Puzzles Books

This easy to read book gives an insight to the world of gambling rarely talked about. The author does a magnificent job of detailing various aspects of the gaming world. This book is a must for novice gamblers and those who wish to make gambling a profitable business.

Parts of this book are extremely funny, and the entire book is very entertaining. Even if you aren't a gambler or care less about the gambling scene, try this book, it WILL surprise you.

The author tells, in easy to understand detail, secrets of the gambling world. This book is not only interesting, but funny. Being in the gaming business myself, I found this book revealed many things I didn't know. The author explains how people in the gaming industry fleece the unsuspecting gambler, and the author shares experiences not many people hear about. I liked the entire book, from cover to cover. The author includes a glossary defining words and phrases that I never knew existed, which I feel makes the book worth buying for this information alone. I hope the author writes a sequel.

Excellently written and full of interesting information I didn't know existed about gamblers, card sharps, crooked games, casino's, slot machines and many other facets of gambling. I live near the gambling casino's in Mississippi and the glossary at the end of this book, which is full of gamblers terms and phrases, helped me feel and talk like a pro in a few minutes. Although I consider myself a novice gambler, I've used some of the terms and phrases on my trips to the casino's, and received a feeling of respect from casino employee's as well as seasoned gamblers.

Better than the Psionics Handbook or its revision, the Expanded Psionics Handbook, both published by Wizards of the Coast. Green Ronin looks at psychic phenomena as something beyond the bulky spell rules of the d20 system, and relates them instead to the stronger skills & feats rules--similar to the treatment of the Force in Wizards' original and revised Star Wars RPGs. Treating phenomena as skills allows psychic powers to operate alongside magic without competing for cinematic effect--and makes them easily convertable into any modern/horror or sci-fi setting. These are incredible rules for any gamer serious about psychic/psionic abilities.

One of the better company's to put out d20 stuff has always been Green Ronin Press. The Shaman's Handbook is one of the best alternate core class books on the market.

Those of us who have always been big psionics fans were pretty disappointed in the Psionics Handbook for v3.0. The new revised v3.5 is supposed to be better, but my confidence is low. Especially since picking up the Psychic's Handbook. Wow. Very nicely done. Psionics that aren't just a bad ripoff of magic. Very clean and relatively simple. Psionics end up being not quite as 'fireball' powerful as spellcasters but their versatility is increased and powers are much more subtle.

In brief: PC's buy Psychic Talent feats based on general catagories (Clairsentientce, Psychokinesis, Psychometabolism, Psychoportation, Telepathy, etc). These feats give the player access to certain skills. A couple of skills may be used untrained (ie: Psychic Sense) but mostly you have to put Ranks into them.

For example: The Psychokinesis Feat allows you to put ranks into the Photo-kinesis (Int) Skill (among many others). With it you can do many different things. 'With a succesful check, you can warp light around yourself, making your outline blurred and indistinct or even become invisible. Attacking does not negate the effects of this skill. You can create holograms'...etc, etc. Each ability requires you to make a skill check that has a certain DC. Invisibility in this case requires a DC 25 roll. Illumating an area like a torch is DC 5 (+5' per additional 10' radius).

Each use of a skill requires a certain amount of 'Strain', which is simply non-lethal damage you take when you use the skill. In the example above, the Strain cost is equal to the DC/5. Light is 1 Strain, Blur (20% miss chance) is DC 15 and costs 3 strain. Invisibility costs 5 Strain.

All the skills are based on either Int, Wis or Cha. No more Constitution or Dex based psionic abilities.

Of course there are other Feats that allow you to improve the things your skills can do. Psychic Healing (Wis), a Psychometabolism skill, allows you to heal HP or Ability damage. With the Cure Disease Feat you can now use your skill for that as well. Flight, which is a strenuous application of the Telekinesis (Int) skill can be improved seriously by taking the Flight Feat. The Apport Arrows Feat allows you to use your Apport skill to 'Deflect Arrows' by teleporting them away (works like the Deflect Arrows Feat).

