Contents

Set Up

In addition to the puzzle materials that you'll find using the link above, some puzzles require specific set ups/scenarios for your players to be in. For example, some of these puzzles are designed to be run with a specific number of players (though most of them can be played with any number of players).

Additionally, some puzzles require that the players interact with certain puzzle elements. For example, a puzzle may require that the players touch or otherwise interact with various objects or pieces. For some puzzles, this may mean it would be helpful to create physical copies of some of the puzzle elements using paper or similar such materials (though this is never required; all of these puzzles can be completed mentally and any physical objects mentioned in the puzzle's description can be imagined).

Lastly, for many of these puzzles, players may find it extremely helpful to work out their logic by hand, rather than doing it all in their heads. As a result, I highly encourage you allow your players to use paper and writing instruments!

Difficulty

In this compendium, puzzles are organized by difficulty for ease of access. There are four categories of difficulty, listed below in ascending order of difficulty.

Novice: The easiest category of puzzles. Players who are new to puzzle-solving should be able to solve these without difficulty.

Apprentice: These puzzles are of a moderate difficulty. Players who are new to puzzle-solving may have a tough time with them.

Expert: These puzzles are challenging. These should be given to players who have solved puzzles before.

Master: Extremely difficult puzzles. Even seasoned puzzle-solvers are likely to struggle with these.

Time

These puzzles can take anywhere from 15 to 90 minutes on average. In each puzzle's description, I've listed an estimate for the duration of that puzzle. However, please note that this is only an estimate; how long it takes depends on many factors (such as how many players there are), and so this number is highly variable. Please plan accordingly.

Hints

Sometimes a puzzle will be harder for your players than you expected. If this happens - don't panic! Occasionally, you may just need to give your players a gentle nudge in the right direction.

For each puzzle, I've listed some hints that you may want to give your players throughout the puzzle. The first hint listed will always be the least revealing, often giving very little information, but getting players in the right mindset. The last hint listed will always be the most revealing, exposing large parts of the puzzle.

I recommend that you give out hints only if you notice that your players really seem to be stuck. Players won't feel like they solved the puzzle if hints did most of the work.

Additionally, you may find it suitable to offer players a hint in exchange for some kind of penalty. If you're running an escape room, this may come in the form of a penalty to their timer. If you're running a tabletop game, this may come in the form of reduced rewards (loot, experience, etc.) at the end of the puzzle. This will be an incentive to the players to try and solve the puzzle on their own, only using hints as a last resort.

Pesky Problems and Solutions

Puzzles can be difficult not only for the players, but also for the game master! Ultimately, puzzles are meant to be fun and intellectually stimulating, but that's often easier said than done; if the puzzle is too easy, then players will be bored, but if it's too tough, then they'll be frustrated.

This final section of this compendium's foreword is dedicated to potential problems that may pop up when running a puzzle, as well as how to address them.

Set Up

When describing this puzzle to your players, first describe the three statues, each of which are holding a weighing scale. Then, read them the message (named "message" in the puzzle materials) engraved on the ground before the statues. Finally, describe the collection of figurines on the ground in front of the statues (named "figurines" in the puzzle materials). It is important that the players know that there is no order to the figurines (the way that they are arranged on the ground does not matter), so it may be wise to describe them as "scattered", or simply tell this to your players outright.

Next, the players may pick up the different figurines and try to compare their weights by hand. If they do, make it very clear that the statues all feel as though they weigh the same - this is to indicate to the players that the scales do not actually measure weight, but instead operate under some unknown metric.

The metrics for each statue (going from left to right) are: first letter, name length, and color. This information is hidden from the players (don't tell them!), and they must figure this out on their own.

When placing a figurine on the left statue's scale, it is considered "heavier" than the other figurine if the first letter in its name comes later in the alphabet than the first letter of the other figurine does. For example, if the frog and the turtle were placed on this scale, the scale would dip down on the side of the turtle, since "T" comes after "F" in the alphabet.

When placing a figurine on the middle statue's scale, it is considered "heavier" than the other figurine if that figurine's name is longer than the other figurine's name is. For example, if the spider and the cat were placed on this scale, the scale would dip down on the side of the spider, since "spider" has 6 letters, but "cat" only has 3.

When placing a figurine on the right statue's scale, it is considered "heavier" than the other figurine if that figurine's color is later in the rainbow (Going in order from first to last: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) than the other figurine's color is. For example, if the fish and the apple were placed on this scale, the scale would dip down on the side of the fish, since blue comes after red in the rainbow.

You should also mention to your players that each side of each scale seems to only be large enough to support one figurine.

