Editor | On 23, Jan 2004

The Puzzling Mysteries and the Puzzling Time Quest games are both cool and exiting ways to learn four problem solving techniques. The games are published by Compedia and the website is www.compedia-usa.com. These games may be purchased by going to http://www.start2think.com and contacting Dr. Roni Horowitz. The games may also be purchased at the Products and Services pages of The TRIZ Journal.

The Puzzling Time Quest game is recommended for children. It has a fun storyline and fun games (other than puzzles) for you to enjoy. This game is the perfect game to get started on the basics of the ASIT methodology. The puzzles are interesting and challenging. It will probably take about 20 minutes to solve each puzzle as well as multiple attempts. After each puzzle is solved, your guide, the Professor, explains the solution techniques that you used. The puzzles are divided into 4 levels and there are 10 puzzles total. After each level is completed you are given access to a game.

The Puzzling Mysteries Creative Solutions game is recommended for the entire family (we suggest parental help). The Puzzling Mysteries game has 12 exciting puzzles to figure out and solve. Some of the puzzles are very difficult and others can be solved in a short time. We still haven’t figured out 2 of them. The game also has a section where you can learn about the problem solving techniques.

We really like how the two games are fun and educational at the same time (that means our parents let us play these games a lot more than other games)! We like having to find out which method to use and then use it! We like the challenge of solving the problems in the games and the way you can learn the techniques. Over all, we like how children and their parents can learn ASIT together.

The techniques learned in the games include multiplication (adding another component like the one that already exists), division (looking at something as a part instead of as a whole), unification (using things in a different way than they were designed to be used), and breaking unity (looking at each component differently). If you learn these techniques you can solve the puzzles a lot easier than if you did not know the
techniques.

We like these games very much and encourage other children and families to play these games and learn new problem solving techniques together. We hope you have as much fun as we are playing these games. If you happen to solve the tightrope puzzle give us a hint…