Puzzle Box Palace

About

Puzzle Box Palace is a single player puzzle game with fantasy and mystery themes. It was developed by SMU Guildhall and was released on January 18, 2021. It received positive reviews from players.

Puzzle Box Palace is an escape room style puzzle game where you are pulled into your grandfather's magical puzzle box. Solve puzzles, manipulate the puzzle box, and jump across furniture as you look for a way out.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 68 reviews

graphics9 positive mentions

stability1 negative mentions

Unique and clever puzzle mechanics involving rotating and transforming rooms, providing a fresh take on escape room and puzzle box genres.
Beautiful and atmospheric visuals combined with relaxing classical music create a pleasant and immersive experience.
Appropriate difficulty curve with puzzles that are engaging but not frustrating, making it suitable for casual players and puzzle enthusiasts alike.

Short game length, typically completed within 1-2 hours, which may leave some players wanting more content.
Occasional technical issues including motion sickness from camera movement, screen tearing, and some minor bugs or glitches.
Controls and interface can be clunky at times, with inventory and saving system criticized for lack of convenience and flexibility.

graphics
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
82%
9%
9%
The game features beautiful, well-crafted graphics and an appealing art style that enhance the overall experience. While visuals are praised for their quality and charm, some users noted limited graphic settings and occasional screen tearing despite a 60fps cap. Overall, the graphics contribute positively alongside engaging puzzles and a heartfelt story.
- “Graphics are beautiful, story is sweet and the music is very relaxing.”
- “The art style and graphics are amazing.”
- “Graphics and game dynamics (moving puzzle) are great.”
- “There are no graphic settings to speak of, so Vsync was not available, and despite the game being capped at 60fps, I still had tons of tearing.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The story is generally described as sweet and heartwarming, with a simple but meaningful narrative involving a grandpa. While some find the plot cheesy or shallow, it complements the innovative puzzle gameplay well. Overall, the story adds a pleasant emotional layer without demanding much attention.
- “A pretty out-of-the-box type of puzzle game, with a pretty cool concept of making the rooms lift, turn, and twist to reach the end goal, and the story is, while short, also pretty sweet.”
- “A mind bending puzzle game with a heartwarming story.”
- “The implementation of the little story with grandpa is also a neat idea.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
17%
33%
The music is generally relaxing and enhances the game's atmosphere without being distracting, though some users find it repetitive and tiresome. Thankfully, the option to silence the music is available. Overall, it complements the gameplay and story well.
- “The music is so relaxing and it does not distract you while you are busy solving the puzzles.”
- “Graphics are beautiful, story is sweet and the music is very relaxing.”
- “The music does its job and the overall atmosphere is great, too.”
- “The only negative is the annoying repetitive music which thankfully can be silenced.”
- “The music gets tiresome to listen to.”
gameplay
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The gameplay features simple yet engaging mechanics with a steady progression that maintains interest. Players explore a modestly detailed mansion with five distinct rooms, each introducing new puzzle elements that encourage thoughtful problem-solving. Overall, the gameplay is enjoyable despite its simplicity.
- “The game has some nice mechanics that keep the fun, and due to the steady progress, it feels actually good.”
- “There are 5 rooms, each visually different, with puzzle mechanics being added as you proceed.”
- “I enjoyed the mechanics and at times found myself overthinking the puzzles, which led to an extended playthrough.”
- “Gameplay consists of wandering around a fairly amateurish mansion and pulling levers and so on.”
- “Like the room but easier and with some simplified mechanics.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the game emotionally impactful, describing it as touching and heartwarming, with a storyline that adds depth to the challenging puzzle gameplay.
- “It took me about an hour to run through and I was struck by how touching it was.”
- “A mind-bending puzzle game with a heartwarming story.”
- “Nice puzzle game with a bit of emotional depth.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is highly immersive and effectively enhanced by its music and evolving environments, creating a strong, engaging mood despite some puzzles feeling too easy.
- “If 3D world environments can have an 'uncanny valley,' then this is it and it's highly atmospheric.”
- “The music does its job and the overall atmosphere is great.”
- “I found the puzzles to be a bit easy, but the atmosphere and evolving rooms kept me interested.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game experiences some bugs and glitches that affect stability, though these issues do not seem to be widespread or severely impact overall gameplay.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game’s optimization is somewhat lacking, but given that it’s free and relatively short, it is not a major concern for most players.