Passion For Puzzles

Well it's time again to get into Halloween, by playing this simple puzzle game called Halloween Puzzle.

Arrange the pictures so there are three or more of the same pictures in a row or column. Click on a picture to move it and than click on another picture that's located to the left, right, above or below the first picture you clicked on. The two pictures will swap positions. Try to get three or more of the same pictures in a row or column to earn points and move to the next level. Happy Halloween Puzzling

Tags: Halloween Puzzle | Puzzle Game

Twibik is the latest abstract puzzle game from Tonypa.

Twibik puzzle game takes the often used matching mechanic we've all used to and gives it a fresh spin. Object is to get rid of tiles by matching similar ones sharing a row or column, causing them to vanish. The more block between two similar blocks the more block will disappear. Your options tend to vanish as well; like all Tonypa games there is a lot of challenge lying underneath the simple exterior.

Tags: Twibik | Puzzle Game

Well if we like puzzle games, probably also our dog like a puzzle challenge.

Pet product manufacturer Trixie has launched three puzzle toys designed to mentally challenge dogs and reward them for using natural instincts. The toys are graded according to level, allowing owners to gradually develop their dogs problem-solving skills.

Trixie said: "Running for a ball challenges a dog physically, while these toys are designed to challenge them mentally. Activity toys of varying designs have become increasingly popular in recent years, which can only be fun for dogs and for their owners."

The beginners-level toy is the Dog Activity Gamble Box, which contains hidden treats. The dog is encouraged by the scent to open the various draws and compartments of the box and hunt out the treats. The Dog Activity Gamble Box retails at £13. The level-two toy, The Dog Activity Kicker, provides a greater challenge, as a dog must push a slider with its nose to expose a tube filled with treats. It retails at £17.60.

Trixie's level three toy is designed for advanced dogs. Dog Activity Chess, which retails at £33.90, consists of a board of pins that can be removed to reveal a hidden compartment containing treats. As an extra challenge the treats are placed low in the recess of the compartment, so a dog must use its paws to remove them.

Each toy features non-slip rubber feet to keep it standing still. The puzzle packs also include training instructions and tips from their creator, behaviourist Jens Reinhold. [via Glee Birmingham]

Tags: Trixie | Puzzle

Schrink Me is a small strategic/skill/puzzle game in Flash.

Object is to shrink the box around the inner moving box without letting it touch the yellow moving sides by using the arrow keys. Press space when the border is red to move on to the next level. Happy puzzling!

Tags: Schrink Me | Puzzle Game

Consequence is another LightsOut variant puzzle game by UgoPlayer.

Click on a light to change the status of it and the 4 lights surrounding it (left, right, top and bottom). Manage to turn all 25 lights on and you win the level. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Consequence | Lights Out | Puzzle Game

Like Rubik's Cube? Then you are going to love this application by GabbaSoft.

Scramble your brain with Cubes and Supercubes of different sizes, ranging from 2x2x2 all the way to 20x20x20. Features include: timer and move counters, full screen and windowed modes, auto save, auto scramble, unlimited undo, and in-game help. The finished product will offer more puzzle shapes and types as well as many additional options and features absent from this demo.

Although this project is still in development, the demo application is stable and fully functional. Give it a try for free and send your feedback. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Rubik's Cube | Puzzle Cubes | Supercubes

Check out a gorgeous puzzle piece quilt that's a raffle prize at the DAN (Defeat Autism Now!) Conference which being held from 23-27 October 2008. You don't have to attend to win. Puzzle fabric surrounds the larger puzzle pieces. It is a twin/throw size, valued at $300, one of a kind treasure!

Raffle tickets are available: $1/ea, 6 for $5, 12 for $10, 25 for $20, etc. All proceeds from the raffle go toward the Million Dollar Puzzle project which honors the memory of Dr. Bernard Rimland.

If you would like to purchase a raffle ticket(s), you can simply send a check to the Autism Research Institute (ARI), noting on the check that it is for "Puzzle Pieces Quilt Raffle". Be sure to include your name, address and phone number. (Hint - If you have some address labels, send those along to be placed on the tickets.) The winning ticket will be drawn on Monday, October 27th. [via Age Of Autism]

Tags: Autism | Puzzle | Quilt

Brick Brake is a great strategy Flash puzzle game by Quick Flash Games.

The object of Brick Break is to remove all colored stone bricks from the center of the game field to proceed to next level. There are six difficulty levels, dozens of game levels and power bricks (such as bomb brick that breaks adjacent paved stone bricks) makes Brick Break addicting for all types of players. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Brick Brake | Puzzle Game

Penrose Press announced that it will publish the ONEXENO Puzzle Card Game in mid-October 2008.

ONEXENO is a deck of cards inspired by an ancient Mayan designs, combined with modern based on high-tech pattern matching technology. The game is slated for release in November 2008 and will each cost US$19.50.

