What non-jigsaw puzzle like activities do you like?

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Permalink Reply by June Herold on January 13, 2008 at 7:47pm

I like nearly all word games. I was a Myst/Raven/Broderbund fan for along time. For whatever reason, I just cannot get into Soduko...I think it requires parts of my brain that were likely damaged years ago.....I space out when confronted with that grid.......it feels like boredom but that may be a cover for being numerically challenged!

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Permalink Reply by Erik on January 13, 2008 at 9:22pm

OOOOO, I had forgotten myst. I loved the original, but did find it tedious at points.

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Permalink Reply by Riccardo Stoeckicht on January 14, 2008 at 11:36am

One of the great past classics (for the PC if I recall correctly) was a puzzle software called Heaven and Earth. Puzzles in different categories become progressively more difficult as one progresses on the journey towards "perfection". I would love to see it be reissued. But alas!

On a more mundane level I (and the family) am/is into a number of more unique board games - I always check the October issue of Games Magazine when they publish the listing of the 100 best games for the year in a number of different categories. Anyone played RAJ? Awesomely simple and a lot of fun...Riccardo

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Permalink Reply by John Furlong on January 16, 2008 at 6:00pm

Boardgaming is a big activity at my house. We host a monthly game night, with most of the games being typical euro-game fare (Ticket to Ride, Puerto Rico, Bohnanza, Carcassone, 6 Nimmt, etc.). I have quite a few games in the collection. We also play Crokinole, a shuffleboard-like game that fits on your table.

If by Raj you mean the game were you have 15 cards and are bidding on tiles - that's a big favorite. Quick, simple, and fun. It's one of the first games I bought back in the mid-90s that kicked off the adult gamer in me. We played it over the holidays this year. It's as fun today as the day we got it.

For those who are interested in more info about boardgames in general and some of the games mentioned in this thread, check out www.boardgamegeek.com

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Permalink Reply by Riccardo Stoeckicht on January 17, 2008 at 1:21pm

Indeed...it is the RAJ I am referring to; and you have described it to a T. For those who love to mix games and puzzling and have not heard of Kadon Enterprise, you should definitely visit their website at www.gamepuzzles.com and check out the games/puzzles that are available through them. Beautiful brain twisters, I must say.

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Permalink Reply by Paula on January 14, 2008 at 1:15pm

Hi Erik, Great question! I love Sudoko!!!! I got so hooked I had to throw the book away - it consumed me for awhile. I think I was always looking for the hidden code of how to solve the next puzzle - but, of course, I never found it. Now, I'm back to reading and love anything with a good muder mystery or legal thriller. John Lescroart is one of my favorites.

I also love hangman and have a HangMan widget on my desktop.....ooops - don't tell Steve...he thinks I'm working!

Paula, Stave Puzzles Assistant Tormentor :-)

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer on January 15, 2008 at 11:48am

wait a minute...how do i get hangman on my computer? i have solitaire on my computee here at work but that's it. hook a buddy up!!

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Permalink Reply by Elaine on January 14, 2008 at 1:59pm

Word puzzles: For a while I went crazy with Yahoo Games Literati. I occasionally buy the Games World of Puzzles magazines. Believe it or not, Webkinz has a really good word game called Quizzy's Word Challenge. There's also a fun puzzle game called Home Before Dark.

Sudoku - never had an interest

Jigsaw puzzles: My mom says that I would turn my puzzles over and do them with the cardboard side up.

Games with a puzzle mechanism: Qwirkle, Blokus, Metro, Carcassonne
more that aren't necc. my favorites (or I haven't played) are:
Pueblo
Rumis
Roborally
Richochet Robot
Set
Take it easy
Bazaar
Tantrix
Visualeyes
Ingenius

Some of these can be found at Target, etc. (Rumis, Visualeyes, Blokus). Some can be found at specialty toy/game stores. The best prices are usually online (I am not affiliated with either of these stores!):
http://www.gamesurplus.com/
http://www.fairplaygames.com/

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Permalink Reply by June Herold on January 14, 2008 at 2:10pm

Tx much Elaine for that list of games with puzzle components......I'll check out a few! June

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Permalink Reply by Ed on January 17, 2008 at 4:00pm

I enjoy Sudoku, I just found a nice little free Sudoku java game for my cellphone. Its called 5ud0ku and can be downloaded here. Its a great way to kill some time while waiting around.

And looking at Elaine's list it reminded me that we have the Blokus and Blokus Trigon games. My wife and I play it every once in a while. Not that often since she says that I always win. I think I like the Trigon version better than the original.

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Permalink Reply by Julie on January 25, 2008 at 1:11pm

I play a lot of Pogo games, an online game site. They have a wide variety of games, some of which you can play with other players. I'm also one of the people who looks forward to the Games 100 issue. I'm just waiting until my kids are old enough to play most of them.

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Permalink Reply by David Boeren on January 28, 2008 at 12:13pm

I used to be a big boardgamer, most aren't really what I'd consider puzzle-like, but a few are.

A couple good puzzlish ones that haven't been mentioned yet:
Alhambra
Samurai

For Stave fans, I would also suggest some of the ones with nice solid wooden bits:

Carcassonne: The City
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/12902
Similar to the base game without the potential imbalance of the farms, especially in smaller player games. It includes a lot of wood and comes in a wooden box. The new mechanic of building a wall around the City introduces some nice new strategies for fencing in areas.

Medina
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/1261
Again, tons of nice wooden pieces. You're building a city of different colored buildings and trying to claim the ones you believe will be the most valuable, but you can only own one building in each color so you have to judge whether to take what's there or wait hoping for something better and worry about if someone else will take it if you don't. In that sense, it's kind of like playing multiple games of Chicken simultaneously using fancy building blocks. Nice game for those who aren't quite as cutthroat about strategy.

For a while I was doing Rubik's Cube but never spent the time to improve beyond about the 1:45 level. You can get that fast with minimal study but significant improvement from there requires either a good amount of practice or the memorization of a lot more algorithms.

My most recent puzzlish activity is lockpicking. It can be very challenging depending on the quality and features of the lock, as you have to interpret everything going on inside the lock from your limited tactile feedback. Getting started is cheap and easy though and with a book and proper tools (ie - not paperclips) you can open simple Master padlocks after an evening or so of practice. It may sound strange, but there is an entire community devoted to opening locks (which are not attached to anything) as a form of sport.

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