4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Clever brain-teasers and puzzles, October 6, 2007
This review is from: Shadowman's Twisted Treasury: A Collection of Killer Puzzles (Paperback)
Having read and enjoyed a riddle book
Quest for the Riddle Stone: A Riddle Book produced by the authors, I decided to pick up their puzzle book to see how it compared. When I first got it, I was uncertain about it because it had a D20 role-playing logo on it, and I hadn't role played in years. However the role-playing aspect, while always there, was a take-it-or-leave it affair, and the puzzles were quite enjoyable. In particular, the puzzles were presented so that you could try to solve them yourself, using a clever system that lets you see if you're on the right track without spoiling the solution.
The book is a large format (8 1/2 x 11) book of 128 pages, split roughly into four sections. There's a short introduction to tell you how to use the book, a large narrative section with the puzzles, a hints section and then a role-playing section.
The narrative section is split into seven sections, each of which is written as a short story of sorts, told first person by "Shadowman". Shadowman is a wry, self-aggrandizing fellow who presents each puzzle as a sort of "in your face" challenge. For the most part, if you wanted to, you could easily skip over the narrative to get to the actual puzzle.
Illustrations in the book vary between none, to obviously computer generated images to extremely nice black and white art. In most cases the art is for flavor more than content.
The types of puzzles in the book vary, with word puzzles, cryptograms, logic puzzles, number puzzles, riddles and a number of them that are a mix of these or just too hard to classify. Although some of them are familiar - not the content, just in the way of solving them - most of them require thinking way outside the box. I never did come across a puzzle and say "oh, this again". The variety of puzzles is impressive.
Each puzzle has a cross-reference at the bottom to hints, a role-playing page and to what they authors call "steps". A step is a partial solution to the answer. For example, the first puzzle is a kind of cryptogram. Its first step basically asks you if you've figured out if it's a cryptogram or not. The step doesn't tell you the answer but if you hadn't been thinking along the lines of a cryptogram, you would be. The final step for each puzzle is the answer.
The hints are similar to steps but instead of checking that you're solving the puzzle, mainly point out things about the puzzle as presented that you otherwise might have missed.
Two of the puzzles stand out: the "Monastery" and "Shadowman's Twisted Maze." The Monastery puzzle is a long narrative puzzle where Shadowman goes on a quest to an ancient monastery and is beset by traps and puzzles along the way. Each puzzle encountered has the usual hints and steps, but it's a very interesting way to present the puzzle.
The Maze contains the only color page in the book and is set up for role-players. This is the only puzzle in the book that can't be done solitaire. It's a puzzle where you need to solve various smaller puzzles (most of which are pun based) in the right order to solve the puzzle as a whole.
Anyone who loved the old coffee table books like
Maze: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle will enjoy this book. Although the book is well written and laid out, I'm only giving it four stars because I'm not a role-player. Still, if you like lateral thinking books like
Outstanding Lateral Thinking Puzzles but want more variety, I heartily recommend this book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
They mean killer puzzles, January 2, 2007
This review is from: Shadowman's Twisted Treasury: A Collection of Killer Puzzles (Paperback)
I picked this up at BenCon in Denver a few years back and just pulled it off the shelf last month. It's written in a narrative style, but the puzzles are also presented so you can use them in a D20 campaign. Now when I pull the book out, my players groan at me - but their eyes also light up a little. I had lots of fun myself working through the puzzles; the book's written so you can try the puzzle yourself and see if you're on the right track for getting the answer, without actually seeing the answer until you're ready. Great fun to read; equally great fun to inflict on players!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Paragon of Puzzles, October 27, 2007
This review is from: Shadowman's Twisted Treasury: A Collection of Killer Puzzles (Paperback)
Shadowman was an unexpected treat for me. So many puzzle books are filled with one or two line puzzles that rely on some language or math trick, but not Shadowman. Each puzzle here is an entertaining story where the snarky narrator tells of his exploits and challenges you to see if you could have solved the puzzle. And I do mean challenge! These are really clever and require novel mechanisms to solve them unlike anything I've seen elsewhere. They are serious when they call them a Collection of Killer Puzzles. But fortunately there are hints to help you along (which I must admit I needed once or twice), which is great because you never have to feel frustrated.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