Lastly, upon closer inspection the players should be able to notice that there are five faded, grey "X"s engraved at the base of each statue. When the players place two objects on a given scale (one on each side of a scale), the scale will either balance out, or the scale will be imbalanced, tipping to one side. When a scale tips to one side, one of the "X"s on that statue's base will glow a bright red; this is to indicate to the players must stay under five incorrect answers (pair of figurines) for a given statue.

It is up to you what happens when a statue gains 5 red "X"s. In a Dungeons & Dragons setting, perhaps the statue crumbles and reveals a monster inside of it, which then attacks the players. Perhaps the reward for solving this puzzle is reduced each time a statue crumbles. In any case, the players should still be allowed to solve the other statues even if they get one wrong.

(Note: to make this puzzle easier or harder, you can increase or decrease the number of "X"s for each statue)

Solution

To solve this puzzle, the players must place a correct pair of figurines on each scale, such that all three scales are balanced.

From the message, the players should be able to deduce that each of the statues require a different kind of balance - that is to say, each scale is measuring a different thing. To determine which "thing" each statue's scale is measuring, the players will need to make some guesses and look for patterns. The players can afford to make up to 4 wrong guesses for each statue, and they will need to make use of them!

For example, for the left statue, suppose that the players place the apple on its scale. They will notice that the apple will be lighter no matter what the other figurine is. From this, the players may make the connection that the first letter of apple, "A", is earlier in the alphabet than the first letters of the other figurines are, and thus deduce what this scale is measuring.

Hints

(Give in order)

Hint #1: "There are three statues, each with three scales that measure three different things. Can you identify three properties that these figurines have?"

Hint #2:" "Try picking any pair of figurines and placing them on each of the scales. Take note of which figurine is heavier in each case."

Hint #3: "Look at the name of each figurine. In which ways could some names be considered 'heavier' than other names?"

Hint #4: "Look at the name of each figurine. Which letter in each name stands out the most? Could this be relevant to what one of the scales is measuring?"

Hint #5: "The figurines come in different colors. Is there a way that you can order these colors? Could this be relevant to what one of the scales is measuring?"

Set Up

When you show your players this puzzle (the image named "numbers" this puzzle's materials), describe it as numbers written on a surface (they are not buttons and are not meant to be pushed or interacted with by the players - just viewed).

Additionally, when describing the green numbers, describe it as a paint of some kind. You may also want to mention that there are remnants of green paint on the other two groups of numbers, but that it had been washed away, making it impossible to tell which of those numbers were originally painted green. This is to indicate to the players that, for each of the three sets of numbers, some of the numbers are meant to be green.

Solution

To solve this puzzle, the players must realize that, for each of the three groups of numbers, some numbers either obey a certain rule or disobey that rule. For the middle group, the numbers which obey that rule are shown in green, but the players will have to figure out which of the numbers from the other two groups obey the rule.

To understand the rule, the players must first realize that each of the ten digits can be written by filling in a specific combination of squares on a 3 by 3 grid. For example, the squares corresponding to the number "4" are exactly the squares shown in green in the middle group of numbers.

To obey the rule, a given number must be in one of the positions on the 3 by 3 grid that would be filled if you were to write that number as described before. For example, if you were to draw the number 0 on a 3 by 3 grid, you would fill in every square except for the center square; therefore, the only 0s that don't obey the rule (aren't meant to be green) are 0s in the center of a 3 by 3 grid.

Following this logic for the other two groups, the players will find that the "green" numbers in the left group are all of the numbers in the top row and all of the numbers in the right column - and that the "green" numbers in the right group are all of the numbers except for the left-most 7.

Once all of the "green" numbers have been identified, the players will notice that the set of green numbers on each 3 by 3 grid are arranged in a way that make them "write out" (as described before) three specific numbers: 7, 4, and 3.

Once the players have locked in "743" as their code, they will solve this puzzle!

Hints

(Give in order)

Hint #1: "There are three groups of numbers, and you need a three-digit number to solve the puzzle... perhaps each group can give you a number?"

Hint #2: "The green numbers are arranged in the shape of a 4 - perhaps 4 is the middle digit in the code..."

Hint #3: "A number's value and position on the 3 by 3 grid contribute to whether or not it is meant to be green."

Hint #4: "Just like the green number 4, imagine drawing other numbers on that 3 by 3 grid..."

Hint #5: "For each number, there are some positions on the 3 by 3 grid that would make them green. For the number 8, it is every space."

Set Up

Show the six cube faces (named "CubeFace" 1-6 in the puzzle materials), and clearly indicate that one of the faces (as well as some parts of the other faces) is glowing a bright green color. The players should also be aware that, on all white parts of the cube, they are able to draw (either by magically tracing with their finger or using a writing utensil), as well as erase what they have drawn (but not what was there before). Unbeknownst to the players, however, once a face of the cube has been solved (the entire face, not just a part), it will glow green, and they will be unable to change it thereafter.

