Love Puzzle

The product development of Love Puzzle (for SmartGames)

Raf Peeters, January 2023

Love Puzzle is a variation to IQ-Love I designed last year. It was made specifically for an adult audience, so you probably won’t find this version in toy shops.

YOU MAKE MY HEART COMPLETE

The game has a few similarities but als many differences with IQ-Love. BTW, both games were designed at the same time, with already these differences in mind.

The game board and lid in this version have the shape of a heart, which looks much nicer. It’s more like a box of chocolates, but then without the sweets. Because of this different shape of game board, it no longer includes a rectangular game board on the flip side, like IQ-Love does.

The shape of the puzzle pieces are identical to the other version, but they are all translucent red. This already makes the game a lot harder to solve, because once you place a few pieces on the game board, it’s nearly impossible to see where the individual pieces are. So you need to rely much more on your memory in order to solve the challenges. All challenges are different from the IQ-Love version. And some challenges also have a different concept. Instead of showing single puzzle pieces, a challenge shows you 2 groups of puzzle pieces divided by a line (like a broken heart). You can try to make one half and then fill up the other half with the pieces you have left over. Believe me, this is a lot harder than the toy version with the colored puzzle pieces. The game comes in a nice black box with red insert and makes a perfect romantic gift for any puzzle lover.

UPDATE 2024: This game is now also available with a white game board in a different, transparent packaging.

Example of an difficult challenge and solution of Love Puzzle.

GAME RULES LOVE PUZZLE

1) Choose a challenge. Place the indicated puzzle pieces on the game board as shown in the challenge.

2) Fit all the other puzzle pieces on the game board. Puzzle pieces are double-sided and either side can be used. The grooves in the puzzle pieces should align with the grid on the game board.

3) There is only one solution, which can be found at the end of the challenge booklet.

HINTS:

Some challenges in the Master and Wizard levels don't indicate the position of single puzzle pieces but instead only show a line that divides 2 groups of puzzle pieces. Both groups are indicated by a slightly different tone of red to make them clearer in the challenge (they are the same color in person). You can choose which group of pieces you try to place first, before filling the game board with the rest.