Customer Reviews

Family Games DaVinci's Secret Sacred Myths and Legends Collection

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3 star:		(1)
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This is the first in a series of seven themed puzzles from the "Sacred Myths and Legends" line put out by Family Games, Inc. Each puzzle can be solved alone, but each one also provides clues to the solution of the next puzzle in the series, leading up the seventh puzzle (to be released in late 2009) which incorporates elements from all the previous ones.

This series of puzzles is great for adventure-loving, intellectuals who want to escape into a Robert Langdon/Indiana Jones motif for a while. Each package includes a beautiful, high-quality, wooden puzzle which requires solving to reveal a secret scroll, which will then provide clues to a password which needs to be entered on the companies website to unlock an extra clue for the next puzzle. Each of these clues takes the form of a riddle.

Each puzzle in the series has it's own theme (Da Vinci is one, Atlantis is another, King Arthur, etc.) and the clues all pertain to the theme of the puzzle you are on. The incorporation of the internet slightly removes you from the role-playing element of these puzzles, but once you see how difficult these passwords are to figure out, you will most likely be spending hours on the internet anyway - trying to decipher the clues. The passwords are actually much more difficult than the wooden puzzles (as a general rule) and will sustain you LONG after you have already solved the physical puzzle. However, the difficulty level of these riddles is EXTREME (in most cases), so be prepared to educate yourself thoroughly regarding the mythological or historical theme at hand.

That is not to say that the PUZZLES are easy, however. Most of them require a great deal of effort to finish, even after you know what the solution is supposed to be. And there are no instructions with these puzzles. There is usually one clue per puzzle and it is left up to the player to figure out what needs to be done. As I said, these are definitely aimed at an intellectual audience.

The first puzzle in the set is called Da Vinci's secret and it is great first puzzle for the series. Even after you think you have solved it, there are ways to go back and find even more secrets about it. Da Vinci would be proud. Unfortunately, there isn't much to say about it without giving away it's secrets. Sufficed to say, it is fun. Not the most difficult in the series, but well designed and detailed.

Some of the puzzles in this set will take you less time than others (most can be solved in a day or two, sometimes much less...but some of them took me weeks), but the passwords will keep you going for quite a while, regardless of how fast you solve the puzzle. Another great thing about these puzzles is the fact that they look great on a display shelf ...and house-guests are always intrigued by a good puzzle.

One warning about playing these puzzles - if you search internet forums for help with the passwords, YOU WILL SEE SPOILERS and it could ruin it for you. I would highly recommend avoiding those forums altogether (until you are ready to give up anyway). Otherwise you run the chance of spoiling the mystery for yourself.

Enjoy!

If you're looking for puzzles that have creativity turned up a notch, I'd recommend the Sacred Myths and Legends Series. The puzzles are made with two stages. First, the physical puzzle itself, and second, deciphering the codes and clues that come with it. DaVinci's Secret isn't very hard to open, but still a challenge. Once opened, the secret scroll has very cryptic clues to a password. You can go to the Sacred Myths website for more clues, and when you figure out the clues, you need to type in the password, and you get another clue for the next puzzle, "The Equation". Creative marketing, no doubt, but it's fun to get the intellect exercised for awhile.

I found this to be a pretty good puzzle. My wie got it for me for Christmas and was pretty proud of herself because it took me a while to figure out. The last puzzle she got me I had solved in less than five minutes. This one took me quite a bit longer. It's really 3 puzzles in one - two physical puzzles and one riddle, and also part of a series of puzzles that are all related. Once you solve the initial puzzle there is a riddle to solve which will give you a password to find a clue about the next main puzzle in the series. There's also a secondary physical uzzle built into this one that will give you another hint for the second puzzle in the series. Unfortunately I stumbled on the answer for the second physical puzzle while trying to research the riddle, but it's still pretty neat.

If I had to give one downside to the puzzle it would be the clues and hints that are included with the puzzle and available on the website for the collection. Even after solving the puzzle not all the clues made sense. But it was definitely enjoyable and kept me busy on and off for a week (the initial puzzle took me about a half hour to figure out, but nearly 24 hours to actually complete and the riddle took me about a day to solve once I focused on it). I'm definitely looking forward to getting the other puzzles in the series.

This puzzle is a lot of fun and fairly challenging, the only thing I wasn't very fond of was, after you figured out the trick, it was really only guess and check, but it was still a very well made puzzle.

Hi

I purchased this game for our son-in-law from his wish list. The first game arrived and base was broken. I returned it and requested another. Amazon was fantastic in their service, and sent me a new one and did a credit on my shipping cost. When the second game arrived it too was broken in a different way, so we just decided to fix it. We needed to reglue the base and do some sanding on it. I decided it would be to confusing to try to send the same product back a second time. Also the packaging in the inside of the box was in pieces in both games.

But as I stated, Amazon service was great!

Thanks, I appreciate your asking!

Maureen