Escape Puzzle

Puzzle, Instructions and Sealed Envelope

I mentioned in my last post that I was starting a new jigsaw puzzle that was a little different.  It is called an Escape Puzzle but is similar to other puzzles called Mystery Puzzles.  There is a short story explaining that you have accidentally eaten poison mushrooms.  You find a witches kitchen which contains an antidote somewhere but you have to find it.

Instructions

The puzzle was more difficult than most for a couple of reasons.  The actual puzzle was not identical to the picture on the box.  It was close to the same but there were several changes.  In addition to that, the edge pieces were all basically the same shape making my usual practice of working the edges first not a good idea.  

In Progress

Once I had the puzzle together then I had to solve the other puzzle of finding the antidote.   

Completed Puzzle

The instruction sheet said there were eight mysteries hidden within the puzzle that had to be solved in order to find the solution.  It also listed a web page that would give clues to the eight areas of the puzzle.  The design of the puzzle was such that I could not be sure of what the eight areas were so I did check out the web page for those clues.  Here are two examples of the clues showing puzzles within the puzzle:

Numbers Puzzle

Symbols Puzzle

Most of the puzzles were number related involving figuring out sequences of various numbers, etc.  A couple of them involved working with symbols that were translated into numbers.  For example, copies of the symbols were hidden within the puzzle itself with an = sign and numbers.  At first it was a bit overwhelming, but once I caught on I was able to solve four of the eight puzzles.  Each of the eight puzzles answer was a number.  The next step was to find those numbers on edge pieces of the puzzle.  Okay, I had half of the eight puzzles solved but not the remaining four.  I finally gave up and opened the "secret envelope".  It was a bit of a let down because it only listed the eight numbers but did not tell how to get them.  It did confirm that the four I was able to solve were correct.  I next went around the edges of the puzzle and pulled out the eight corresponding number pieces.  I had trouble getting good pictures of the puzzle but if you click to enlarge the next picture you may be able to see some of the numbers on the edge pieces.

Numbers on Edge Pieces

Besides listing the eight numbers the solution also had a picture of the final solution.  The eight edge pieces I pulled fit together to form a tiny puzzle and the one center piece was a piece from the main puzzle showing a small plant - the antidote.  Unfortunately that piece did not even fit properly even though it was listed as the correct piece.

Final Solution

If you have stayed with me this long then you have done well.  I agree this was a little confusing and did not have enough directions.  Plus the fact that the final answer puzzle did not even fit properly.  I checked reviews on this puzzle online and found that most other people working this ran into the same problems.

Would I do another puzzle like this one?  No, not as it is now.  I did enjoy some of the basic concepts of this and the various puzzles involved but it needs to be cleaned up a lot and have some clear instructions.  I enjoy working a variety of puzzles whether jigsaw, number, symbol or whatever but I like basic instructions as to what I am supposed to do!

I hope everyone is having a good week and all the various weather problems out there this week are not causing too much trouble!