Solution

One tricky aspect of this puzzle is that it is really 5 distinct smaller puzzles (the five white faces) unified by a master key (the completely green face). With each of the faces, there are a few blank spaces where symbols should be - if the players draw the appropriate symbol in each empty space, the entirety of that face will glow green. Once all faces are completely green, the puzzle is solved!

When I gave this puzzle to my players in my Dungeons & Dragons game, it was actually a "puzzle box" item that they purchased from a magical vendor. Once they solved the puzzle, the box opened up and there was a magic item inside of it that they were granted as a reward for solving the puzzle!

Cube Face 2: To solve this puzzle, the players must realize that the symbols to the left of the boxes represent all of the symbols on the key that you would cross (in order) if you traced your finger along the path shown in the box to the right of those symbols. For example, for the second row on this puzzle face, the symbol inside of the box is a diamond. If you trace your finger along a diamond pattern on the key, you will hit the top, right, bottom, and left symbol. Therefore, since the top, bottom, and left symbols are already shown in the second row, the missing symbol must be the right symbol. There are two possible answers for the top row, since you can start tracing your finger at either the bottom left symbol or the bottom symbol.

Cube Face 3: The rule for this face is that, in each row, the symbol to the left of each box should be the symbol that is directly on the opposite side of the circle as the symbol inside of that box. Therefore, the symbol that players should draw to the left of the box in the second row is the right-most symbol on the key, and the symbol that players should draw inside of the box in the third row is the top-most symbol.

Cube Face 4: The rule for this face is that, in each row, the symbol to the left of each box should be the symbol whose position is the reflection of the position of the symbol inside of the box about the vertical axis of the circle. Therefore, the symbol that players should draw to the left of the box in the third row is the upper left symbol.

Cube Face 5: To solve this puzzle, the players must realize that the symbols inside of the boxes represent parts of some of the symbols' designs. For example, the symbol inside of the box is a triangle, and so the symbols on the left are all of the symbols on the green cube face which contain a triangle in their design. Following the same rule, the symbols that the players should draw to the left of the box in the second row are the top, right, and lower right symbols - and the symbols that the players should draw to the left of the box in the third row are the top, upper right, bottom, and upper left symbols.

Cube Face 6: The rule for this face is that, in each row, the symbol to the left of each box should be the symbol whose position is the reflection of the position of the symbol inside of the box about the vertical axis of the circle. Therefore, the symbol that players should draw to the left of the box in the third row is the top symbol.

Hints

(Give in order)

Hint #1 for Cube Face 2 : "Look at the symbols inside the boxes, then look at the cube face that is completely green. How could those symbols relate to the green cube face?"

Hint #2 for Cube Face 2 : "Each row needs to have four symbols, excluding the symbol inside of the box. Notice how the number of vertices on each box symbol is also four."

Hint #1 for Cube Face 3 : "Look at the top row, which is already complete. How are those two symbols related to each other on the green cube face?"

Hint #2 for Cube Face 3 : "For any symbol on the green face of the cube, what is the symbol that is the farthest away from that symbol?"

Hint #1 for Cube Faces 4 & 6 : "In each row, imagine the symbol on the left as an 'input' and the symbol inside of the box as an 'output'. What is the single rule that will convert input to each output?"

Hint #2 for Cube Face 4 & 6 : "Look at the middle row, which is already complete, and trace your finger between those two symbols. What kind of line did you draw?"

Hint #1 for Cube Face 5 : "Look at the top row, which is already complete. What do the two symbols on the left have in common?"

Hint #2 for Cube Face 5 : "Look at the top row, which is already complete. Notice how the symbol inside of the box is a triangle, and that the other two symbols contain triangles."

Set Up

Unlike most other puzzles in this compendium, the players will not see all of the puzzle materials right away. Instead, this puzzle consists of 12 miniature-sized puzzles which are given to the players one at a time. Show them to your players in numerical order (each image is labeled from 1-12 in the puzzle materials), and don't reveal a new image until the last one has been solved.

(Note: this is among the easiest puzzles to brute force in this compendium. For this puzzle, I recommend allowing your players to make 3 incorrect guesses total before issuing a penalty)

Solution

Each puzzle shows three columns, each with a block symbol and a number below it. The final column of each puzzle will contain a symbol like normal, but will lack a number below it. To solve the puzzle, the players must write the appropriate number in that empty space by learning the pattern.

Puzzle 1: The answer is the number of black squares (3).

Puzzle 2: The answer is the number of black rectangles (2).

