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mechaniz98's review against another edition
3.0
Journal29 is a fun, mind bending read. Here are my notes on the experience:
Many of these riddles required google searches, outside knowledge, and for the reader to test a bunch of clue associations in order to get an answer. This was fun at times, and frustrating during others. I would’ve preferred more puzzles in which I could’ve deployed some handy dandy deductive reasoning.
You will want to use the online forum at times - not only does it give helpful nudges toward the solution, but it provides some solidarity as you continue along your strange alien-themed riddle quest.
Some of the print is illegible and one of the riddles requires you to have a CD on hand.
It was a good use of my time overall, though I don’t think I would recommend this book to a friend.
Many of these riddles required google searches, outside knowledge, and for the reader to test a bunch of clue associations in order to get an answer. This was fun at times, and frustrating during others. I would’ve preferred more puzzles in which I could’ve deployed some handy dandy deductive reasoning.
You will want to use the online forum at times - not only does it give helpful nudges toward the solution, but it provides some solidarity as you continue along your strange alien-themed riddle quest.
Some of the print is illegible and one of the riddles requires you to have a CD on hand.
It was a good use of my time overall, though I don’t think I would recommend this book to a friend.
qas242m's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure I should even consider this a book, but whatever. It was a lot of fun.
Journal 29 is a combination of puzzle book and escape room, where each page is an abstract puzzle that needs solving to unlock the clue to the next puzzle. This format kept me progressing steadily from start to end without getting bored, but meant I couldn't jump around from puzzle to puzzle when stuck.
The narrative aspect, if you can even call it that, is a flismy premise that serves as an excuse to facilitate the puzzles. And the ending is deeply disappointing as I simply completed the last puzzle and was done. There is no real conclusion or explanation, though apparently the sequel does a better job of that.
The puzzles themselves are a mix of maths puzzles, logic puzzles, and more abstract tasks that require some interesting interpretations of information or a lot of interaction with the page (folding pages, drawing lines, filling in blanks, etc). I think this format is a fantastic one and definitely want to continue with similar books.
4 stars.
Journal 29 is a combination of puzzle book and escape room, where each page is an abstract puzzle that needs solving to unlock the clue to the next puzzle. This format kept me progressing steadily from start to end without getting bored, but meant I couldn't jump around from puzzle to puzzle when stuck.
The narrative aspect, if you can even call it that, is a flismy premise that serves as an excuse to facilitate the puzzles. And the ending is deeply disappointing as I simply completed the last puzzle and was done. There is no real conclusion or explanation, though apparently the sequel does a better job of that.
The puzzles themselves are a mix of maths puzzles, logic puzzles, and more abstract tasks that require some interesting interpretations of information or a lot of interaction with the page (folding pages, drawing lines, filling in blanks, etc). I think this format is a fantastic one and definitely want to continue with similar books.
4 stars.
jo_in_bookland's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this! It contains unique puzzles with a varying degree of difficulty.
It often requires you to think outside the box and for the most part prior knowledge isn't necessary, although I sometimes had to look up some things on the Internet.
I'd love to get the second one!
It often requires you to think outside the box and for the most part prior knowledge isn't necessary, although I sometimes had to look up some things on the Internet.
I'd love to get the second one!