Cats & Boxes and IQ Circle Review

If you love solving puzzles, then you’ll love two new solo player puzzle games from Smart Games. Cats & Boxes is for ages 7 and up, while IQ Circle is for older players ages 14 and up.

Cats love boxes, and you’ll love putting them in boxes when you play the Cats & Boxes puzzle game. This is a single-player game for ages 7 and up that challenges players to move the puzzle pieces on the board until all cats sit inside a cardboard box. Choose one of the 60 challenges, arrange the board as shown, and then start moving the puzzle pieces. It sounds challenging, and it is, but there are five difficulty levels ranging from “starter” to “wizard”, so beginners can start with the easy challenges and work their way up to the hardest ones. Challenge solutions are in the back of the game booklet. 

IQ Circle is another one-player game with the challenge of fitting all the puzzle pieces on the circular game board. This game is for ages 14 and up. Pieces are made of balls of different sizes. There are 120 challenges across five difficulty levels, and you’ll select a challenge, arrange pieces on the game board as shown, and then try to figure out how all the other pieces get placed. There’s only one solution for each challenge, and you’ll find solutions at the back of the hardcover game booklet.