Puzzle 3: The answer is the number of white dots (0).

Puzzle 4: The answer is the number of distinct individual shapes (5).

Puzzle 5: The answer is the number of spaces on the 3x3 grid that are filled with black (6).

Puzzle 6: The answer is the number of repeated shapes (2).

Puzzle 7: The answer is the number of unique shapes (2).

Puzzle 8: The answer is the number of spaces on the 3x3 grid that the largest shape occupies (7).

Puzzle 9: The answer is the number of turns that the shapes make (0).

Puzzle 10: The answer is the number of unique paths along the shape that you can take from any starting point (2).

Puzzle 11: The answer is the number of unique white shapes (3).

Puzzle 12: The answer is the total number of sides between all of the shapes (12).

Hints

(Give in order)

Hint for Puzzle 1: "Count the squares in each column."

Hint for Puzzle 2: "Last time we were counting black squares... what are we counting this time?"

Hint for Puzzle 3: "So far we've only been counting black shapes... is there anything else we can count?"

Hint for Puzzle 4: "Notice that the more connected symbols correspond to smaller numbers."

Hint for Puzzle 5: "Notice that the more condensed the symbols are, the larger the number will be."

Hint for Puzzle 6: "These symbols seem a little repetitious..."

Hint for Puzzle 7: "The first column shows a bunch of squares, but the number is only 1. Why is that?"

Hint for Puzzle 8: "Focus on the largest shape."

Hint for Puzzle 9: "That symbol in the middle column is very twisty..."

Hint for Puzzle 10: "Imagine walking across these black lines as if they were roads..."

Hint for Puzzle 11: "Look at the white shapes."

Hint for Puzzle 12: "Compared to some of the earlier symbols, these ones are very complex. Perhaps that's related to why the numbers are so large..."

Set Up

When you describe this wall of glyphs to the players (named "PuzzleGiven" in the puzzle materials), describe clearly that the squares near each symbol represent cavities in the wall where a square-shaped tile could be inserted. Additionally, laying on the ground below the wall are 25 square-shaped tiles (which the players can pick up), each of which has a different capital letter of the english alphabet. All letters are represented between them except for the letter "O", which is already set in the wall.

There are 4 other cryptic markings scattered throughout the room (named "Code" 1-4 in the puzzle materials).

Lastly, there are three messages available to the players (named "Message" 1-3 in the puzzle materials). It is important to note that two out of these three messages refer to the the structure of the capital letters of the English alphabet. As a result, it is very important that your players are aware of how the letters are supposed to look for this puzzle. For example, in this puzzle, the letter "J" does not have any straight lines. Another example is that, in this puzzle, the letter "G" only contains one straight line. If your players ask you to clarify whether or not a letter has straight or curved lines, you should tell them.

I've also made a key, which has the finished wall with all of the answers (named "PuzzleAnswer" in the puzzle materials), but this is just for your reference; the players should never see this.

(Note: Instead of giving your players all of the puzzle materials outright, you might want to slowly give them some of the puzzle materials, such as the letter tiles and the three messages, perhaps as rewards from solving other smaller puzzles. This will make the puzzle a little more challenging and hopefully more fun!)

Solution

To solve this puzzle, the players must use the information given to them to determine which letter tile goes in which empty space on the wall.

The players must realize that, for each of the four encoded messages, the glyphs spell out a word that's described by the hint above. For example, the glyphs below "somersault" spell out "backflip", meaning that the first symbol corresponds to the letter "B", the next to the letter "A", etc. The glyphs below "anger" spell "livid", the glyphs below "treasure" spell "chest", and the glyphs below "a color" spell "magenta".

By now, the players have deduced enough information to know which glyphs correspond to every letter except "J", "Q", "U", "W", "X", "Y", and "Z". To determine the glyphs for these, the players must use the three messages.

From the messages, we know the symbols for vowels are composed of four parts. The only vowels that remain are "U" and "Y". Another message tells us that the number of black squares in each symbol corresponds to the number of straight lines in the letter corresponding to that symbol. Therefore, the symbol for "Y" should have four parts, three of which are black squares, since it is a vowel composed of 3 straight lines. Only one symbol fits this description, meaning that the final symbol with four parts must be for the letter "U".

"J" is the only remaining letter without straight lines, so it belongs to the only symbol remaining with no black squares.

"Q" is the only remaining letter composed of one straight line, so it belongs to the only symbol remaining with one black square.

"X" is the only remaining letter composed of two straight lines, so it belongs to the only symbol remaining with two black squares.

"Z" is the only remaining letter composed of three straight lines, so it belongs to the only symbol remaining with three black squares.

"W" is the only remaining letter composed of four straight lines, so it belongs to the only symbol remaining with four black squares.

