Passion For Puzzles

Applebee's Qatar (Foodvest Company) has launched recently the Mr. Apple and tiny bee children program at both Applebee's Restaurants.
Nathan Hughes the Applebee's Regional Senior Manager, HR and training stated that this great program has been launched regionally as our commitment to children by providing nutritious meals along with educational games and activities.
Mr Apple and Tiny bee programme is great for kids as it enhance thinking through puzzles, number games and maps added Medhat Yassin Al Jassim Group Marketing Manager.

Via: The Peninsula

Tags: Puzzle | Applebees

A few weeks ago a blogged that there now is the Kakuro Quest puzzle for the Mac. Thanks to a comment from 'Aaron Mark' I can now also tell you that there is a website where also Mac Safari users can play online Kakuro. The website is called kakuroconquest.com. All Safari users enjou Kakuro ! The website also works with Firefox and Internetexplorer.
Do you want to know how Kakuro works please visit our Kakuro Strategies webpage.

Tags: Kakuro | Mac | Safari

Modern TV detectives are a pretty soft lot. The officers in the likes of CSI and Waking the Dead seem to be far more interested in laboratory work than the no-nonsense shouting and shooting of The Sweeney and Dirty Harry.

But there's good news for one of the old school hard nuts: Kojak is set to make a comback via the mobile games scene.

The Kojak game, currently in production from Ojom, places you in the role of the lollypop-sucking detective as you solve a series of brutal crimes. The action is played out in an adventure style, requiring the crime fighter to visit numerous locations, interview suspects and review evidence.

Such exploration is broken up by a series of six mini-games covering different areas of the case. These mini-games – 'Identikit', 'Chain of Evidence', 'Call Intercept', 'Break the Cipher', 'Car Chase', and 'Shooting Range' – will combine puzzles and reaction-based challenges, and thus promise to add variety and longevity to what's an intriguing and apparently ambitious hybrid title.

So, who loves ya baby? Well it's still a little early to tell, but rest assured we've marked Kojak's case file for special attention, and we'll be pursuing our enquiries in earnest before its release later this year.

via pocket gamer

Tags: kojak | Mobile Puzzle

Grow Cube is a nice looking flash puzzle which can keep you busy for hours. All you have to do is to click ten items in the right order. If you have the sequence right you will get some congratulations. There are several puzzles at the Eyezmaze website which will keep you busy the coming weekend. Enjoy the music during solving Grow Cube. The picture posted shows you not the right solution.

Tags: Grow Cube | Flash Puzzle

Yesterday I received an email from Michael Jensen who is looking for beta-tester for two new puzzle he invented called WORDI and WordiPRO. As puzzle lover I tried to solve a few puzzles and I can not say that I really like them. Next to that I don't think Michael invented a new puzzle but just made a combination of word puzzles which already exists.
Till now most puzzlers who've tried them so far think they're pretty fun, even addictive. They say they're not hugely challenging, just quite satisfying.

WORDI Puzzles:
Intersect the ten words provided. Words will read horizontally (five rows) and vertically (five columns). Question mark blocks may be a letter or a blank, and do not spell new words.

WordiPRO Puzzles:
The same as WORDI, except you must discover the top row word. Only nine words of ten are provided. About five times harder than a Wordi.

You can test more than 1000 WORDI puzzle randomly for free on the Wordi and WordiPRO website.

Tags: Wordi | WordiPRO

"Perhaps the secret to the launch information for Wii is somehow encoded in the text of this news item" - this is how a sadistically teasing Nintendo PR guy chose to introduce the company's latest press release. The announcement focuses mostly on Nintendo's handheld games coming in the fourth quarter of 2006, with only a brief mentioning of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the GameCube and Wii.

"As the weather cools down, the Nintendo portable game offerings heat up. Final Fantasy V Advance makes its way to Game Boy Advance SP on Nov. 6. (...)

