My wife loves puzzles like I love beer. She’ll sit there and work on them for hours if not days. Ravensburger just gave her the equivalent of a keg of fine pilsner thanks to their Mystery of the Wolves escape puzzle.
This is no ordinary puzzle. It’s designed to work like an escape room in which you solve various puzzles – the first one being actually putting the thing together – and then using the finished puzzle to solve more puzzles. It’s puzzles all the way down.
The puzzle itself is diabolical. First, the actual puzzle doesn’t match the picture on the box, which makes it quite difficult. Further, the pieces are fairly small and uniform so you’re definitely going to feel a bit of frisson when working this thing.
Once you’re done, you’ll notice numbers and figures all over the puzzle. Ravensburger explains it thusly:
Visiting an antique bookstore, a story catches your eye. Hundreds of years ago 5 settlers went missing in the forest, it is believed that a curse was cast upon them. Curious, you enter the forest to explore. Lost in the dark, you?re surprised by growling and glowing eyes. 5 wolves encircle you ? will they attack? You remember the legend! Can you break their curse??
To be clear, we haven’t broken the curse yet as the family is still riddling it out. That said, we loved this puzzle and if you can get it I think you’ll really enjoy the experience and depth.
The puzzle costs $20 online right now and there are a number of styles and stories available. Check it out… if you dare.