And finally the Psychic Combat also looks much more 'psychic' than 'fireball'. I need to read more on that section.

Once again this company puts out a really well done book that I really want to use in my campaign. Can't ask for much more than that.

Rich

Sure its phychic and not psionic but there is little difference in the powers presented from 3.0 to this book. Compared to the psionic 3.0 this is hands down better. (Though I have not seen the 3.5 version yet) Note to all you wizard players out there, phychics arent the same. The power level is less by far but the system is cleanly intergrated into almost any campaign. Even though it reads like it is intended for fantasy, I really see this supplement having a staring role in a modern or sci-fi campaign. As GM in those genre's if you find them to be more powerful than you would like just restrict the number or percentage of skill points that can be spent on powers. Thats right the powers are skill based, but you need a feat(s) to gain access to them.
Very well done.

At first I was a bit perplexed by a CDROM that's more an interactive objet-d'art than a game; and in the first night I played with this for like eight hours, until I thought I'd played it to death and would never touch it again. But I found its strange imagery coming back to me, and I tinker with it more and more now, sometimes just to hear the interesting background music, of which there is a LOT.

The packaging for this CD says it contains over two hours of instrumental music or spoken word performance, and it's true. Some of the music I recognize from "Ugly One With The Jewels", and some of it was even background music that Laurie Anderson did for Spalding Grey's movie "Swimming to Cambodia" (and as far as I know, no soundtrack CD was ever released of that).

If you find yourself wanting to hear the music on its own, it's straightforward to sift thru the CDROM's directories, find the AIFC files (*.AIF), decompress them (easy on a Mac with SoundApp -- I don't know what you'd use for handling AIFCs on other platforms), and burn them to audio CD for your personal listening fun. Now, there's not many CDROMs where the music is so good that you'd want to do that! But this is sure one of them.

I would love to be able to review this CD-ROM, but 2 1/2 months
after placing my order, Amazon wrote that they could not supply
it.

So why does Amazon still have it for sale?

Clicking the "used and new" link, I find some used versions for
more than the "new" price". It seems there was originally a
Macintosh only version, and then a Windows/Mac version.
A "new" Mac/Windows version is available from Amazon seller
"amana2" for USD$225.

Googling indicates that the Voyager company which produced
"Puppet Motel" no longer exists. I can't find a mention of it at
Laurie Anderson's site, though apparently in the past there was
a reference, pointing to Amazon as the place to purchase the
CD-ROM.

"Puppet Motel" is highly regarded, so I gave it five stars in
absentia. But Amazon deserves a negative number of stars for
pretending to be able to supply it.

When I bought this I was a little worried it would be out of date because it is a few years old, but WOW! Incredible, awesome, always surprising, entertaining. I love it more than her CDs!

I cannot praise these puzzle books by usborne highly enough. I have an eight year old daughter who has been reading these books for about two years now (since I found them). They are fun and challenging, and absolutely INVALUABLE on car trips (or any trip in general).

This book provides hours of creative enjoyment and is just plain fun for the child, and everybody else too. All will enjoy these books. Puzzle Island is about " Sam" who is junior pirate, and must find a skull and crossbones badge in a hidden chest full of treasure which is somewhere on Puzzle island. "Horatio " wants to beat Sam to the treasure and he is hidden on all the double pages, but you don't know where and must find him! Puzzle Island is also home of the " pink elephants " and you must locate these and how many also on each double pages, with the BEST illustrations! Then in each of the double pages you need to find items from the "Pirate Kit ". These items range from all the stuff, which make a great pirate. A compass, Eye patch, hook, gold earring, hat, telescope and so much more. You don't know what page which item is on so you must remember these items. This fun adventure takes you around the island, across the leafy lake, across a safe bridge, the place where you spot animals and many more. Each set of double pictures also has a puzzle, full of mazes, searches, matching, and spotting. This really is great fun, and the reading level is pretty simple but these puzzles were great for all ages and really great for a group or just some great family fun using creative memory, problem solving and a great eye!