Once all of the tiles are in their proper place, the puzzle will be solved!

Hints

(Give in order)

Hint #1: "Look at the words and phrases that have symbols below them. Could the symbols spell out some kind of word?"

Hint #2: "Look at the symbols below the word 'angry'. Is there a synonym for 'angry' that these symbols could represent?"

Hint #3: "Is there a two-word phrase that starts with the word 'treasure'?"

Hint #4: "Name a type of somersault..."

Hint #5: "There are lots of different colors, but can you think of one that's seven letters long, and whose second letter is the same as its last letter?"

Set Up

Just like before, this puzzle comes in the form of a physical cube, with a different part of the puzzle on each of the six faces of the cube . However, this time, the box will also come with an extra image - perh(named "CubeFace" 1-6 in the puzzle materials)aps a note attached to the cube (named "Extra" in the puzzle materials) - which is the key to solving the puzzle.

Solution

The message surrounded by quotation marks is a secret message that the players must decode and then speak out loud to solve the puzzle. Each of the symbols in the message correspond to a different letter of the English alphabet.

Each of the six faces on the cube has a silhouette of a familiar thing, as well as the symbols corresponding to the letters that spell out that thing below it. The catch is that, unlike on the quotation marks image, the symbols here are all overlaid on top of each other, making them appear as a singular symbol.

This is a challenge for multiple reasons. First, the players must use the final message to guide them in separating the overlaid symbols into individual symbols. Second, the players must determine which symbol corresponds to which letter in the spelling of the respective familiar object's name.

The words are: cow, shield, net, down, saw, and hula. From this, the players can identify which symbols correspond to the letter "C", since down contains all of cow's letters except for "C" (whichever symbol that is present for cow but not for down must be "C"). Similarly, saw and down share only the letter "W", allowing the players to determine the symbols for "W" and the last letter remaining in cow, "O" (by process of elimination). Hula and saw share only the letter "A", allowing players to determine the letter for "A" and the last letter remaining in saw, "S". Shield and net only share "E", allowing them to determine the symbol for "E". Net and down only share "N", allowing them to determine the symbol for "N" and net's last letter, "T", as well as down's last letter, "D". Shield and hula share both "H" and "L", and "A" has already been determined, allowing the players to determine the symbol for hula's remaining letter, "U". The final symbol for shield, then, must be "I".

While it is not possible to determine the difference between the letters "H" and "L", but since those are the only two unknown symbols left in the final message, players can simply test placing all four combinations of that letter pair (HH, HL, LH, and LL) in the final message to narrow it down to one coherent message that reads "Cat Cushion", which is the correct answer.

When I gave this puzzle to my players in a Dungeons & Dragons game, the prize inside was a magical cushion that had the ability to charm felines!

Hints

(Give in order)

Hint #1: "Notice the symbols that have quotation marks around them. What could those symbols represent?"

Hint #2: "Compare the symbols in quotation marks to the ones underneath the silhouettes."

Hint #3: "The symbols underneath the silhouette correspond to letters that spell out something... what could it be?"

Hint #4: "Notice how the word 'down' contains every letter that 'cow' does, except for the letter 'C'. What does this tell you?"

Set Up

When describing this puzzle to the players, make sure that the grid of familiar symbols (named "Grid" in the puzzle materials) is the center of attention, and that the four other images surround it (in no particular order). You may also want to mention that, when a player touches one of the symbols on the grid, it lights up (as if to indicate that it has been selected). This will indicate to the players that the solution may involve selecting some combination of the symbols.

Solution

To solve this puzzle, the players must make the connection that the vertices of a given black line symbol correspond to different symbols on the grid, and that the colors below that black line symbol correspond to letters of the alphabet that spell out the property that unites those symbols.

For example, when you trace your finger along a path that connects all of the items on the grid that can be found in the sky (sun, star, bat, bird, moon, and cloud), it creates a hexagon, which is one of the black line symbols. The colors below the hexagon, then spell out "sky" in a color code (blue is "S", yellow is "K", and black is "Y"). Players may argue that the word could also be "air", but will quickly discover that this does not work, since that would imply that blue is "A", but this cannot be the case, since the other words contain the letter "A" but do not have blue.

This can similarly be done for the other two black line symbols; one connects all of the animals (color code spells out "animal") and the other connects all of the things relating to water (color code spells out "water"). Using this information, the players will know that bright green is "W", dark green is "A", orange is "R", and purple is "M", allowing them to decode the message with no visible black line symbol above it as "warm".

To complete the puzzle, the players must trace their fingers (or simply individually touch) all of the symbols on the grid that correspond to things that are warm (fire, sun, star, blanket, bird, and mouse).