Nintendo DS owners are the big winners. Every week or so, another huge DS title hits, from the Touch Generations title Clubhouse Games to fan favorites like Elite Beat Agents and Yoshi's Island 2. Clearly a gamer's idea of paradise, here is Nintendo's upcoming DS lineup:

Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games
Oct. 16: Nintendogs (Dalmatian)
Oct. 23: Magical Starsign
Oct. 30: Pokémon Ranger
Oct. 30: Children of Mana
Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents
Nov. 13: Yoshi's Island 2
Dec. 4: Custom Robo Arena
Dec. 4: Kirby Squeak Squad

And, for Nintendo GameCube owners, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will be available for you this fall. An enhanced version also will be a launch title for Wii. That will all happen on... Oh look, we're out of space."
Yeah, very funny. But the question is: was there really an "encrypted message" in Nintendo's press release, or was it "just a scam to get you to read the other games we [Nintendo] have launching this fall"? Gaming Target took the bait, and came up with a Wii release date set for October 2. Here's how they reason it:

"The fourth quarter begins on October 1. Now look at the list. At least one game is released every Monday in the fourth quarter except for the following dates: October 2, November 20 and November 27.
November 27 is after Black Friday, so it's out. November 20 is after the launch of the PS3, so that's out too. That leaves us with October 2."

Well then, so far we have October 30, November 6, September or October, and now October 2. I figured we might as well give it a shot as well... say... October 20? How does that sound? Our good friend Random here says it's the real thing!

Via Playfils.com

Tags: Nintendo's Wii

Anyone remember the game MetaSquares? Over 100,000 people played it during the year it ran on America Online (1996-1997).
MetaSquares is a two-player board game designed by Scott Kim for Metacreations, makers of Kai's Power Tools and other graphics software.
MetaSquares is a bit like tic-tac-toe, but instead of trying to get three in a row you are trying to get four in a square. Two players take turns placing pieces on an 8 by 8 board. When a player gets four pieces at the corners of a square, the square is drawn in and the player gets points. Squares may be any size or tipped at any angle. Bigger squares get more points.
The game is easy to learn, challenging to master, and beautiful to watch, thanks to nifty artwork from the Metacreations folks. You can play with anyone else logged into the same network, and even chat with them as you play. The more you win, the higher your rating.
You can still find MetaSquare on a website called MetaSquares.com for Peer-to-Peer play. At Scott Kim's website you can also find a download for a Unix version of MetaSquares and some links to tutorials for the best technique and strategy to play MetaSquares.

Tags: Metasquares

To create some nice Rubik's Cube Art you need is a lot of Rubik's Cubes, time and creativity. A few cube lovers already designed their own piece of Cube Art by building a picture from a lot of Rubik's cubes. Some people use an icon creator to help to design their art. Just take a look at several pieces of Rubik's Cube art.

Tags: Rubik's Cube Art

The in-game soundtrack to the new music oriented puzzle game Lumines II has been announced. In this sequel to Lumines, actual music videos will appear in the game which I think is quite distracting. I like to solve my puzzles where it quiet so I can focus on solving the puzzle. But who am I to judge ;-)

Lumines II In-Game Music Video Track Listing
Beck - "Black Tambourine"
Black Eyed Peas - "Pump It"
Chemical Brothers - "Star Guitar"
Fatboy Slim - "Gangster Trippin'"
The Go! Team - "Bottle Rocket"
Gwen Stefani - "Hollaback Girl"
Hoobastank - "Born to Lead"
Junior Senior - "Take My Time"
Missy Elliott - "Lose Control"
New Order - TBD

In addition to the music videos, the in-game soundtrack will also include Junkie XL's "Breezer" and Stigmato Inc.'s "Reality Check." Shinichi Osawa, also known as Mondo Grosso, and who provided the opening track for the original Lumines, also wrote music exclusively for Lumines II.

Tags: Puzzle Music

Next to the Touch and Feel Rubik's Cube for blind people I discussed in a previous post there is now also Rubik's Blind Man's Cube available at Twistypuzzles. Each side of the puzzle has as usual a different color (I just wondered why ?) and a different shape ; squares, circles, lines, dots, plus signs and triangles.

Tags: Rubik's Cube

For the ones who wants to solve Sudoku puzzles without even thinking I found a very detailed description with ten steps on how to solve Sudoku puzzles. The only downside to this instruction is that you need very large printed Sudoku or you have to be able to write down and able to read small figures. You can find this step by step guide at the Instructables dot com website. For the people who want to solve Sudoku without writing things down just look at the passion for puzzles Sudoku solution page with only four techniques.

