Preview: Can You Unlock the Secrets of Maya's Myths Puzzle Box?

You have retrieved a mysterious box from deep within ancient temple ruins. Solve its puzzles to unlock the secrets within…

Published by Inscape and currently on Kickstarter, Maya’s Myths is a puzzle box that requires you to solve a series of puzzles in order to open it.

Gameplay

This puzzle box has a puzzle on each side. You typically need to move dials, set sliders, or simply decipher a clue, in order to solve one side of the box that will often give you a code for another side, or will open a compartment or release a lock, that will in turn direct you to the next puzzle you are meant to be working on.

The puzzles are typically of the kind you might find in an escape room, and the goal is to open the final compartment of the box.

Review

Maya’s Myths feels special. There is something exciting about having a puzzle box in your hands. The tactile experience is very satisfying, and this one is solid and well-made, and lightly decorated in a thematic way, making it also visually appealing. It’s always a great feeling when you input a code and a section of the box opens up, or when you have an ‘aha’ moment and know exactly what to do next.

The puzzles are a nice balance of difficulty. They make you think, and generally take some time to work through, but they all feel reasonable. We did use the occasional hint, but once we figured out a solution it always felt fair, and like they didn’t require giant leaps in logic. We also liked that we generally knew which side of the puzzle box we were supposed to be working on at any given time — this kept the puzzles from becoming frustrating.

In general, the box is sturdy and well-made. Nothing required force, so it was easy to tell if you were doing the wrong thing and should look elsewhere. There was, however, one component that arrived broken in the box. It didn’t make it impossible to solve, but it did make the puzzle it was related to more challenging and time consuming.

This is a prototype copy, and there were some errors in the English translation of the story booklet included in the box. We assume this will be corrected for official release, and the story is more for ambiance rather than being crucial to the puzzles themselves, but it’s worth mentioning.

The space inside the final compartment is large enough that you could put a small gift inside. Resetting the box is also quite easy, making this a very nice gift box you could use, that is just as special to open as the gift inside.

We had a lot of fun with Maya’s Myths. If you enjoy puzzles, you should definitely check out the Kickstarter page. The tactile experience of a puzzle box, while a more solo endeavor than other escape-room-style board games, gives it more of the immersion of a real, in-person escape room experience.

Pros: The box is sturdy and is also quite easy to reset, nice difficulty range in the puzzles, all the puzzles felt fair

Cons: One component arrived broken, English translation could use a little editing

Disclosure: This is a paid preview of an unpublished prototype of this game, which is subject to change prior to publication.