’re trying to remove twice as many pieces in a Collaborative Effort or free the triangle from Tridiculous, you’re sure to put your skills to the test. ($29.95 each)
Codenames (Czech Games, card game)
It’s a race against time to locate all of your spies before your opponents. But in order to do so, you need to communicate information with a single word. Codenames will put your word association skills to work as you try to find secret agents disguised with code words, while avoiding innocent citizens and dangerous assassins along the way! ($19.94)
A puzzle box unlike anything you’ve ever seen, Lightboxcreates different patterns of shadow and light as you shift and arrange the various plastic plates that make up the box. As you twist and reset them, different electrical connections are made, and different plates light up. As gorgeous as it is challenging, Lightbox is a very eye-catching puzzle that always wows new solvers. ($85)
[Check out our full review of Lightbox by clicking here!]
For Ages 16 and Up
Alice is Missing (Hunters Entertainment, solve the mystery game)
Can you and your fellow players solve a mystery without ever saying a word? That’s the challenge offered by the uniquely atmospheric and haunting RPG mystery gameAlice Is Missing.
A game played entirely through text messaging, each player takes on the role of a character in the town of Silent Falls, trying to find out what happened to Alice Briarwood. We promise, you’ve never played anything like it. ($21.99)
For Ages 18 and Up
Fragments of Chaos: An Einstein Tile Challenge (Palmetto Puzzle Works, fill-the-frame puzzle)
Einstein’s influence is still felt today, as we have recently discovered the “Einstein monotile” (a tessellation without symmetry), and naturally, someone clever has turned the idea into a puzzle. Can you place these 23 irregularly-shaped pieces into the hexagonal grid? ($22.50)
Most puzzle books would probably fall in the Age 9-10 and Up range, but oftentimes, the cluing is geared toward an older audience, so to avoid confusion, I’ve bundled the majority of the puzzle books here.
Maybe you’re looking for a grab bag full of different puzzles, like their Winter Fun Holiday Pack ($27.95) or a Championship Puzzle Pack of 40 magazines ($33.95)! Or perhaps you’d prefer one kind of puzzle, with the ease of printing at home with Print N’ Solve Magazines and Puzzle Packets (starting at $4.75). Either way, the folks at Penny Dell Puzzles have got you covered.
And be sure to check out their deals on Facebook and Twitter throughout the holiday season. They’ve got bundles and discounts for days!
And while we’re on the topic of puzzle books, some of the best constructors (and many favorites of the blog) have released their own books for your perusal! And with New York Times,Los Angeles Times, and USA Today puzzles to their credit, you’re sure to find some quality puzzlers within these pages!
Many top constructors and organizations market their puzzles directly to solvers, so between email subscriptions and downloadable puzzle bundles, you’ve got plenty of quality choices!
Thank you to all of the constructors, designers, and companies taking part in this year’s holiday puzzly gift guide! So great to have so many of you back, and so marvelous to welcome so many new faces and new puzzles and games!
After our one-year anniversary post, some of the readers have been asking about my puzzle credentials. How did I become a puzzler? What strange, meandering road led me to the hallowed halls of puzzlesmithery? Could aspiring puzzlers follow the same path to puzzlewonderful adventures?
There’s no single path to puzzlerhood. Sure, there are some fairly universal commonalities. Do you have a great vocabulary? Mad trivia skills? Are you a whiz with palindromes, anagrams, or other forms of wordplay? These can all help. Also, a background or degree in English doesn’t hurt.
But every puzzler I know took a different route. It’s not as if we all awoke one day to a knock at the door, only to discover a small basket left on the doorstep, and tiny elfin footprints leading back toward the enchanted forest down the street.
Though, admittedly, that would have been awesome.
Here, let me take you through some of the highlights in my puzzle resume, and we’ll see if my experiences offer some guidance or inspiration for those with puzzletastic aspirations.
Unrecognized Wheel of Fortune Grand Champion, USA, 1988-present
Since I was about seven years old, family members have called me into the family room to see who can puzzle out the quotes, phrases, and punny answers behind the lovely Vanna White, and I regularly school both contestants and kin with ease.
While Mr. Sajak refused to recognize my decades-long reign as Wheel of Fortune Grand Champion (Stay-at-Home Division), and Mr. Seacrest has yet to return my calls, that doesn’t make it any less noteworthy.
Internship with the Riddler, Gotham City, 2000-2001
There are few puzzle personalities in the world with the flair, cachet, and renown of Edward Nygma, otherwise known as freelance detective and occasional criminal mastermind The Riddler. So when I had the opportunity to sit in with him and learn from his decades of riddle-centric shenaniganry, I leapt at the chance.
