Mr. Brein undercoveragent puzzel boek

by Gareth Moore

De regels zijn eenvoudig: los elk van de acht casussen op in minder dan een uur... óf je dekmantel wordt onthuld.

Heb jij het in je om een spion te zijn? Dit interactieve boek neemt je mee over de hele wereld om acht escaperoomscenario's op te lossen. Maak je klaar om 's werelds ruigste bendes te infiltreren en je probleemoplossend vermogen te testen terwijl je de aanwijzingen ontdekt die ze achterlaten. Kun jij de zaken oplossen voordat ze je ware identiteit ontdekken? De tijd dringt...

Dit ultieme puzzelboek is zowel voor beginnende als doorgewinterde puzzelaars en bevat taal- en beeldpuzzels, codekrakers, cryptogrammen, nonogrammen, sudoku's en nog veel meer.

Genres: Puzzles

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 2022

About the author

Dr Gareth Moore is the author of a wide range of brain-training and puzzle books for both children and adults, including best-selling Ordnance Survey Puzzle Book, Brain Games for Clever Kids and The Mammoth Book of New Sudoku.

Reviews

[Karen]

3.5* (rounded up)

Sent for review. The puzzles are varied but most involve numbers and logic - I have to confess I have never been the best with anything numerical and although I found some fairly easy, I did find many a challenge. All involve solving a puzzle to find a 4 digit code. All are separate puzzles and you don’t need to have solved the previous one to go onto the next as they get harder as the cases progress.

At the back are hints and solutions to each puzzle. This is just my personal taste, but although some of the puzzles were interesting to do, I would have preferred the inclusion of a few word puzzles for variation however if you enjoy the challenge of working out cryptograms, diagrams etc then this is the perfect book for you.

[Bianca Duthie]

Well, this made me feel pretty stupid on numerous occasions! Sometimes , I didn't understand the question. Other times, my maths was wrong, and sometimes I just didn't read the question properly! You definitely need to take your time and read things through with puzzle games like these.
I really liked the variety of puzzles included. Hanije, cryptograms, sudoko, there's something to test you all the way through.
I wish the pages hadn't been so grey, I found this difficult to read and write on, the proper white pages were much easier to read from.
I cant think of a way it would be possible in a book but I wish there was a way of knowing your answer to a puzzle was correct before moving onto the next one by incorporating that into the next puzzle so you didn't have to constantly flick to the back to see if you were right, as I say I can't see how it could have been done in a book format but I could see an interactive escape room of these puzzles working really well.
Lots of fun for all ages!

[Jo]

Time for something a little bit different. Its been a while since I had a puzzle book so was keen to give this one a go (especially as it was during the festive season so the whole family could join in). What I really liked about this book was the fact there was a scenario for each section so I felt more involved than just having pages and pages of unrelated puzzles. The first couple of puzzles were really easy and I was lulled into a false sense of security about my intellect! I soon realised the puzzles get progressively more difficult so my smug face was pretty quickly wiped off.

At the back of the book there is a hints section for each puzzle for when you need a little help but haven’t quite admitted defeat. There is also a solutions section for when you are completely stumped. We had great fun with this one passing it around the family so everyone could have a go. Some of the puzzles were really clever and required attention to detail which I enjoyed. I liked the break from reading to do something else and think this will be a firm hit with puzzlers.

[Alice]

I love working on puzzles. I often sit with a puzzle book whilst watching TV and like to think I'm quite good at working the answers out. So I thought this interactive puzzle book would be a perfect challenge for me.

The Undercover Agent Puzzle Book is an interactive puzzle book featuring 8 escape room style scenarios. Each case has different puzzles to solve with each one giving numbers. At the end of each scenario the digits unlock the room to escape. I liked the variety of different puzzles included such as Sudoku, graphs, calculations, codes to crack and cryptograms.

As you progress through the book the puzzles get increasingly harder. Unfortunately after cracking the first scenario fairly easily I became stumped with a lot of the subsequent puzzles. They were a lot harder than I expected and I became frustrated, having to get clues from the hint section at the back.

Definitely a fun book but one that also needs a lot of concentrating on.

[Oldbookishwoman]

"It's an interactive puzzle book full.
The rules are simple. Solve each of the eight cases in under an hour, or your cover is blown."

This has pages and pages of all kinds of puzzles. Its clear print and easy layout makes it easy to read.
At the back of the book there are clues for each puzzle if you get stuck. A notes section for working out....or just aimless doodles .. whichever process helps you think best. And fear not there is ...not that you would use it 😇😇😇🤣🤣 a solutions section.

