DC Direct - The Riddler: Puzzle Box (Detective Mode Variant)

3 

I have mixed feelings about this puzzle box. I definitely wouldn't put it at a level 9 difficulty, for one. It's decent quality. I love the design of it, but there are some things that could be better. Some of this review may be considered spoilers so read with discretion. I tried to keep things as vague as possible while also trying to point to where the issues were. First, I got the first piece out, but I couldn't figure out where it went. I did, however, notice which buttons needed to be pressed on the phone dial side. I could tell it was trying to release a door, however, without anything to read to start me off or knowing what order anything should be going in, I had no idea if the drawer was jammed or if I shouldn't be opening it yet. With a little bit of wiggling, I got it open, and that's when I realized that was the LAST part of the puzzle I needed to solve. This was a pretty big disappointment, though when I did get the rest of the puzzles figured out, I liked how it came together. Another thing I don't understand is why this box doesn't come with a small blacklight. The box has blacklight paint on it, and part of solving the puzzle is USING the writing/images that glow in the blacklight. You're actually supposed to get the last puzzle solved using it, but I had already figured that out (and how to reset the drawer) by feeling the buttons out at the beginning. The last thing I didn't quite like is that the pieces you need to put together need to be forced into the slot they need to fit into. I do not like forcing puzzles because I don't want to risk breaking them, and the amount of force needed for this made me think I was going to break something. I actually had to look up a video of how this was solved to see if these pieces really did go into the slot I was putting them into. Stuff like this should be a clean movement, but this was definitely not. Now, the batarang is awesome! It's very heavy and of good quality, and it was so nice to find all the pieces and put them together. That was probably my favorite part about this puzzle box. Other than that, it needs to have a blacklight sent with it, the "slot" needs to be smoother, and the drawer to the last puzzle needs some work so it can't be easily wiggled open when only one side is unlocked. The only thing I'd say that was worth even $50 is the batarang, so the $65 I spent on it became reasonable. I definitely would never pay over $100 for this, though.

3 

Quality and construction aren't bad, especially the final prize feels very solid in hand. The puzzles themselves make sense, but are a bit too easy to solve. A good collectible for Batman fans, but probably not challenging enough for folks who wants a difficult puzzle. This is more like a Level 7 or at max 8 instead of a 9. It'd be nice if they could provide a small black light along with this version.