Love Puzzles But Tired of Screens?
Get the only paper mail daily puzzle pack. Crafted by top puzzle masters and delivered to your door. Feel smart and productive.
sick of games on your phone that leave you feeling lazy?
Instead, imagine solving a logic puzzle on paper and basking in the glory of your accomplishment. It is a completely different feeling, especially when you follow smart puzzle masters with expertise in thrilling new puzzles. Did you think crosswords, Sudoku, or even Wordle are as fun as it gets? Puzzles on paper have never been this convenient, but that doesn't mean it will be easy!
“Whenever I have the urge to reach for my phone, instead I grab my paper puzzle. Now my kids see me doing something challenging and not glued to a screen.”
“Instead of reading depressing political news on my phone while drinking my morning coffee, I solve a paper puzzle. Now I’m happier and training my brain.”
“I used to mindlessly scroll social media seeing people who are more accomplished. By solving my daily puzzle I’m now the one who feels accomplished.”
How it works
1. Choose your preferences
When you pay, you'll be asked about puzzle difficulty and how much variety you prefer.
2. We mail you puzzles printed on paper
You'll receive a monthly pack with 3 different types of puzzles. Finally something that isn’t junk mail or a bill...
3. Grab a pencil, think, solve
4. Scan the QR code for the answer
(Optional) This part involves a phone... you still have one right?
5. Do it again tomorrow
What kind of puzzles?
Everything! Set by top puzzle masters
There are puzzles you know and exotic ones you have never heard of. Number puzzles like Sudoku and word puzzles like crosswords.
Meet the Puzzle Masters
Brian Skinner
Puzzles: Futoshiki and other Latin square variations
Hi, I’m Brian, and I’m a puzzle addict. I have been for over 20 years — I recall sitting in a Stanford mechanical engineering lecture with the Sudoku from the student newspaper stealing my focus.
The inspiration for Paper Puzzle came from a trying time: pandemic lockdown. Indoors with too much time, I sought out new puzzles online. Turns out, there are many that are more fun than Sudoku! I particularly enjoyed several with a similar goal of filling out a Latin square (unique numbers in rows and columns), but with less repetitive solving patterns. During COVID, I was sick of all the time spent on screens. Even social hangouts were video calls! So, I started printing out the puzzles I found online. I discovered I loved starting the day with a paper puzzle, relaxing with a coffee and stretching my brain.
So when the next pandemic comes, Paper Puzzle is here to help. I joke! The value of a daily printed puzzle is as strong as ever. With so many people working from home on a computer, the last thing we should do is stare at a TV in the evening and a phone in the gaps between. And while I know that is true, it became imperative once my kids became toddlers. Do I want them to see me glued to a phone, or engaging with number puzzles and challenging myself?
And so, Paper Puzzles is born! As the first puzzle master, my goal is to expose you to some number puzzles you might have never seen. However, I won’t jump around the puzzle types too much. By slowly increasing the difficulty, I aim to provide you the feeling of making learning progress. I also target puzzles that aren’t too long. Ideally they should take 10-15 minutes to solve, assuming you are the sharp analytical person you are. I hope you'll join me!
Krazydad
Puzzles: Star Battle (published in The New York Times as "Two Not Touch")
Krazydad is me, Jim Bumgardner. I'm a programmer / musician / artist / puzzle constructor / teacher with a passion for making software art and software toys. From 2010–2020, I was working at Walt Disney Imagineering. I am now doing web development for the State of California.
I created the Krazydad website in 2005 to offer free puzzles to the public. My mission is to provide puzzles to under-served groups that need them, including prisoners, pensioners, home-schoolers, hospitals, churches, and classrooms. There are currently about two million individual puzzles on the site, and over sixty unique varieties.
I create my puzzles with the aid of software that I have written personally. My puzzles have been appearing daily in The New York Times (as "Two Not Touch") since April, 2020. My Sudoku puzzles are distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication and appear online and in print. I have sold puzzles to a few other publications, including Games magazine, Bloomberg Business Week, and Radio Times. I've also authored a number of puzzle books for PuzzleWright Press, Ulysses Press, and Tiny Lobster.
I hope you'll join my daily puzzles here at Paper Puzzle! I plan to focus on my most popular puzzle: Star Battle. This is the one I publish in the New York Times and it is also the most popular game on LinkedIn under the name "Queens." It will start on the easy end early in the week and progress to quite difficult on the weekend.
Apply to be a puzzle master
If you love puzzles as much as we do, apply to become a puzzle master. You will earn 30% of the revenue from your subscribers!
How does it work? You must be willing to create your own puzzles, not copy existing ones you don’t own. You retain the rights to your work. We will ask you to create a sample as part of the application process.
If you are chosen as a puzzle master, we will set a launch date for your paper puzzles and start spreading the word. There are convenient and easy tools to provide a PDF of your problems each week (or do a big batch up front). As you grow your following, your payments increase!
What types of puzzles are we looking for? All of them! Ask us about the most requested. It is also ok to do the same puzzles as other puzzle masters, if you bring a different difficulty, more variety, or another unique twist.
Pricing
Starting at just 28 cents per puzzle. That's under $1 per hour of entertainment.
What are you waiting for? This is exactly what you want, delivered right to you at a low price.
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Your Boss wants team building activities
Unfortunately it’s a remote team full of not exactly chatty engineers. A video conference happy hour isn’t going to cut it. Enter: Paper Puzzles Live — Team Building for Engineers
How it works
1. Pick your Date + Provide emails for participants
We will ask them for their mailing address (due 2 weeks before)
2. We mail everyone puzzles printed on paper
Don't open them yet, we'll all solve them together!
3. Join the live video conference
Hosted by a fellow nerdy, yet engaging engineer (1 hour)
4. We'll split into teams and have fun!
The puzzles are challenging, yet engaging for a wide level of abilities. It is the perfect level of competition, enabling everyone to interact and engage.
Pricing
• Up to 10 participants: $799
• Each additional person: $50
Team Building Interest
Let us know a little bit about your team and when you are hoping to do the team building activity. We'll reach out soon over email!