Bluefish Games is an American based puzzle game company, run by wife and husband duo Anna and Ace. To date they have provided some of the most whimsical experience in The Curious Elevator of Mr. Hincks and the Curious Stairs of Mr. Hincks. These wonderful games later inspired the Hincks Gazette, a monthly puzzle newspaper subscription that provides you with around 1-2 hours of puzzling fun while you continue to explore the rather strange world of Mr. Hincks. Recently, Bluefish put together a specialty box set of the first 5 newspapers and I was only too happy to dive back into Hincks!
Story:
One thing I have always enjoyed about Bluefish Games is their attention to detail and theme. You receive a small cardboard box with a beautiful stylized graphic that contains key illustrations from the different Gazettes. Inside the box you not only receive two copies of each gazette (you can feel comfortable writing across one and then saying the other for another day or you can play with a friend!) but also some cool items that are dated to be opened with a certain gazette, including a sticker, a pencil, a pin, and more.
When you open a gazette, you have an editorial article you are encouraged to read that will give you an idea of what the main goal of the paper is whether it's to find out your weekend plans, sign a petition to protect a famous history and space museum, or keep a suspicious eye on that robot run hotel. One thing I always did before I started puzzling was to take my time scouring the newspapers and reading all the components, down to the funny comments in the weather statement and the nods in the advertisements. I highly recommend reaching the full paper before beginning the puzzles to not only get a sense of the world but it also can help move you along in puzzling as some puzzle clues connect to things hidden in the paper.
As I mentioned before, there is no unifying narrative story to unearth across each gazette or even in one. Instead, you get an eclectic set of articles, advertisements, opinion pieces, and more that shed some light into the world of Hincks. This makes the style of these games perfect for a light and easy puzzling experience during your busy week. If you only have an hour or two to play, this is completely doable!
Puzzles:
The puzzling in Hincks Gazette follows a series of logic, pattern, and observational puzzles that scaffold quite beautifully into each other. I admired how each solution leads you to the next puzzle and that the solutions and style really adhere to the themes of whimsical nonsense that Mr. Hincks imbues in all his endeavours. Some puzzles may require a bit of googling if you are not the best at wordplay clues but there is also a hint system online if you do get stuck. An introduction card in the box also notes that the key to starting the game can be found by looking for the word “start” in the paper, which is not always as obvious as you think!
In terms of difficulty, the puzzles aren't too challenging but I would say the big thing for me was figuring out the word play puzzles. In addition there are some of them rely on being laid out in a certain way and the hint system wasn't really able to help me orient visually in the few cases. I recommend using a crossword helpers and playing with a friend to enhance the experience. Each gazette provides a fresh and new style to the puzzles that I thoroughly enjoyed and I always found something new that surprised and delighted me while solving. There was one gazette solution that made me laugh out loud when I got to the end and it is a rare circumstance where a puzzle experience can get a response like that from me.
Customer Service:
A full disclosure is that the company reached out directly to me asking if I would be interested in trying out their game. The experience took about ten days to arrive from the USA to Canada which is the average shipping experience for me. The game arrived safely and I was happy they boxed the special edition box as it was beautiful and I would have been sad to see it damaged. You can tell when you open the box and start digging in that there was time and care put into curating an unboxing experience meant to get you excited, down to the beautiful pin. I do recommend waiting to open the additional content as you complete each gazette to truly understand their relevance.
The hint system for the Gazette follows the same structure as seen in their previous games. It is underneath the space you submit your answer. There are plenty of hints to help assist you and I appreciated when I saw they included a few visuals to help those who may be struggling. Overall I thought it was an excellent hint system where you can move through it incrementally without worrying things will be spoiled.
Conclusion:
Mr. Hincks has yet again provided an eccentric and mischievous adventure into the amazing Hincksville and all its wonders. The thematic puzzling and variety makes opening each gazette a fun puzzling session and in a time frame that is manageable for everyone struggling to find time for the larger games during a work week. You can get the same enjoyment of immersing into a world while also having it more affordable. I think, while I await that next transportative adventure that Mr. Hincks is no doubt assembling, that the Gazette will keep me entertained! If you want to test out the puzzling style before subscribing, feel free to sign up for Bluefish Games email list and every Friday they release a puzzle where the first person to solve will have their name in the next upcoming Gazette!
Check out Bluefish Games here to learn more!
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