Pandora's Box
Sold Out		(Win95/98/2000/Me/XP) (DVD Case) (PANDORAPR)
Discontinued

Microsoft

Puzzle Game

Kids to Adults

Ratings:

A+ from Just Adventure

from the Adrenaline Vault

Hundreds of Exciting, Unique Puzzles to Solve

Enter an exciting world of intriguing puzzles and amazing graphics. Developed by famed Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov, Microsoft Pandora's Box offers 350 unique puzzles that come to life on your computer and stimulate your visual senses. You'll find difficulty levels to challenge ever member of your family and most puzzles can be solved in 15 minutes or less.

But there is more to discover that just puzzles. Microsoft Pandora's Box also takes you on a journey from your PC to the ends of the earth. Upon starting the game, you'll find that seven mythical tricksters have escaped to wreak havoc on the world. They will take you on a worldwide journey filled with fascinating puzzle challenges. It's up to you to solve the puzzles, capture the tricksters and save the world from their chaos.

So whether you're taking a 15 minute break to enjoy solving a puzzles, or immersing yourself in a worldwide search to capture the tricksters, Microsoft Pandora's Box is the game for you.

Features and Activities:

Delight in solving truly original 3D puzzles, specially designed for the computer. Gameplay options allow you to follow the game's story line, jump directly to your favorite puzzle, enjoy single and competitive play and more.

Manipulate pieces from back to front and top to bottom as you explore the singular fun of 3D puzzle play. Puzzles are designed to be solved in 15 minutes or less.

Travel around the world as you solve puzzles, capture the tricksters, and restore order to Pandora's Box. Helpful hints and Wild Cards guide you along the way.

It starts with puzzle .. and end with a picture. Swap puzzle pieces to complete another magnificent landmark on your unforgettable world journey.

Requirements:

Pentium 100 MHZ or higher (Pentium 166 recommended), 16 MB RAM (64 MB RAM required for Windows 2000 or XP), 150 MB available hard disk space, 4x CD-ROM drive, Super VGA display with 1MB VRAM, mouse, sound card and speakers.

Reviews:

Just Adventure by Tom Houston

"As it works out, each of the seven Tricksters has traveled to five cities, and you will have the opportunity to solve up to ten different puzzles at each location. Somewhere, at random, behind one of the puzzles at each location is a missing piece of Pandora's Box, so technically you will not have to solve all ten puzzles, but you may want to do so, if just for the joy of it. Also, by solving puzzles, you can collect hidden bonuses, such as hint tokens and free solve tokens. These may come in useful to avoid frustration, as puzzles will get harder as you progress."

"Once you have solved puzzles at five locations and found five pieces of the Box that are attributable to a given Trickster, then you will be asked to face that Trickster's final challenge ... you guessed it, one more puzzle, only this time it's a really difficult one."

The Adrenaline Vault by Bob Mandel

"Having a central story, which is uncommon in this particular genre, makes this puzzler so much more intriguing. It all begins with the famous Greek legend of Pandora's Box..."

"I am especially pleased that all the puzzles are visual, involving constructing, rearranging, or matching spatial relationships in pictures, rather than non-pictorial word puzzles, number puzzles, or logical puzzles. For this reason, each puzzle does not require super-high intelligence to deduce a solution, but rather simply poses an attractive diversion for fifteen minutes or so to foster a sense of amusement or relaxation. Moreover, the kind of visual puzzles implemented here utilize the special advantages of the personal computer over classic pencil-and-paper versions."

"Unlike Broderbund's Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?, what you learn from visiting the various cities of the world while collecting puzzle pieces is not background information on each part of the world or tourist-oriented tidbits about the sights there. Instead, you gather fresh and absorbing information about the culture of each area, gaining an appreciation of the art (both paintings and sculpture) and music of each tradition. The stories of the tricksters themselves are authentic folk tales passed down across the generations in different societies. I am frankly quite tired of the usual trivia you learn in globe-trotting games, so I find the difference here really refreshing."

"Overall: In my preview of this game, I uncharacteristically went out on a limb and said that Pandora's Box "looks to be the very best puzzler I have ever played." Having played through to the end, I can say confidently that indeed I was right. There will of course be those, really not liking to solve puzzles at all, who dismiss this title as boring and call it just a glorified set of jigsaw puzzles; but in my mind these people are really missing the heart of what is presented, which should appeal to traditional and non-traditional gamers alike. The exceedingly modest minimum system requirements make this title truly accessible to everyone. When all is said and done, the bar has been raised for all future puzzle offerings in terms of magnificent graphics, sound and music, as well as absorbing gameplay. I give it a Reviewer's Choice Award without the slightest hesitation."

IGN by Vincent Lopez

"The graphics are clean, crisp, and very nice on the eyes, especially seeing as how you'll be staring at the menus for hours at a time. Bill Gates owns the digital rights to nearly every piece of major art on the planet, which, though horrifying, does make for some pretty pictures in the game. The game allows you to travel everywhere from Machu Picchu and Istanbul to Kyoto and Philadelphia, each with an individual representation of its art, architecture, and sculpture..."

"...Rather than review them as a whole, I've decided to give you the rundown on each puzzle individually:
Rotascope: Like those square moving tiles puzzle you used to play in school where you put the numbers in order, or completed a picture, but with the added catch that this is a circular puzzle that you must put together to create a complete photo. Not only do you have to figure out how to place the pieces, but you need to figure out what pieces go where. Resolution, fortunately, is a perfect clue. If it's fuzzy, than it's wrong. If everything's fuzzy, then you should probably think about purchasing some glasses. I could play this forever, and at times, I did."

"It's easy to see a grandmother wasting half a day on this instead of spending her valuable time watching daytime television, or a cube-prisoner wasting precious office hours on some of the meatier puzzles. Which is exactly what Microsoft wants. Though this may not have the addictive quality of a Tetris, or even a Solitaire, it will certainly push the same drool-inducing pleasure center enough to warrant a purchase. I do have to add though, that this doesn't actually come with Pandora's Box. I own the only version of that, and last time I opened it, other than thousands of horrifying screams and a wave of demonic energy that busted through the windows of my house, it was completely empty. Worst $666.66 I've ever spent."

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