Tags: Sudoku

As mentioned in a previous post more than a week ago the Wasabi Code will start tomorrow. The puzzle begins with a simple anagram (that will be available at www.wasabianime.com on July 21st) which will be a clue for solving the other puzzles in the Anime Festival Orlando convention guide. Once all the puzzles are completed, players will discover an email address to send their answers to after the convention concludes. The deadline for emailing the answers is midnight (EST) on August 5th. The winner will be announced on www.wasabianime.com sometime on August 6th 2006.

Tags: WaSabi Code | Puzzle game

Naef Animal Puzzle are designed by Aoi Huber Kono in 1975 for Naef Toys in Switzerland. Children love to play with this fantastic wooden Animal Puzzle! Whether an elephant, monkey, lion, owl, hare or bear - all of these animal's faces can be made with the 25 maple wood cubes. Don't be amazed if they make imaginary animals such as a "lion- owl" or an "elephant-bear". Three cards depicting the six basic motifs are enclosed as a guide. The Naef animal puzzle is available at Nova68.com.

About Naef: Naef Toys are luxury wooden play objects designed to encourage creativity. Most toys can be assembled in endless variations. All are genuine art objects that are decorative, attractive and appealing to the senses. Each wooden toy has non-toxic coloring. Every customer tells us they love their new Naef toy. We are certain that you will love Naef too!

Tags: Animal Puzzle | Naef Toys

A few days ago I posted a Rubik's Cube solver build with FischerTechnik. This Rubik's Cube solver is not build with the help of any toys, but just pure engineering at the University of Michigan. Watch the video at YouTube.com

Tags: Rubik's Cube

At Eviltron's website you can find a very nice Flash version of Rubik's Cube. You can solve Rubik's Cube, you can see how to create special shapes with Rubik's Cube and it has also a very funny song you can listen to (just click on the brain with the questionmarks - this is some kind of Easter egg). Enjoy this very nice Flash version of Rubik's Cube.

Tags: Rubik's Cube | Flash Puzzle

Game maker Eidos PLC has released a new collection of screenshots for the mobile game 'Lara Croft in Puzzle Paradox' (only for JAVA enable mobiles). Puzzle Paradox sees Lara use all her puzzle-solving skills to complete a series of problems aimed at casual gamers. There are three different puzzle styles in this game: one with a 'Sudoku' influence, one involving light and mirrors (simulair to the mobile game the Da Vinci Code Light Puzzle), one matching runes and symbols. Next to the tilte background animated graphics are the only link to the Tomb Raider theme. Unlocked puzzles remain available for repeated play. Available from IOMO for JAVA-enabled mobile phones from July 3, 2006.

Puzzle Paradox website.

Tags: Lara Croft | Mobile Puzzle | Puzzle Paradox | Tomb Raider

The Flash puzzle Comboling was invented by Jerome Lulling during the mid 80s while watching the tiles on the bathroom floor and they say that this is no joke. With the help of the DENF team he finally managed to give shape to his brilliant idea called Comboling. And it works, this flash puzzle kept me busy for hours with lot of pleasure to solve the different puzzles. The puzzle gives you marked fields in a grid of 10 by 10 blocks. Your object is to link those marked block either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Each marked can only be linked once and you can not jump over marked fields. In total there are 25 level which will keep you occupied for a while.
Since April 2006 he has made some modifications to the puzzle. In the old version you could see all blocks of the gird which made it easier to see the diagonal link between marked blocks. In the new version this has changed and this makes it a little bit harder to solve :-(

