Ingenious: Single-Player Travel Edition

• Designer: Reiner Knizia
• Publisher:  Kosmos
• Players: 1
• Age: 8+
• Time: 1 to 5 minutes per challenge
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4myaaGM
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Spark your inner genius with this pocket-sized puzzle game. Your goal is to place the colorful domino-style tiles in exactly the right places to complete each challenge. With 200 challenges in four difficulty levels and a compact case, this game provides hours of puzzle-solving fun, virtually anywhere. Play solo, or pass the game around to challenge your family and friends. Put your logical thinking skills to the test! Can you master all of the challenges?

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The Case of the Curiously Correct Blueprints

• Designer: Ace Ellett, Anna Ellett
• Publisher: Bluefish Games
• Players: 1+ (we played with 4)
• Age: 14+
• Time: 2-3 hours
• Weblink: https://www.teambluefish.com/product-page/curiously-correct-blueprints 
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

As a member of the SHhhh, We’re Reading Book Club in Hincksville, you’ve been patiently awaiting your turn to read the advance copy of the highly anticipated new Ells and Ernie mystery, when Mr. Hincks gives you some shocking news: your copy of the book is at the bottom of a vat of candy! Never fear, Mr. Hincks will save the day! (Which is only fair, seeing as he was the one that ruined the day.)

Mr. Hincks has recorded an abridged audio version of the book and put together a box of peculiar reference materials in order to recreate the story for you before the book club meeting. But there’s one problem: the first rule of book club is, NO SPOILERS! How can Mr. Hincks recap this mystery book for you without spoiling any of the twists? You’re not quite sure, but he seems to have a few puzzling tricks up his sleeves.

Can you unlock all the audio clips before the SHhhh, We’re Reading Book Club meeting? What are these mysterious markups on the reference pages?? How can a set a blueprints that are correct be curious???

Answer all of these questions and more in… The Case of The Curiously Correct Blueprints!

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Architects of Amytis

• Designer: Jeremy Ducret and Romaric Galonnier
• Publisher: La Boite de Jeu
• Players: 2
• Age: 10+
• Time: 30 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link:  https://amzn.to/43lhYUN
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

The King of Babylon wants to offer a marvelous present to his wife, Queen Amytis: The most beautiful city ever created. He asks two of the best Architects in the world to design the city, and only the very best one will be built. It’s now up to you to create the best design.

Les Architectes d’Amytis (“Architects of Amytis”) is a Tile placement game, containing some worker placement and even some “Tic Tac Toe” mechanisms. During your turn, you’ll have to select a tile among the available ones on the main board, and place one of your Architect Pawn on the corresponding pile.

Then, you’ll place the tile on your board wherever you want (on a free spot, or covering another tile to make your city grow higher). Each tile is colored (4 colors) and represents a building (6 different types). Each building type will score directly when you place the tile. And the colors will allow you to reproduce some of the King’s projects (a colored pattern inside your city) that will grant you points at the end of the game.

Furthermore, while placing your architects on the main board, if you manage to create a line, row or diagonal of 3, you’ll be granted a King’s favor: another type of score,triggered at the end of the game.  Buildings all have 2 types of scoring, so you can play different kind of games one after the other Which strategy will you choose to create the most marvelous city of the World? 

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Word Snap

• Designer: uncredited
• Publisher: SD Toyz
• Players: 2-4
• Age: 8+
• Time: 40-60 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3GwF6Xr
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

WordSnap is the word-building puzzle game without a board! Use octagonal snap-together pieces to create words in any direction—vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Build your own crossword-style grid and unlock endless scoring possibilities. Perfect for word game pros or newcomers alike, WordSnap offers a fun, brain-flexing challenge from every angle.   Create a dynamic crossword puzzle-like layout without the confines of a game board; as words are built, unique patterns emerge, offering players unlimited scoring opportunities; download a free timer app to add an extra layer of excitement to your word-building sessions

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