The announcement comes with Penrose Press's unveiling of of the ONEXENO website. The website includes the rules for three games — ONEXENO Basic, ONEXENO Solitaire and ONEXENO Canasta. The deck includes 70 unique square cards that are the mathematically complete set of all cards of this type.

ONEXENO Basic is an exciting tabletop card game that may be played by 2 to 7 players, or by 2 or 3 sets of partners. This is a truly family game that engages players from age 7 to 70. Players collect points by forming rows of edge-matching cards.

ONEXENO Solitaire is solo puzzle game played by one player. The object of the game is for the player to complete an 8X8 square arrangement of cards in which the edges of all cards match. Much like traditional Klondike solitaire, the player proceeds through a stack of cards attempting to place them in the current playing field.

ONEXENO Make-20 Canasta is rummy-style game played by two to four players. To play with more players, additional decks are required. Players meld points by forming rows of cards. Card rows adding up to twenty are called XENOs. Players receive an additional 10 points for each XENO that they make.

The official rules and order forms for these ONEXENO are on the Onexeno website [via PressMediaWire]

Tags: Onexeno | Puzzle Card Game

Quick Stack is a small but fun puzzle game with some aspects of Tetris.

Object is to place and swap your bricks wisely and create groups of 3 blocks of the same color in left or right or both stacks to score points and gain levels. Move mouse up and down to place your bricks. Move mouse left and right to swap your bricks. Click left mouse button to push your bricks into the stack. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Quick Stack | Puzzle Game

Assembler is a physics based puzzle game by Bryce Summer.

The goal in Assembler is to get the key shape, which is green, in the key shape zone, which is a green outline. There are also filler shapes, which looks like plain wood. Use the mouse to move the shapes. More levels for Assembler will be added soon. Happy Puzzling !

Tags: Assembler | Puzzle Game

At Tredoku.com you can find different kind of 3D Sudoku's.

For Tredoku the same rules apply as for normal Sudoku's, only the Sudoku grid looks a bit different in 3D. Tredoku puzzels come in infinite forms due to the extra dimension which gives you as a Sudoku player, a unique experience. At the website you can find information on how to play Tredoku and daily free Tredoku puzzles. Happy Puzzling!

Tredoku puzzles books are also available via Amazon.

Tags: Tredoku | Sudoku

Great news from The Sam Loyd Company for readers of the Passion for Puzzles weblog.

The Sam Loyd Company just released four new Sam Loyd puzzles. These are the Classic Collection and are just the same puzzles as first invented by Sam Loyd. They new Sam Loyd puzzles can be seen at the Official Sam Loyd Website. If you buy Sam Loyd puzzles via their online store and you mention "Passion for Puzzles" you will receive a Trick Donkeys Pocket Puzzle for FREE. Happy Puzzling !

Tags: Sam Loyd | Trick Donkeys Puzzle

Ramisis is the second puzzle in the series which started with the Isis Adventure puzzle ball last year. Ramisis is also known as Isis II / Isis 2.

Like the Isis the Ramisis is a 'tear your hair' out type of puzzle, but if you manage to solve the riddles to open it up you will find clues to take you to secret locations where real treasure worth thousands of pounds is hidden inside other pyramids. It is available from Firebox from October 20th 2008. Ramisis costs £149.95. [via FunkyFinds]

Tags: Ramisis | Isis II | Isis Adventure

If you liked puzzle game Shift you will probably also like Enigma Gravitational Bot, another great online puzzle game.

Object of this awesome online platform puzzle type game that has crazy physics is to try to move (arrow keys) your robot past each of the 30 levels by changing gravity (WASD keys), sliding boxes (with your mouse), and jumping around without dying. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Enigma Gravitational Bot | Puzzle Game

CrosScan puzzles is a combination of crossword puzzles and wordsearch puzzles, with the answers to crossword style clues to be found in a 15-square word search block.

Each puzzle has a theme, which is hidden through the use of many double meanings in the clues, and will gradually emerge as the puzzle is worked. Puns, humor, and red herring words which don't fit the theme are included to add extra interest. An average puzzle includes between 40 and 50 words.

At the CrosScan website you can find some printable samples of CrosScan puzzles. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: CrosScan | Crossword | wordsearch

Rings Of Color is another Lights Out look-a-like online Flash puzzle game.

Object is to match the colored rings around the same colored balls. Just click to rotate the four (they get grey surroundings when you move your mouse over them) rings clockwise until they match the right colors in the center. The first levels are really simple to solve but then the levels gradually gets more challenging.

Tags: Rings Of Color | Puzzle Game

Funky Kakuro is a creative variant of the original Kakuro puzzles by David Millar from The Griddle.