Tags: Comboling | Flash Puzzle

Usually, when you mention cube puzzles, everyone thinks of Rubik's Cube. This time we are talking about Bedlam's Cube. The word Bedlam means chaos. Like all great puzzles, the concept is simple. Take a cube and, with the use of a high tech saw, slice it into thirteen cunning 3 dimensional geometric shapes. Take it apart, and then put it back together. Well yes, it would be except there are 19,186 different ways of put the Bedlam Cube together. The Bedlam Cube is so easy to start, but so difficult to master. There are various versions of the Bedlam Cube.
The Wooden Natural is made with wood from sustainable forests and finished with a clear protective lacquer, it feels extremely warm and tactile. The Bedlam Cube looks perfect in both traditional or modern homes.
The Wooden Retro Cube is a firm favorite with the kids! It is made from Rubberwood which is produced in environmentally friendly sustainable forests, painted in three bright colors.
The chrome Cube is crisp, modern, chic, stylish. The designer Cube is constructed from plastic with a high quality chrome coating. And last but not least the Pink Cube! Definitely the one for the extrovert!
The princess pink Cube is not made from recycled Barbie dolls - but is very, er, pink!
Next to that they also released Mini Bedlam Cubes, and Bedlam Cube dedicated to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

The Bedlam cube is available at Bedlam online puzzle shop

Tags: Bedlam Cube

Almost half a year ago I already posted an item about a Rubik's cube solver build and programmed with Lego's Mindstorm. Well more toys can be used to solve Rubik's cube. FischerTechnik can also be used to solve Rubik's Cube. Professor Artur Fischer invented fischertechnik in 1964 and it was supposed to only be a Christmas gift for customers and business partners. The system is based on a basic building block, which can be built out or built on on all six sides, just as you wish with angle blocks, static parts, numerous electronic components or remote infrared control. Fischertechnik is famous in and around Germany, but I don't think a lot of people know Fischertechnik so just have a look at the pictures of this project.

If you are interested in this fischerTechnic project you can find pictures and a video at the FischerTechnik Community.

Tags: FischerTechnik | Cube Solver

At cufflinks dot com the sell all kinds of cufflinks for every occasion, even for people who love to show their passion for puzzles they have three different kind of cufflinks. The first pair of cufflinks brings the party to your wrist. A great way to pass a flight. You have to match the loose balls to their home color and you win.
The second pair of cufflinks you can use during a meeting when you are bored. Turn up your wrist and navigate the three balls into the crown.
The third and last pair of cufflinks I like most it is a jigsaw puzzle piece shaped cufflink in hand polished sterling silver.

Tags: cufflinks | jewelry

Ever wondered how many different states of Rubik's Cube are possible? Well you need a computer to record that. And you know what, you can get money for that. A computer institute has been awarded $200,000 in order to solve the legendary eighties puzzle, the Rubik's Cube. Director of the Institute for Complex Scientific Software at Northeastern University in Boston, Gene Cooperman, is studying Rubik's Cubes as a way of setting up machines to study combinatorial problems in science and operations research. He wants to record as many different states of the Rubik's Cube as possible, which he says will exceed the 20TB of capacity that the $200,000 National Science Foundation grant recently afforded him.

Read the complete article at techworld.

Tags: Rubiks Cube

Lost Sock Games released Kakuro Quest for Mac. Kakuro Quest puzzles resemble crosswords or Cross Sums that use numbers, rather than words. Players must fill all the blank squares in the grid with only the digits 1-9, ensuring the numbers add up to the corresponding clues. The Grid grows from 7 X 7 to 10 X 12, challenging players to fill the grid to complete the puzzle. The game features unlimited puzzles, a "Quest Mode" via map play with increasing difficulty, and the ability to print out puzzles to solve them on paper.
More information on how to solve Kakuro puzzles can be found at passion for puzzles.com Strategy for Kakuro page.
Kakuro Quest is available for $20 via Macgamestore.com, and requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later.

Tags: Kakuro

<no>circles</no> looks simple but can very frustrating flash puzzle and is created by Different Cloth. Via the <no>circles</no> homepage you can choose between the first version v1 and the latest version v3.764 of <no>circles</no>. Both version have their own rules and for each level the rules can be different. Just be creative to find your way to the next level.

Tags: no circles | Flash Puzzle

Stackopolis is a simple addictive puzzle game. The object of Stackopolis is to build the structures in the time allocated. Using the blueprints and artists impression provided you have to undertake the building work single handed. Simply click on the block you want to move to pick it up, then click on the space where you want to place it. The original version is from Blocmedia. The big advantage is that you can see where the block will be placed (by a transparent block). Downside I think is that the blue print and the artist impression are not that clear. Next to that I got diverted by the busy background. Via google I found a better version of Stackopolis at freewebarcade.com only the transparent preview block is missing but that is compensated by the quiet background, the clear blue print and artist impression. Just make pick your favorite version of Stackopolis.