Hints

(Give in order)

Hint #1: "Look at the images with the colors at the bottom. How could those relate to the grid of pictures?""

Hint #2: "Some groups of images on the grid have something in common."

Hint #3: "Look the groups of images that have something in common and their arrangement on the board. Does this arrangement remind you of something?"

Hint #4: "The arrangement of these groups corresponds to the black like symbols. But what about the colors below them?"

Hint #5: "The colored boxes are related to to the property that unites the respective group."

Set Up

Show the image for this puzzle to your players. For ease of access, you may want to print out a physical copy of this image, such that the players can cut out the swords with scissors and move them around over the stones; this may be very convenient for their visualization.

What the players won't know right away is that there are two rules that each sword must follow. First, each sword must be inserted into a stone whose symbol matches one of the three symbols on that sword. Second, the sword cannot have any symbols in common with the swords directly adjacent to it.

As the players try to insert the different swords into the stones, the puzzle has a built in mechanism to tell them whether they've done something correct or incorrect. Each time they insert or remove a sword (as long as there is at least one sword remaining in the stones), the puzzle will "check" to see if there is an error; if there are any errors, all of the stones will glow red. However, if there are no errors, then all of the stones will glow green.

Lastly, it is important that, when describing the swords to your players, you specify that the symbols appear to be arranged along random positions on the blades (despite the fact that the actual image for this puzzle depicts them as being arranged in a vertical line). This is a way to tell your players that the order in which the symbols are listed on a given sword is irrelevant.

(Note: if you want to run an easier version of this puzzle, you could instead tell your players the rules that swords must obey outright, rather than having them try to infer the rules by observing when the platforms glow green or red)

Solution

The players must first learn the rules that the swords must obey (described above) through trial and error. Now that we have this information, we can systematically deduce which sword belongs to which stone. Let's first look at the sixth sword (the one that is sixth from the left as initially shown). Because of the symbols on the sword, the first rule tells us that the sword must go in either the second, fifth, or sixth stone.

Let's try to place this sword in the sixth stone. If we do that, we immediately reach a contradiction: we know that the sword that goes in the fifth stone must have the "^" symbol on it, but the sixth sword also has that symbol, so that would violate the second rule. We run into a very similar problem if we try to place the sixth sword in the fifth stone. This means that the sixth sword must go in the second position.

The next thing to notice is that swords four and five have the same three symbols on them. Since we know that the order in which the symbols are listed on each sword doesn't matter, these swords are identical. One of the symbols on them is the symbol corresponding to stone two, which is already occupied. This means that one of them must go into the fourth stone, and that the other must go into the sixth stone (again, it doesn't matter which goes where, since they are functionally the same).

The only remaining places for the seventh sword to go is in the first and seventh stones, but putting it into the seventh stone would cause it to share a symbol with the sword that we put in the sixth stone, so this sword must go in the first stone.

The first sword must go in either the third or fifth stone, but putting it into the third stone would cause it to share a symbol with the sword we put in the second stone, so this sword must go in the fifth stone.

The second sword must go in either the third or seventh stone, but putting it into the third stone would cause it to share a symbol with the sword we put in the second stone, so this sword must go in the seventh stone.

Finally, by process of elimination, the sixth sword must go into the third stone.

Once all of the swords are placed in their proper stones, the puzzle will be solved!

Hints

(Give in order)

Hint #1: "Starting with all of the swords removed, pick one of the stones. Then, one at a time, insert each of the seven swords inside of that stone. Take note of which swords cause the stones to glow green - do you notice anything?"

Hint #2: "There are two rules that all swords must obey - one relates to which stone a sword is allowed to be placed in, and the other relates to symbols on adjacent swords."

Hint #3: "There are three possible stones that the sixth sword (the one that is sixth from the left as initially shown), but you can immediately determine which of these three is the correct one.

Hint #4: "Two of the swords have the same three symbols on them. Where must those two swords go?"

Set Up

Each of the thirteen statues has a name, which is engraved at the statue's base. Also, each statue will provide one or more statements - which are either all true, or all false (each Statues names and messages are found in the puzzle materials under each statue's name). The trick is that the party does not know which statues lie and which tell the truth, so they must logically deduce which is which.

In addition to the statues, it is also important that you give the players a cryptic message (named "Message" in the puzzle materials) - perhaps it is engraved on the ground in front of the statues. Lastly, it is very important that you dictate the correct order of the statues to the players; from left to right, they are: Aborall, Arnith, Astreus, Ammett, Allor, Afoz, Awrov, Aijian, Aylas, Aklio, Apip, Aquise, and Athtar.

