Dec 8, 2021

The Los Angeles Floridimans

By Sandor Weisz • Issue #80 • View online

Happy Holidays! Today’s issue is part gift guide, and part meta-gift guide. It’s still not too late to get some of these things delivered by Christmas, but I’m also including a bunch of virtual gifts and subscriptions, if you’re worried about delivery times. Enjoy!

📍📍📍

Puzzle of the Week. Think of the name for a member of a particular professional sports team on one American coast. Remove a letter, and you’ll have the word for a person hailing from a particular place at roughly the same latitude on the other coast. What words are these?

Submit your answer here.

The Treasure Trove of Pirate Cove

Solve Our Shirts, run by my friends at CU Adventures, has a new escape-game-on-a-T-Shirt for this season. I played their first shirt, Escape from the Maze of the Minotaur, last year and loved it. Lots of surprising touches, and at the end, you get an awesome shirt for your wardrobe. Orders begin shipping this week.

www.solveourshirts.com • Share

Room Escape Artist 2021 Holiday Gift Guide

I trust REA more than anyone for escape game and puzzle recommendations. This guide recommends a variety of stuff, from games, to mechanical puzzles, to books. And if nothing on the list strikes your fancy, REA has several years of gift guides in their archives.

roomescapeartist.com • Share

2021 Post Curious Holiday Gift Ideas

This gift guide, by Rita Orlov of Post Curious, includes Post Curious’s whimsical holiday puzzle greeting cards (shown above) and some other great puzzle-by-mail offerings.

www.getpostcurious.com • Share

Solve-A-Mystery Game Subscription from Society of Curiosities

Here’s my recommended puzzle-by-mail subscription. Society of Curiosities (Michelle Rundbaken and Yacine Merzouk) delivers one chapter per quarter of a tabletop puzzle game with a continuous narrative arc. In this game and others from Rundbaken and Merzouk, you’ll find what Room Escape Artist refers to as artfully handcrafted physical components, engaging puzzle-driven storytelling, and immersive tech.“

www.societyofcuriosities.com • Share

Traveler's Guide to Little Sodaburg

This is one of the most charming remote escape games out there, if you’re looking for a virtual gift. In this online puzzle adventure, you and up to 5 others explore the seaside town of Little Sodaburg, trying to solve the town’s hidden mysteries.

thetravelers.guide • Share

My favorite puzzle video games

Here are some evergreen recommendations for my favorite puzzle games. These are all downloadable, if you’re looking for a last-minute gift.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

You find yourself trapped alone in a room with a bomb. Your friends have the manual to defuse it, but they can’t see the bomb. Work together to figure out the rules for which buttons to press and which wires to cross. This is a party game that’s also a test of your communication skills. The good news is a game only lasts 10-15 minutes, so if you mess up, you can just start over.

keeptalkinggame.com • Share

Return of the Obra Dinn

This first-person mystery puzzle game is immensely creative and impeccably styled. This 2-bit adventure is the story of the investigation of the Obra Dinn, a washed-up East India merchant ship missing all sixty of its passengers and crew. But with a magic watch that lets you go back in time to see how each person died, you can slowly piece together the story of what happened. While you’re able to walk around on the ship, nothing else moves, which means in each chapter, you’re moving around in a 3D representation of a frozen moment from the past. This an all-time fave for me.

obradinn.com • Share

Baba Is You

There is no purer puzzle game than Baba Is You. It’s a sokoban game, but the rules of the game are present as physical objects in the game itself. By moving the words, you can manipulate the rules, and change how the game works. There are close to 200 levels, each harder than the last. You will not believe how much it twists your brain up in knots.

hempuli.com • Share

Outer Wilds

Space travel. Aliens. Supernova. Time loop. Anything more I say about this game will ruin the surprise. One of the best puzzley exploration games out there.

www.mobiusdigitalgames.com • Share

Solution to the previous puzzle

The correct answer is: Jnyterraf -> Ny Terra (in Rot-13). Thanks to those who brought to my attention that Jnyterraf does not, in fact, have any punctuation to remove.

From Issue #79

Congrats to all who solved it: Adam Kaye, Al Green, yes that Al Green, Allison Payne, Amanda Garrett, Amanda M, Andrea H, Andrew Cowie, Andrew McLellan, Andy, BadBiGamer, Bluesquare5, Bob Hlavna, Brett Zingler, Brian Lee, Brian Perkins, Brooks Johnson, Bruce Hardstone, Chris Stevens, Claire G., Connie Barreras, Dan Connolly, Dan Hollich, Daniel B, Daniel Blair, Daniel Cowgill, Daniel Marcin, David P, Debbie M, Derick Hildebrandt, Don Ray, Dude, Edward Nigma, Elana, Ellyse, Emily C, Emily Ray, Emma Kilbreath, Eric G, Eric S., Evan J, Franklin Wu, Gabby C., Gaurika Mehra, General Chaos 2005, Grant Moochmauser, Gregg K, Guy Jacobson, Heather Kennedy, Hilary Hayduk, Ian R, J. Morrissey, Jacob Warbrick, James E, James Finster, James G, Jason Kilsdonk, Jay M, Jeffrey J, Jen B, Jen Mitchell, Jennifer, Jenny Rupps, Jeremy Hamman, Jim Kuemmerle, Jimmy Smith, jlg, Joe Beninato, Joe C, Joe N, Joey Spain, John Bishof, John Carrigan, John VanDeventer, Jon R, Josh T, Juliann Krupa, Kabir Julka, Kat J., Kate, Kate Smith, Katherine O., Kazuko Suzuki, Ke Vin, Kelly McMahon, Kelly Riordan, Kid Beyond, Kieran, Kristy Eriksen, Laura Orr, Laura Orr, lilroser, Lily Geller, Linda Perry , Liz G, Lois Harring , Maggie W., maki, Matt Kerbel, Matt Mittelstadt, Matt P, Melanie Kamme, Michelle B., Michelle Ferreirae, Mike Arbucci , Mike Schmitt, Mike Selinker, Mitchell F. Wolfe, Mommy Keyes, Natalie Prochnow, Neville Fogarty, Nicole Speyer, Nikolaj Munk Binder Jensen, Nina, NM, Oliver Peckham, Patrick C, Patrick Polk, Paul Tzur, Phil C. , R&L, Raji, Renee Vandervelde, Richie B, Rob Breiner, Rob Stilphen, Rocky, Rose Marcin, Ryan Emnett , Ryan T, Sami Casanova , Sandy’s Little Sister!, Scooby, Scott Williams, Shaby Kaderi, Shalaka, Simon H., Stephanie L., Suzy S, “SVN"Bob Pratt, T Welch, Tamara Brenner, TCompton, Todd Benson, Tommy, Tyler Hinman, Victoria, Violet Moon.

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By Sandor Weisz

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