Tags: stackopolis | flash puzzle

In a previous post in informed you about The Wasabi Code which starts at July 21st 2006. The puzzle begins with a simple anagram "I Was In A Beam" which is really simple if you look at the domain name of the Wasabi Code website. Hopefully the real Wasabi Code is more interesting.

Tags: WaSabi Code | Puzzle game

There's a new puzzle game on the handheld horizon today, with Namco Bandai announcing it will bring Gunpey to both the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS. The game is expected to hit both systems this holiday season.

Gunpey's puzzle gameplay is as follows: lines of various angles climb up the screen, meaning the player's objective is to flip the lines, which are located in squares, to connect them over five columns. Connecting lines from left to right removes the connected row (think Tetris), and if an incomplete line reaches the top of the screen the game ends. Gunpey is an addictive and easy-to-learn puzzle game.

Gunpey has 40 different screen backgrounds and various tracks of stylized music. It also has a two-player multiplayer mode via the PSP's wireless ad-hoc connectivity.

Tags: Gunpey

Taking a note from the successful Dan Brown novel, Wasabi Anime will be producing a uniquely planned scavenger hunt called "The WaSabi Code" for this year’s Anime Festival Orlando (July 28th-30th) at the Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive. Anime and puzzle fans will compete for hundreds of dollars worth of 2007 anime and pop culture convention tickets.

The puzzle begins with a simple anagram (that will be available at www.wasabianime.com on July 21st) which will be a clue for solving the other puzzles in the Anime Festival Orlando convention guide. Once all the puzzles are completed, players will discover an email address to send their answers to after the convention concludes. The deadline for emailing the answers is midnight (EST) on August 5th. The winner will be announced on www.wasabianime.com sometime on August 6th 2006.

One winner will win two free passes to each of the following conventions:
- FX 2007 - "The Coolest Show On Earth!"
- JACON 2007
- Anime Express X
- Anime Festival Orlando 8
- YasumiCon 2007

Via anime news network

Tags: WaSabi Code | Puzzle game

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website has a weekly Mystery Godoku puzzle. Godoku is similar to Sudoku, but uses letters instead of numbers. The goal of Godoku is to fill in every empty box with one of nine letters. Each letter can appear only once in each horizontal row as well as in each vertical column and in each of the nine 3x3 grids. Some letters are always provided to get you started. Finally, they also give you a mystery clue to fill in a complete row or column. It is up to you if you choose to use it!

Tags: godoku | sudoku

In a previous post I already questioned if women do puzzle more. Most studies I found say so, women play more online puzzles than men, although if you look at puzzle competitions held all over the world most are dominated by men. Studies show that women spend as much or more time playing games on the web. Some of the Games of choice are word games.

Most people think men play the most online games. But a study conducted for AOL in 2004 revealed that women over 40 play the most often and spend more hours playing than both men and teens. The study concluded that while men spent more time per week than women on the Internet, women over 40 spent 41 percent of their online time playing games. Interesting to note is that the study found women players preferred word and puzzle games over the casino, arcade and sports games that appeal to men. It is was also thought that the social interaction appealed to the online game play for women.

Partly via prweb.com

Tags: Puzzle woman

This Wooden Sudoku Board I found via Sensory Edge. The Table Top Wood Sudoku Board doesn't require pencil or paper. This all wooden version of the addictive logical puzzle game allows you to solve it yourself or get help from others with two sided large tiles and a gaggle of small tiles for your possibility matrix. The game features:
- 81 Double Sided Two Colour Counters
- 81 Mini Counters for multiple choices
- A Sudoku book with 100 puzzles
- 4 self adhesive board buffers
- 1 Velvet counter bag

I think for children this is a much better and nicer version to play with than Rubik's Sudoku I already discussed in a previous post.

Tags: Wooden Sudoku

The Puzzle Bookshelf by KidKraft is a unique piece of child's furniture in primary colors. This imaginative puzzle shaped bookcase is a great place to store children's books, toys, and collectibles. With this bookshelf a child's room can be functional and fun. The pieces are interchangeable and can sit side by side if you'd rather set them up horizontal. Size: 25" x 11.5" x 37.5"
Puzzle bookshelf's are available via Sensory Edge.

