The Eighth Wonder is a print-and-play game created by True Clue.
Format
Style of Play:
- play on demand
- print-and-play
Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, printer, pen and paper, scissors
Recommended Team Size: 1-3
Play Time: about 2 hours
Price: $20, or $16 with a coupon earned for solving a sample puzzle on their home page
Booking: purchase and play at your leisure
Description
Players will print the puzzle book. Each puzzle is introduced on the website, has some paper component, and the user enters the solution on the website to proceed to the next puzzle.
Kate Wastl’s Reaction
The Eighth Wonder by True Clue is a print-and-play game that tasks you with determining whether there is a secret eighth wonder in the world. We explored the seven wonders of the ancient world along our journey with a welcome realization at the end that (quite honestly) caused us to smile. Best for early intermediate puzzlers, we spent the most time on the very first puzzle, and steadily gained momentum from there. Many times in these type of print-and-play puzzles, there isn’t always a linear path from figuring out what the solve path should be to finishing the puzzle. Delightfully, for nearly all of the puzzles in The Eighth Wonder, the effort was in figuring out the pattern, and once correct, the puzzle led you to a quick solution. The Eighth Wonder is perfect for a rainy Saturday afternoon with 1 or 2 friends.
Tammy McLeod’s Reaction
This game has a series of puzzles that should be an enjoyable challenge for casual players, and still fairly fun for more experienced players. I thought the puzzles were generally well-written, the Greek pantheon theme was well incorporated, and the story blurbs provided light cluing to each puzzle’s mechanism. The paper-based portions made sense and the web-based interface worked well for hints and answers. However, since players would need to refer to both the paper and webpage during the course of the game, I would recommend smaller groups.
The Lone Puzzler’s Reaction
The game was not bad and there were a couple clever puzzles in the bunch. There were no terrible puzzles although one seemed to have some pretty ambiguous clues to me. My issue was that it was not much better (and maybe not better at all) than a lot of free content that exists today online, including monthly standards like the Puzzled Pint. The puzzles are not interactive, just a typical series of puzzles with a final meta that did not have much pop. The content was easy to reach and the web interface operated well including an easy to use hint system. It just did not provide much excitement.
Disclosure: True Clue provided the Hivemind reviewers with a complimentary play.