This book gets your brain ticking with a good mix of puzzles to solve with an escape room feel to the book... I am still convinced I would make a fabulous super spy...006 1/2 just as long as the fate of the world doesn't involve me solving a Sudoku puzzle 🤬🫣🫣 I mean why...... 🤣🤣🤣

A must for all who are fans of puzzle solving.

[Vicki (chaptersofvicki)]

This puzzle book was great fun! I really enjoyed solving the puzzles to crack the codes. Although some of these I did struggle with, I’ve discovered I’m not very good at sudoku! Nor the algebra based ones, I never was very good at it at school though 🤣

There is quite a variety of different puzzles so there is something for everyone. I raced through the first scenario but they do get harder as you progress through the book.

I also had to make sure I entered the numbers in the correct order as I made the mistake of not following the correct sequence a fair few times too.

This was definitely something different for me and I enjoyed it. I recommend it if you like escape rooms or puzzles it will certainly keep you entertained.

Thank you to Love Book Tours and the publisher for a gifted copy of the book and for having me on the tour.

[Laura]

This one certainly filled up a couple of boring Sunday afternoons! Unfortunately, I am not very good at stuff like this, algebra and numbers in general just annoy the hell out of me and I did struggle with the majority of the puzzles. That being said, once I had roped a few people in to help me out it did become more fun and I had a good time with this book.

There are a variety of different puzzles and I definitely think it’s better to gather a few people to work through this rather than going at it alone. The book does cater for a particular audience but I think as a one off, most people could have some fun with this.

The puzzles are well thought out but they are far from easy, there were a few where I literally just looked at the page and went ‘WTF’. Overall I’m giving this 4 stars due to it being so well put together.

4 stars

[kirsty]

I have always loved puzzles so I was excited to try this out and I really enjoyed it.
I loved the way that the book was set out with a scenario/vcasestudy for each puzzle so the reader really feels like they are involved with cracking the case rather than just doing a puzzle.
The puzzles also build up in difficulty too so dont be fooled by the intital easy puzzles as some really had me scratching my head. If you really can't do the puzzle then there is a handy little hints section towards the end of the book which really hekped me at times.

On a personal level too this book really helped me get myself out of the brain fog that I was feeling due to fibromyalgia because it was making me think without giving me anxiety that I couldn't do it.

A fantastic book for all ages

[Alison]

I love puzzle books. This one has such a great concept - you have an hour to complete eight puzzles like an escape room. Theres a story which accompanies the puzzles and runs through the book to tie it all together.
I've been competing the puzzles with my daughter Zethea (age 10) and they've been a good balance of fun and difficulty so far. Today after school Zethea and her friends had a go and were suitably challenged. They really enjoyed it and as we haven't written in the book, we will be repeating the fun!

This is a really different puzzle book and one that has a greta variety of puzzles to keep you on your toes.

[Karen]

The book states it 8 escape rooms scenarios. I have never done an escape room, but I assume you need the correctly get an answer before advancing. Since one code did not advance into the next problem you needed to check the answers to make sure you were right. There was also a section that would give you a brief tip on how to solve the puzzle. The puzzles were four digits with the exception of the first puzzle (a word) and one five digit answer.

Some puzzles I was able to fly right through, some I needed to use the hints and a couple I needed to read the solution to get to the right answer. All in all a fun puzzle book and would definitely do more.

[Claire Ball]

As a lover of escape rooms this book seemed like a lot of fun. I started off very confidently but soon remembered although I love escape rooms I’m not particularly brilliant at them! This game was a carefully crafted selection of puzzles and, even though I did find the hints helpful at times, it was a lot of fun to solve! It was good to have a different kind of book!

[Stacey]

I enjoyed making my way through this book. I liked the scenarios and the spy theme of the book. Some puzzles were easy enough and some were more difficult so it was a good mix. There are hints if you get stuck which was handy sometimes! It was also fun to figure out with other people.

I think some puzzles would have been better if the book was in colour however.

[Jamie Malpass]

This kept my interest! It will definitely challenge you if you need to brush up on your math skills and there were a few stumpers in there. A nice change if you are in a rut with reading. Gave it 4 stars just because im not sure I would want to do another one of these type of books.

[Laura Usher-Matson]

Hated this.

[Georgina Candy]

This was a first for me, a book tour review of a puzzle book. It felt really weird writing in a book as this isn’t something I usually do.

Each case is a set of 8 puzzles that allow you to “escape” the room, and you have 1 hour to do this. There are 8 rooms altogether and the puzzles get harder as the rooms go on. I did find that some of the later puzzles were easier for me than some of the earlier ones, but there is help. Each case has a set of hints at the back of the book, along with the solutions and explanations in the section after.

I really enjoyed this, made me use my brain for a change when reading rather than just imaging the story. The author has written another of these so I may have to have a look at that one too.