Tags: Puzzle Bookshelf

Probably you have seen this item about Sudoku Loo Rool already on different weblogs, but this time I could not resist to publish the text provided by UPI (United Press International).

Fans of numerical Sudoku puzzles could be spending more time sitting in the bathroom now that toilet paper with individual puzzles on each sheet is available.
Developed in Britain, its creators call the printed Sudoku Loo Roll "long, strong and entertaining," and charge about $8 per roll on the iwantoneofthose.com Web site.
The site also says if a user makes it mistake, it's flushable.
However, bathroom users will have to get their own lead out, as pencils are not included with purchase.

Tags: Sudoku

Do you like Sudoku or crossword puzzles? Then Schaeffer's Stockdoku is the game for you! Stockdoku is the same Sudoku-type game you love, with a stock market twist! The normal numbers from 1 to 9 in the Sudoku puzzle are replaced by nine ticker symbols with the highest Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard rating of the day. Arrange the nine ticker symbols so that there are no duplicates in any of the 3x3 grids; across any 9x9 row; or in any 9x9 column -- and you're a winner! Fun for Free!

Tags: Stockdoku | Sudoku

During a officual WCA cube marathon Zbigniew Zborowski broke the official WCA cube marathon record by solving 3,390 Rubik's cubes within 24 hours. The old record was 3,141 cubes, set in February 2006 by Brent Morgan. Also a group of six Polish cubers (Lukasz Cialon 3355, Adam Wojtyla 2540, Zbigniew Zborowski 3390, Artur Justynski 2162, Adrian Banas 2481 and Tadeusz Tomala 2011) solved the grand total of 15,939 cubes in 24 hours. The full results of the Cube Marathon are also available.

Via speedcubing.com

Tags: speedcubing

For the Sudoku die hards there is Monster Sudoku, also called Dodeka Sudoku. It is bigger and can be more difficult than normal Sudoku's. Monster Sudoku can have a 12x12 or 16x16 grid.

Times Online offers daily a 12x12-grid Dodeka sudoku with 12 regions each being 4x3, which has to be completed with 0 through F (used in hexadecimal). Some Monster Sudoku's also use 1 through G rather in stead of 0 through F.

The rules of the new Dodeka and Monster Sudoku's are exactly the same, but more numbers and letters are needed. The 12x12 Sudoku puzzles require the numbers 1 to 9 and A, B and C in each row, column and 3x4 regions. The 16x16 Sudoku puzzles need 0 to 9, and the letters A to F.

Monster Sudoku's just add a new experience to Sudoku lovers. You just have to solve a Monster Sudoku to experience this feeling. You can find Monster Sudoku's at Daily Sudoku and Dodeka Sudoku's can be found at the Sunday Times Online.

Tags: Monster Sudoku | Dodeka Sudoku

Where is that? That's the question. The Google Maps Quiz is part of Mindpicnic, a website for self-directed learning. They integrated Google Maps in this nice quiz. The Google Maps Quiz shows at the top a part of the earth and you have to point on a map the world where it is. The Google Maps quiz shows you than the difference between the original place and the place you pointed out. At one of my attempts I had a picture of the Atlantic Ocean and missed just by 382 miles. Way to go !!!

Tags: Google Maps Quiz | Google Maps

Pearls Before Swine is a flash puzzle game, also know as nim, it is a very addictive strategy puzzle which you can play for hours, days, months if you want to. Pearls Before Swine is a two-player mathematical game of strategy. The rules are simple. The pearls are grouped into rows and consist of number of pearls. On each turn, a player must remove at least one pearl, and may remove any number of pearls provided they all come from the same row. The object of the game is to leave the last pearl for your opponent. If you really want to beat your creepy looking opponent sit down and figure out a strategy to beat this annoying guy. Otherwise you will be playing this game forever and you probably will win only when you are very lucky. Adn don't forget to turn on your speakers ;-)

Pearls before swine (3 rows)
Pearls before swine II (4 rows)
Pearls before swine III (different levels)

Tags: Flash Puzzle