I studied the intricacies of mechanical puzzles, wordplay, and punsmithery while under Nygma’s wing. Although I frequently found myself in legal and moral gray areas — and on the receiving end of more than a few POW!s and BIFF!s — the experience was well worth it.
Tetris Foreign Exchange Program, St. Petersberg, 2002
There’s no better spatial awareness training than Tetris. I can feng shui the packages in the back of a UPS truck like nobody’s business, and don’t get me started on my legendary vacation-packing skills. And with the added pressure of that horrendous tension-inducing “you’re near the top!” music, I’m cool as Siberia under pressure.
Dungeon Tester, various, 2003-present
Is your Tomb of Horrors not horrorful enough? Is your Tomb of Elemental Evil lacking in some evil elements? Is your Ghost Tower of Inverness feeling a little inver-less?
I’ve ventured through some of the deadliest, trickiest, player-decimating-est dungeons in all of roleplaying, and my quality control and suggestions have made them even deadlier-ier!
That trick with the secret escape door in the third pitfall trap? Yeah, that was me.
You’re welcome, dungeon masters!
Escape Room Entrepreneur, Scranton, PA, 2006
Yes, the first official escape room opened in Japan in 2007, but I actually pioneered the genre when I accidentally tripped into a display at the Houdini Museum in Scranton just before closing time. Somehow the staff missed the clanking of chains and my totally-manly-and-not-at-all-shrill cries for help, and I found myself plunged into darkness, trapped haphazardly in several of Houdini’s most famous devices.
Thankfully my previous training with the Riddler had prepared me for this sort of dilemma. After several hours of maneuvering (and some unpleasant chafing marks from all the chains and manacles), I managed to extricate myself from all the Houdiniana around me and slip out the front door… and into the waiting arms of the police responding to all the motion sensor alarms I’d tripped with my heroic flailings.
Puzzle Summit with Will Shortz, New York City, 2007
Okay, it wasn’t so much a historic meeting of the minds as it was me yelling puzzle ideas at him with a megaphone as I chased him down the street.
But that totally counts.
Freelance Puzzle Historian, Self-Appointed, USA, 2009-present
Oh yes, puzzle history is a rich and varied field of study, one to which I have devoted a great deal of time and effort, unearthing some fascinating and surprising discoveries. For instance, did you know that Nero did not, in fact, fiddle while Rome burned? He was far too busy being frustrated by the extreme Sudoku puzzle he’d picked up in the agora.
Well, there you have it. A brief glimpse in my particular puzzle experiences and how they’ve shaped me. Here’s hoping you can blaze your own puzzlerific trail, be it through decoding Linear B with Cryptogram-ingrained proficiency or anagramming your friends’ names to your heart’s content.
If you’re unfamiliar, the Boswords Fall Themeless League is a clever weekly spin on traditional crossword tournament-style solving. Instead of cracking through a number of puzzles in a single day (or two), the Fall Themeless League consists of one themeless crossword each week, scored based on your accuracy and how fast you complete the grid.
Each week’s puzzle only has one grid, but there are three sets of clues, each representing a different difficulty level for solvers. Smooth is the least challenging, Choppy is the middle ground, and Stormy is the most challenging. (When you register to participate, you choose the difficulty level that suits you best.)
Each week’s puzzle is accompanied by a one-hour broadcast on Twitch, starting with a preseason puzzle and broadcast on Monday, September 29th at 9 PM Eastern.
The Fall Themeless League then runs the next nine Monday nights starting at 9 PM.
Don’t worry if you can’t attend the Monday night broadcasts. Solvers will have until the end of the day Sunday each solving week to complete that week’s puzzles!
As for the puzzles themselves, each year the Boswords team assembles a lineup of top-flight constructors, and this year is no exception.
This year’s constructors are Carina da Rosa, Barbara Lin, Ryan Mathiason, Sophia Maymudes, Paolo Pasco, David Quarfoot, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Jeremy Venook, Emily Yi and Wayne Zhao.
I’ve participated in the Spring and Fall Themeless Leagues in years past, and it always sparks a renewed appreciation for what talented constructors can do outside the traditional themed structures of a grid. The grid work, the fill, the cluing… these are all given greater focus.
Consider checking it out, you won’t be disappointed!
Will you be participating in this year’s Fall Themeless League, fellow solvers? Let me know in the comments section below, I’d love to hear from you!
PuzzCulture 