MindTrap
Encyclopedia
MindTrap is a series of lateral thinking
puzzle game
s played by two individuals or teams. Invented in Canada
, it is the main product of MindTrap Games, Inc., who license the game for manufacture by various companies including Outset Media
, Blue Opal, the Great American Puzzle Factory
, Pressman Toy Corporation
, Spears Games
and Winning Moves
.
Players are given a puzzle
from a card and a limited amount of time to solve it. Each correct answer advances the player or team along a track printed on the scorecard; they win by being the first to reach the end.
The original game contained only logic
and lateral thinking
puzzles, while later editions added other types of brain teasers including tangram
s and stick puzzle
s. Lateral thinking problems are identified by a diamond on the question side of the card, indicating that answering team are allowed to ask "yes/no" questions about the puzzle scenario. These puzzles often give unnecessary information in order to distract the answerer from a simple, common sense solution, and play on common assumptions. Some questions play on words or pictures and some on everyday trivia.
Outset Media, a Canadian based manufacturer and distributor of games and puzzles, licensed Mind Trap and in 2007 created a travel pack of games called Geometrical Riddles. The game includes three levels of difficulty: Novice, Master, and Genius. Each assortment contains 54 cards with recognition problems, geometrical and mathematical puzzles. A new edition of MindTrap games are set to release in 2011 called Left Brain Right Brain, Brain Cramp, and Shadow Mysteries. The Shadow Mysteries series will include detective scenarios from MindTrap's infamous characters "Detective Shadow", "Sid Shady" and "Sam Sham".
Many scenarios and characters reoccur throughout the puzzles, including murders and other crimes investigated by "Detective Shadow" (and perpetrated by villains including "Sid Shady" and "Sam Sham"), and tricks performed by magician "Dee Sceptor".
The questions are worded in Canadian-English, with Canadian terminology and spelling, and are not localised for the American, UK or Australian markets.
Lateral thinking
Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic...
puzzle game
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
s played by two individuals or teams. Invented in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, it is the main product of MindTrap Games, Inc., who license the game for manufacture by various companies including Outset Media
Outset Media
Outset Media Corporation is a Canadian company which develops and distributes family entertainment products, specializing in board games, party games, card games, and jigsaw puzzles...
, Blue Opal, the Great American Puzzle Factory
Fundex Games
Fundex Games, Ltd. is an American toy and game company based in Plainfield, Indiana. Founded in 1986, Fundex Games produces many different games including card games, dice games, domino-based games, magic tricks, board games and children's toys. Fundex also produces a line of outdoor lawn and...
, Pressman Toy Corporation
Pressman Toy Corporation
Pressman Toy Corporation is a toy manufacturer based in New York City which was founded in 1922 by Jack Pressman. It currently focuses on family games and licensed products. Its slogan is "Games people play...
, Spears Games
J. W. Spear & Sons
J. W. Spear and Sons was a significant manufacturer of board games during the 20th century. The company was founded by Jacob Wolf Spier in Fürth, near Nuremberg, Germany in 1879, producing goods such as table mats, photo frames, and waste-paper baskets.By the turn of the century, games had become...
and Winning Moves
Winning Moves
Winning Moves Games is a maker of classic card games and board games, puzzles, action games and adult party games.-History:Winning Moves Games was founded in 1995 by four game industry professionals: Tom Kremer , Philip Orbanes , Mike...
.
Players are given a puzzle
Puzzle
A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
from a card and a limited amount of time to solve it. Each correct answer advances the player or team along a track printed on the scorecard; they win by being the first to reach the end.
The original game contained only logic
Logic puzzle
A logic puzzle is a puzzle deriving from the mathematics field of deduction.-History:The logic puzzle was first produced by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who is better known under his pen name Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
and lateral thinking
Situation puzzle
Situation puzzles are often referred to as lateral thinking puzzles or "yes/no" puzzles.Situation puzzles are usually played in a group, with one person hosting the puzzle and the others asking questions which can only be answered with a "yes" or "no" answer...
puzzles, while later editions added other types of brain teasers including tangram
Tangram
The tangram is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective of the puzzle is to form a specific shape using all seven pieces, which may not overlap...
s and stick puzzle
Stick puzzle
Stick puzzles use sets of 'polysticks' which have to be assembled into two- or three-dimensional configurations.Polysticks are configurations of joined or unjoined thin 'sticks'...
s. Lateral thinking problems are identified by a diamond on the question side of the card, indicating that answering team are allowed to ask "yes/no" questions about the puzzle scenario. These puzzles often give unnecessary information in order to distract the answerer from a simple, common sense solution, and play on common assumptions. Some questions play on words or pictures and some on everyday trivia.
Outset Media, a Canadian based manufacturer and distributor of games and puzzles, licensed Mind Trap and in 2007 created a travel pack of games called Geometrical Riddles. The game includes three levels of difficulty: Novice, Master, and Genius. Each assortment contains 54 cards with recognition problems, geometrical and mathematical puzzles. A new edition of MindTrap games are set to release in 2011 called Left Brain Right Brain, Brain Cramp, and Shadow Mysteries. The Shadow Mysteries series will include detective scenarios from MindTrap's infamous characters "Detective Shadow", "Sid Shady" and "Sam Sham".
Many scenarios and characters reoccur throughout the puzzles, including murders and other crimes investigated by "Detective Shadow" (and perpetrated by villains including "Sid Shady" and "Sam Sham"), and tricks performed by magician "Dee Sceptor".
The questions are worded in Canadian-English, with Canadian terminology and spelling, and are not localised for the American, UK or Australian markets.
Sequels and editions
Five MindTrap games have been published as of 2009:- MindTrap (1991) - the original game, consisting only of logic and lateral thinking puzzles
- MindTrap II (1997) - a sequel introducing additional puzzle types
- Ultimate MindTrap (2001) - another sequel, with new puzzles in the various types introduced in MindTrap II
- MindTrap - The Revised Edition (2007) - a new edition comprising puzzles from MindTrap and MindTrap II
- MindTrap French (2006) - the original game, translated into French and distributed by Outset MediaOutset MediaOutset Media Corporation is a Canadian company which develops and distributes family entertainment products, specializing in board games, party games, card games, and jigsaw puzzles...
External links
- mindtrapgames.com - the official MindTrap Games web site
- outsetmedia.com - the official North American distributor for MindTrap games