Tunnels

Tunnels is a single-image line-drawing pen and paper puzzle game about filling in a grid according to cryptic rules. You must draw lines through several grid mazes, but the walls are not marked and you must figure out their positions based on the rules. The entire game is a photograph of a two-page spread in a quad ruled notebook with the puzzles drawn on with pencil.

The left page contains a variety of small mazes. Each maze is a rectangle with the entrance and exit marked. No walls are shown, but some squares are marked with symbols such as clusters of dots or Xs that govern how to place shapes within the maze. A single filled-in example maze demonstrates the basic rules, but otherwise players must work out the rules on their own. There are also special gem rectangles with their own rules and a large cryptogram running through the entire page.

The right page is entirely one gigantic puzzle. Players must finish all the puzzles on the left to learn the rules they will need to complete this mega-puzzle. Tunnels is noted for its extreme difficulty and its rule discovery aspect. It was nominated for Best Pen and Paper Puzzle in the Thinky Awards.

This description was written by Gwen C. Katz.