This is one of my favorite puzzles, partially because it is so easy to integrate into many roleplay settings. Depending on your preferences, you'll likely want to give your players all of the puzzle materials right away. However, if you are running this puzzle in a tabletop roleplaying game, such as Dungeons & Dragons, I encourage you to reveal each statue's information as the players approach them.

When I ran this puzzle, I had the statues come to life and talk to the players when they were addressed by name. Have fun with it! Feel free to give the statues individual personalities or quirks - just be careful - players may try to ask the statues questions that they know the answers to in order to determine if a statue tells the truth or lies. If this happens, you can either have the statue refuse to answer, or simply convey to the players that the statues are only compelled to strictly tell the truth/lie about the statements provided in the puzzle materials.

Solution

Ultimately, the goal of this puzzle is to systemically determine which statues lie and which tell the truth, and then figure out which one has the key. Once the players have asked the correct statue (the one that has the key), they will obtain the key, thus solving the puzzle!

Immediately, it is clear that Astreus is telling the truth, since all of the statues' names begin with "A" and you know one of them has the key.

You also know that between Aborall and Arnith, one of them tells the truth and one of them lies, since they called each other a liar. You don't know which is which, but you don't need to.

Apip claims that Arnith and Aborall both tell the truth, but we know that this isn't true, so Apip is a liar. This also means that Apip's other statement must be false, meaning that Aklio tells the truth!

Aijian says that Apip is honest, but we know he isn't, so Aijian is also a liar. This also means that Aijian's other statement must be false, meaning that neither Ammett, Afoz, nor Allor have the key. This tells us that Ammett is a liar, since he claims to have the key, and that Allor tells the truth, since he claims to not have the key.

This also means that Awrov is a liar, since he claims that Aijian tells the truth, which he doesn't.

Aquise must be telling the truth, since he claims that there is at least one liar between Astreus, Aijian, and Aylas; we know this is true because Aijian is a liar.

Because we know that Aklio tells the truth, we now know that exactly 8 of them are liars, meaning that only 5 of them tell the truth. We have all 5 of the truth-tellers accounted for (Astreus, ether Aborall or Arnith, Aklio, Allor, and Aquise), meaning that the rest of them are liars.

Afoz says that between Ammett, Awrov, Astrues, and Aquise, none of them have the key - however, we now know that Afoz is a liar, meaning that one of those four must have the key.

From Aijian's lie earlier, we know that Ammett can't have it. Astreus, who we know to be a truth-teller, says that Awrov does not have the key. Finally, Aylas thinks that either Apip or Aquise has the key, but we know that Aylas is a liar, which means the one who actually must have the key is Astreus! Asking him for the key will lock in that answer, and he will provide them the key to the door!

According to the message on the plaque, "all will unweave" if the players choose the wrong statue, and it's up to you to determine what that means! In a tabletop game, perhaps the statues would come to life all at once and fight the party!

Hints

(Give in order)

Hint #1: "Treat each individual statement about the key that any statue provides separately. All of a liar’s sentences about the key will be false, and all of a truth teller’s sentences about the key will be true. However, keep in mind that a single false statement may contain something that’s true – it just needs to contain at least one false thing to be false."

Hint #2: "Look at what Arnith and Aborall are saying about each other. What must this mean?"

Hint #3: "Between Arnith and Aborall, one must be telling the truth and the other must be lying. What does that tell us about Apip?"

Hint #4: "Aijian is a liar because he claims that Apip is telling the truth, which is wrong."

Hint #5: "Since we know Aijian is a liar, what does that tell us about Aquise?"

Hint #6: "Aklio is telling the truth, and if you know who the 5 truth-tellers are, then you know who the remaining 8 liars are."

Set Up

When describing this puzzle to the players, it should be clear from the start that their goal should be to place the 5 tiles into their correct positions on the grid. It is also important that the players learn that all of the other tiles (the ones that were already on the grid) are already in their proper position; if the players attempt to remove one of those tiles from the grid, you should convey that it is stuck in place and cannot be removed.

Solution

To solve this puzzle, the players must first notice that each tile has a different combination of 4 properties: color, arrow direction, dot number, and line number. Then, they must notice that each adjacent (diagonals are not included) pair of tiles must be the same for exactly one of those four properties.

The easiest way to learn this rule is by observing each pair of adjacent tiles that were on the grid at the start of the puzzle. For example, when comparing the tile in the upper left corner to the one below it, you can see that they are both blue, but have a different number of lines, different number of dots, and have arrows that are pointing in two different directions. This pattern is seen with each adjacent pair of tiles that are already on the grid.

