Brain Games from Walter Joris

"Playful, eclectic, and ingenious - in short, it's unmistakably Walter." Ben Orlin, author of "Math with Bad Drawings" and many more.

Set of 4 Free Puzzles Downloadable Here - Choose Puzzle Set of 4 above. These puzzles and brain teasers let you try Walter's style before you buy.

239 crazy games to stretch your brain: a puzzle book for all ages

Walter Joris has spent a lifetime collecting and inventing games. Most are designed to be played with pencil and paper or common objects: no boards, cards or kit to organise. The result is a book of brain games that gives children and adults alike a brain workout lasting hours.

As a puzzle book author, Walter relies on quirky and amusing drawings to make each game quick to learn. In practice, a rule can be grasped in a minute, yet many of the games can be played for hours.

Number, logic and word puzzle games: the maths games inside

Games include:

• Number games for 1 and 2 players
• Logic games for 1 and 2 players
• Drawing games
• Action games
• Paper engineering games
• Word games

This variety of puzzles covers number games for adults and children: they build fluency and strategy. The logic games train step-by-step deduction. The drawing and educational paper engineering games bring in spatial reasoning, while the word games stretch vocabulary.

These mixed puzzles are maths games to play rather than exercises to complete. Planning several moves ahead also draws on memory and other cognitive skills that carry over to problem solving in lessons.

How this collection differs from crosswords, kakuro and other activity books

Many activity books rely on printed grids, such as crosswords, wordsearches, sudoku, kakuro, futoshiki or mazes. Each grid is solved once and then it is finished. Here, most games start on a blank sheet, so you can replay the same game with a fresh position every time.

The difference lies in the opponent: these puzzles and games sit closer to pencil-and-paper contests such as battleships than to word and number workouts. Each round brings a new position to think through, rather than a single answer to check.

Children who already enjoy conundrums can move from solving a set grid to outwitting a real opponent. Every game becomes a contest between two minds.

Brain games for children, families and the classroom

This puzzle book is best suited to children who enjoy a quick challenge, alone or in pairs. It also works as a book of brain games for adults who like a short contest at the table.

In the classroom, the two-player games make ready-made starters or extension tasks for pupils who finish early. They need only pencils and paper.

At home, a single page can fill a rainy afternoon or serve as a travel puzzle on a car journey. Pick a two-player number game tonight and see whose brainpower wins the first round.