Object of Funky Kakuro is to determine which digits belong in which cells using the clues given. Only cells marked with a gray border contain even numbers. Some clues denote which of the adjacent cells has a higher digit. When complete, each vertical and horizontal section should contain digits from 1 to 9 which add to the given sum with no repeated digits. You can download Funky Kakuro in pdf via The Griddle website. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Funky Kakuro | Puzzle

Perpetual Motion is an online Flash Puzzle Game at King.com.

In Perpetual Motion World Tour you'll have to travel to 36 exotic locations to solve all the puzzles. Object is to arrange the available props so a perpetual machine is created the runs until the countdown ends. Machines are scored on complexity, you can score extra points for sequence of identical props (the more props in a sequence the higher the score. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Perpetual Motion | Puzzle Game

Light-bot is a online Flash puzzle game in which you control small gray colored robot. You control this bot by giving him instructions in simple symbolic programming language.

Programming language in this game is just inserting graphical icons with actions to small grid and then hit the run button. After you hit this button, bot will execute your instructions.

Object is to give commands to your robot to light up the factory. Very soon you will realize though that using the main method on it's own is not enough and you will have to start creating re-usable functions to achieve the ultimate goal.

Light-Bot start with five tutorial levels, which help to understand of this game for most gamers. After these levels learning curve will slightly increase. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Light-Bot | Puzzle Game

Haunted Mirror Mazes puzzle has been by David Millar and inspired by my mirror maze puzzles from Erich Friedman.

The game grid represents a mirror maze with mirrors and some combination of ghosts, vampires, and zombies. Use the numbers of people seen from outside the maze to determine what entity each dot represents. Some puzzles may contain additional constraints.
- A vampire can be seen head on from the edge of the maze, but cannot be seen as a reflection in a mirror.
- A ghost cannot be seen head on from the maze edge; only as a reflection.
- Zombies can be seen head on as well as in mirrors as reflections.

You can play Haunted Mirror Mazes online but also download the complete set of Haunted Mirror Maze puzzles in pdf. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Haunted Mirror Mazes | Puzzle Game

Hidato is an online logic puzzle game based upon Hidato Puzzle Books by Dr. Gyora Benedek.

Object of Hidato is to complete the sequence of numbers, which must be adjacent either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The puzzles don't really seem to get much harder as you progress in difficulty. And there is a small number of strategies to learn to solve Hidato. The puzzles remain somewhat easy and only get bigger as the difficulty goes up.

If you like Hidato puzzles you can also purchase Hidato Puzzle Books via Amazon.com. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Hidato | Logic Puzzle

Karoshi is an online Flash puzzle game at NewsGround, but before we start puzzling today first two lessons. Lesson one : Karoshi means 'death from overwork'. Lesson two : Forget all the ways to stay alive in puzzle game Shift.

Okay now we can start puzzling. Karoshi is a puzzle game where you are a Japanese salaried worker who is overstressed and must find a way to die in each level. Each level has spikes or something else that will put you out of your misery but sometimes you have to find ways to get to it. This by pushing crates and other objects provided in each level. You can't go to the door or you will not die and therefor lose. Ty to escape is not how to beat a level, but dying is. Happy Puzzling !

Tags: Karoshi | Puzzle Game

When we find a new Sudoku variant you can read it here at our puzzle weblog.

To make life more easier for you we started a new web page with the Sudoku variants we found so far. The list in alphabetic order gives you a link to the Sudoku variant and a short description. The list is contains already more than 20 different Sudoku versions.

If you know sudoku variants not listed yes, please let us know. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Sudoku

A superhumanly patient puzzle enthusiast has become the first person in Britain to complete the world's most difficult jigsaw - all 18,200 pieces.

Ian Browncey spent more than 350 hours over three months assembling the puzzle's tiny pieces in his conservatory. The 43-year-old steelworker battled backache and sore fingers as he tackled the 10ft by 6ft puzzle - regarded as the Everest of jigsaws because so many people have failed to conquer it.

Married Mr Brouncey said: 'A lot of people start the puzzle but so many people drop out half way that it has become known as "the Everest". 'I just love doing jigsaw puzzles and this one gave me something to do in the evenings when there's nothing on TV. 'A couple of times when there was a load of green pieces around the border which were all the same shapes, I thought I could not complete it.' But the experience has not put him off jigsaws - in fact, quite the reverse. 'I don't know what to do with myself in the evenings now and I'm already getting itchy feet to start another,' he said.

Mr Brouncey, of Yeovil, Somerset, bought the £125 Jungle Scenes puzzle at London toy store Hamleys in the first week of June and sorted the pieces into different colours.

He devoted two hours every night and whole days on weekends to the puzzle before it was finished on September 20th 2008. Long-suffering wife Patsy, 41, said: 'Ian's very shy so jigsaw puzzles are a perfect hobby for him. 'I don't know how he had the patience to do it because I was getting fed up with him constantly at it.'

