In 2010, Childcraft created a new annual title called Brain Games. The thing is, I am not sure that it is all that new. In fact, I think that it is just a reorganized version of their 1982 The Puzzle Book annual.

And by reorganized, I mean trimmed, condensed, and slightly updated. The 1982 annual, The Puzzle Book, boasts a full 100 pages MORE than the 2010 Brain Games version.

Also, the art in the 2010 version is the same but colored differently – more garishly. 

We have reviewed the 1982 The Puzzle Book with pictures from that annual in a different article, but in this article we are reviewing the 2010 version.

I liked this explanation as to why puzzles have intellectual value. “One of the world’s greatest astronomers once said that he does not think mathematics should be taught in school. He thinks children could learn it more easily by doing puzzles.” (Preface to Brain Games) This is, in some ways, exactly what Childcraft tries to do – teach nontraditionally.

Each section is color coded and introduced with a category explanation.

This book of brain teasers and mind benders has a wide variety of styles and types of clever and challenging puzzles.

I am not sure that I would run out and buy this one. I used the Inter Library Loan system to borrow it, so my check out time was pretty tight. If my local library had access to this, I would probably just get it once a year for fun. I would (and did), however, buy the 1982 The Puzzle Book for less than $5 in the Amazon used section.

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