To complete the puzzle, the players must insert the five tiles onto the grid such that each of the five obeys this rule with all of its adjacent neighbors. Immediately, the players should be able to deduce that the blue tile must go in the spot surrounded by the purple tiles on the grid, since none of the other fallen tiles obey the rule for all of those adjacent tiles. By similar logic, the only empty spot for the fallen yellow tile to go is the upper left one; the only empty spot for the fallen green to go is the lower right one; the only empty spot for the fallen purple tile with one dot to go is the upper right one; and so the final empty spot (right column middle row) must be filled by the final tile: the one with three purple dots.

Hints

(Give in order)

Hint #1: "Look at the tiles that were already in place to begin with. Can you think of any reasons why they were placed there specifically?"

Hint #2: "Good neighbors share something"

Hint #3: "There are 4 properties: color, arrow direction, dot number, and line number. Each tile has a different combination of variations of those properties."

Hint #4: "Compare the properties of any two adjacent (not diagonal) tiles. Is there any pattern you notice?"

Set Up

For some reason or another, the players have been separated into different rooms. Perhaps, in a tabletop setting, the players fell through separate trap doors in a dungeon. No matter the case, it is important that the players are divided into anywhere from 2 to 4 groups (whatever you deem most suitable for the number of players). You will show each of the groups a different image from the puzzle materials (if you are playing with less than four players, you will have to show multiple images to one person).

While it may be true in the roleplay scenario, players do not literally have to be in separate rooms - just so long as they do not share their group's image/images with the other groups. The players can, however, communicate with one another verbally, allowing them to describe what they see to the other players.

Most of the groups will see an assortment of symbols with four colored circles underneath them (the images named "1", "2", and "3" in the puzzle materials). The final group, however, will have a unique role: the scribe (they will be sent the image named "The Scribe" in the puzzle materials). The scribe may at first believe that they are in the same situation as the other groups, but will quickly learn that, unlike the other groups, they do not see a symbol above their four colors. They will also notice that, unlike the other groups, they are given a special writing instrument, implying that they are meant to draw a specific kind of symbol above their colors.

(Note: if you want to run an easier version of this puzzle, you can simply remove the part where the players are separated, and instead allow them to be together in a single room with all of the puzzle materials)

Solution

No individual group has enough information to complete this puzzle, but if the players work together and use their combined knowledge, they will be able to.

The first hurdle the players must overcome in this puzzle is coherent communication. It would be useful for at least one player to have all of the symbols (as well as their respective colors) out in front of them, so players will likely try to describe what they see to the other groups. Colors are easy to convey, but the symbols are relatively complex and, as will be seen later, the structure of each symbol is very important in solving this puzzle.

The next thing to notice is that there are four properties that the symbols have that are relevant to this puzzle: angles (acute, right, and obtuse), straight lines, curved lines, and dots. Additionally, the four colored circles correspond to those four properties (respectively, from left to right). Finally, the colors of each of the circles corresponds to the number of things associated with that circle's property that can be found in the above symbol. The number/color code is numerically sequential and aligns with the colors of the rainbow; 0 = Red, 1 = Orange, 2 = Yellow, 3 = Green, 4 = Blue, and 5 = Purple.

For example, a symbol with one angle (less than 180 degrees), two straight lines, three curved lines, and four dots would have the colors "Orange Yellow Green Blue" below it (in that order).

The four properties chosen as relevant for this puzzle were, of course, completely arbitrary; it may be the case that the players consider other properties, such as vertical symmetry. However, if they do so, they will quickly find that these properties are not relevant, since there are no consistent color patterns between symbols for any properties other than the four listed here.

To complete the puzzle, the scribe must create a symbol (via drawing) whose properties are consistent with the colored circles that they see. Since those colors are (from left to right) orange, green, blue and yellow, they must draw a symbol which has one angle (less than 180 degrees), three straight lines, four curved lines, and two dots. There are many possible answers; you simply need to verify that their constructed symbol meets these criteria.

(Note: another way to make this puzzle a bit easier is to give the scribe a few chances to do a "test" drawing; that is to say, you may allow them to draw a symbol off to the side and then tell them the color combination that would be associated with that symbol)

Hints

(Give in order)

Hint #1: "Compare some of the symbols. Do you notice any trends?"

Hint #2: "What is the relationship between the colors below a symbol and the structure of that symbol?"

Hint #3: "Notice the colors below symbol that is just a single dot. Is there any other symbol with a similar assortment of colors? What does that symbol look like?"

Hint #4: "There are 4 properties: angles (acute, right, and obtuse), straight lines, curved lines, and dots. Each symbol has a different number of each of these."

Hint #5: "Is there a numerical way to order those colors?"

Hint #6: "All of the symbols with exactly one dot have orange as their last color. All of the symbols with no dots have a red dot as their last color. Is there a similar pattern with each of the properties?"