Jungle Scenes features 1,000 different colours and ten species of tropical animal including a toucan, cheetah and leopard with monkeys and parrots above them. The bright colours and green border are said to make it more difficult than the World's Largest Jigsaw Puzzle, a 24,000-piece world map made by Educa.

Hamleys has sold Jungle Scenes - the biggest jigsaw currently commercially available in Britain - for four years. But so far nobody has claimed to have finished one and manufacturer Ravensburger says only 'a couple of people' have ever completed it worldwide. A Hamleys spokeswoman said: 'We have never had anybody come to us and say they have finished one. 'We're delighted to hear that somebody has completed the puzzle because they are very difficult.'

Margaret Balaam, manager of the UK Jigsaw Puzzle Club, said: 'The jungle scene is the most difficult puzzle in the world and who ever takes it on is very brave.' [via DailyMail.co.uk]

Tags: Jigsaw | Puzzle

Fragment Prologue is an online Flash Game by InDEngine Inc..

Fragment Prologue is basically a shoot at marbles to burst them game, you have a limited amount of shots so make them count when you fire. Use your mouse to fire. If you have the skill to shoot and some puzzle skills you can solve each level. As each level is the same as you play it again it becomes predicable and therefor you know in which direction to shoot. Happy puzzling !

Tags: Fragment Prologue | Puzzle Game

SlitherQuest is a logical quest based on the logic puzzle game SlitherLink. Are there dragons living deep within the earth? It's your mission to find out. In recent years there have been a lot of rumors floating around about these old underground passages. They lead to caves deep within the earth, and some people say that there are DRAGONS down there. The SlitherQuest Expedition was formed to find out the truth of the matter.

The puzzles are a logic puzzle lover's dream. Very simple rules allow you to jump right in, but the more you play the more interesting deductions you will discover.

Every quest is created specially for you. Make each quest as long and hard as you like. Only you will ever follow this particular puzzle path. There's one main story in six chapters, plus mini quests (all different, 15 special mini-quest goals). Play, replay - it's different every time. Happy Puzzling! [via GameAlbum]

Tags: SlitherQuest | Puzzle Game | Slitherlink

Crazy Blocks is yet another block pushing online Flash puzzle game based upon Sōkoban

Sōkoban was a transport puzzle in which the player pushes boxes around a maze, and tries to put them in designated locations. Crazy Cubes is a remake of that puzzle game. Move the boxes with the arrow keys so that each box covers one black balls. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Crazy Blocks | Puzzle Game

Block With Letters On is a fiendish but fun anagram puzzle game.

The object of each level is to move the letter blocks into the yellow area, to form an English word. Select a block using the mouse or the space bar, the use the arrow keys to move the selected block left or right. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: Block With Letters On | Puzzle Game

Part 9 of 10 Gnomes has been released and is called Chemistry.

10 Gnomes is a point and click hidden object type of puzzle game and also in this episode of 10 Gnomes you'll have to find 10 gnomes hidden in the pictures and you have got only ten minutes to do that. Happy Puzzling!

Tags: 10 Gnomes | Puzzle Game

Animal Puzzles for the Scroll Saw: 30 Projects in Wood is a book with 80 pages written by Judy Peterson and Dave Peterson and available via Amazon.

Unlike conventional flat puzzles, this guide presents 30 interlocking patterns that stand erect and can be displayed vertically. Designed for scroll sawyers of all skill levels, this easy-to-follow guide includes patterns for numerous mammals, reptiles, birds, and household pets. Instructions on getting started and selecting the proper tools, woods, and blades accompany detailed information on how to design an animal puzzle from a photograph.

Tags: Puzzle Book | Animal Puzzles

The CyberCube is a revolutionary new puzzle for unlocking the power of your mind. With boundless potential, the CyberCube will open paths to creativity, intuition and intelligence that were once undiscovered.

Unlike some of the other brain games out there on the market, the CyberCube has the
benefit of adding a kinesthetic component. Manipulating real objects is a superior method of brain stimulation. Happy Puzzling !

Update : CyberCube is also known as Neocube (this one is a bit smaller) and available via Amazon.

Tags: CyberCube | Puzzle

The largest puzzle maker of Europe, Ravensburger, has celebrated its 125th anniversary with a remarkable stunt. Almost 15,000 enthusiastic puzzle fans completed a puzzle of 1,141,800 pieces in the German town Ravensburg last Sunday (September 28th 2008).

In just over five hours more than a million puzzle pieces where laid in the right place. The almost six hundred square meters large puzzle will be mentioned in the Guinness Book of World record. Singapore was the previous puzzle record holder since 2002 when the completed a puzzle of 212,000 pieces. More info at Millionenpuzzle.com [in German only]

Tags: Puzzle | Ravensburger