My boys and I love the Usborne Puzzle Books and this one is no different. The kids really dig into them without me forcing them to. The puzzle books make them think and problem solve.

Dr. J. L. Quicksolve has a sharp mind; he can listen to a story and immediately discern the logical flaw that leads to solving the crime. In this case, you have the opportunity to solve the crimes with Dr. Quicksolve. All of the crime stories are at most two pages in length and involve one or two words or conditions that render the alibi false. A simple diagram is associated with each crime story, but that generally does not assist you. Solutions to all of the stories are included at the end.
This book is an excellent tool to hone young minds to be agile, thoughtful and attentive. You must read these stories very carefully, literally word for word, in order to catch the clue that leads to the solution.

"Quicksolve Whodunit Puzzles: Challenging Mini-Mysteries" contains a series of mini-mysteries for readers to solve. The puzzles are very short, just one or two pages long and the answers are at the back of the book. There's a nice sense of humor throughout the book, mostly through the use of punny names starting with Professor Quicksolve and continuing with Officer Kautchya, Sergeant Shurshot, and Officer Longshot. While the names are fun, author Jim Sukach gets a bit carried away and names like Carl Crook, Lulu Lyuer, and Miss Pettithief are dead giveaways to adult readers. Although the book does not specify what age group it is written for, the book is clearly meant for younger readers, as most of the puzzles are too easy for adult readers. However, the mysteries should be just challenging enough for younger readers. Most of the mysteries have logical solutions, but a few ("Tracking Terrorists", "Dog Meet" and "Dit Dah Dilemma") are a bit of a stretch and probably shouldn't have been included.

"Quicksolve Whodunit Puzzles: Challenging Mini-Mysteries" is a good book to introduce young readers to the fun of solving mini mysteries.

My 6 year old son loves mysteries, but many books are to long to keep his attention. The mysteries in this book are perfect for him, he understands them and figures most of them out.

"Quickword" is one of the most entertaining word games I have seen, or played in a long time. A few weekends ago we had some friends over for dinner and they brought the game with them for some post meal fun. And we did have a blast with this fast paced, entertaining game of skill and logic. The game involves a unique number of word skills, general knowledge, strategy and playing with speed under time pressure.

There are four decks of colored cards which determine the order of play. Blue cards ask the players to list all the words they can think of relating to a specific category, like "parts of an airplane." Green cards offer 6 categories and the players write one word for each, beginning with the letter indicated by the spinner on the gameboard. Pink and gray cards ask the players to perform other word oriented tasks.

Pencils, pads, timer, gameboard, cards are all included. For two or more players, age teen to adult - although I bet some precocious preteens could give you a run for your money! Highly recommended!
JANA

Played this for the first (but not last) time at a friends on Thanksgiving. My 13 year old son did not want to quit playing. We had lots of laughs, groans and good times.

Quickwords is something like a cross between traditional word games and a variety game (like Cranium or Quelf). There are five different games-within-a-game, and players travel around the board, trying to complete each challenge a predesignated number of times.

Word game fans of all kinds will enjoy this game. The challenges have elements of games like Scattergories, Scrabble, and many other linguistic challeneges. This game is not terribly well known, but it certainly should be.

"Rahasia" is an adventure set in elven lands. It is also a step away from the usual plotted adventure in that the main antagonists'--three witches that are up to no good--spirits occupy the bodies of elven maidens. Therefore, only craven players would try to kill them. Instead ingenuity must get used to capture the witches.

The first part of the adventure takes place in an elven temple that has been taken over by an evil cleric. In the second part the adventurers find themselves in the dungeons below a ruined wizard's tower. Featured here is a cunning teleport maze. Also of interest are a number of wine bottles with labels that read "Red Dragon Crush" and "Purple Grapemash No.3."

Without a doubt "Rahasia" is an excellent module. The Hickman's' write fabulous adventures replete with tight plots and an attention to creating rich details. However, this adventure, while made for low-level character, is probably too complex for novice players.

Originally published in 70s in RPGA series, TSR adopt it as B7 in 80s. Like B3, it is also one of the most popular D&D module. Excellent story, a lot of puzzles is waiting for player to solve here! Only suitable for smart, careful players to play. (I've run this module to some beginning players. Those only know "kill monsters, find treasures, gain experiences" really cannot finish it!)

The eternal fan favorite... this adventure began as one of the most popular RPGA adventures, and finally saw the light of day in this beautifully illustrated edition. The nefarious panther lord Rahib has plans for Grey Mountain, and your intrepid adventurers seem to have incurred his wrath. And when the beautiful Princess Rahasia is kidnapped, the DM's glee (and players' dramatic misfortune) knows no bounds... a wonderful adventure for levels 1-3, easily converted to AD&D.

My son was thrilled to learn the secrets of this game and be able to finally win. I think these type of guides are good so that the kids playing the game don't get discouraged and upset that they cannot get past an area, or know what to do.

i got it as a gift and they havn't complained and it was shipped really fast so yay party

This guide doesn't just help you beat the game, but gives you tips, maps, weapon description, armour description, a ship accessory list, and, of course, a whole behind the scences look at how the game was made. I actually got the stragety after I beat the game, and when I used it, I discovered all the secret unlocks and places that i did'nt even know exisited. This guide is defenitly worth the money!

Unlike many endgame books, which provide information about standard positions, this Crouch + Mednis book teaches HOW TO THINK about real games moving to or in the endgame. It is very clear, well-written, and has great practical application.

For most chessplayers, even very strong ones, studying the endgame is painfully boring. This book is one of the few genuinely entertaining and instructive books available on this subject. The book concentrates on practical endgame situations, rather than bore the reader with such stuff as mate with B and N, which one may be required to perform once every five thousand games or so.

This book is a must-read for anyone who knows the basic mates and understands the opposition who doesn't know what to study next in this all-important phase of the game. The exercises are enjoyable, tough, thought-provoking, and instructive, and working through them is almost like having a master-level teacher at your side.

In this book you will have to deal with tons of puzzles, primarily of the visual, complete the progression type you find in GMAT (the GMAT puzzles are of the kindergarten level compared to those here). If you enjoy solving puzzles and believe that it can help to improve your IQ (that the authors do diagnose detailedly about your problem solving process which is definitely a plus), you will be highly satisfied. In case you simply get dizzy by looking at them like what my wife does, please give it a pass.

p.s. The five star rating is given to appreciate the effort of the authors for putting the large amount of extremely difficult and diverse puzzles in a 260 page book.

Want to feel dumb? Then just take a look at Retrain Your Business Brain, and try one of the 101 problems inside. Donalee Markus, Lindsey Paige Markus and Pat Taylor designed these visual and verbal puzzles to force open new mental pathways. If pain leads to gain, they've done it, because you'll feel as if your mind is being stretched, bent and twisted. It's like yoga for your brain.

The authors claim that leaders and employees who work their way through the book become better at solving business problems and spotting opportunities; they even promise to turn detail-oriented people into big-picture thinkers. They walk you through solutions, coaching you to color-code and label problem elements, create categories and apply other problem-solving tools. By the final chapter--in which you decipher an ancient Babylonian numbering system without the use of a decoder ring--you'll never approach a problem the same way again, whether it's unraveling a market trend or trying to develop a new product.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book--well, at least when my brain wasn't hurting too much. This book does an excellent job of forcing you to not only solve rather difficult puzzles, but also to understand how to solve them (for some types I found myself getting them right without actually knowing what I was doing) and why you find them difficult. Markus, et al. explain the applications of the thought processes required for the puzzles to business and the symptoms of not doing so correctly. I would highly recommend it.