6 Best Etsy Puzzle Boxes to Gift a Traveler

While all of us friends are huge fans of playing video games, binge-watching shows and taking naps, there’s nothing that beats settling down with good puzzle boxes. The best Etsy puzzle boxes we found were not only fun and challenging but have become one of our favorite ways to unwind. Plus, they make for such great gifts, especially to the travelers in your lives. Since puzzle boxes are usually small, they can easily be carried around on one’s travels, especially during long-haul flights, trains, and bus journeys. When the entire world is absorbed in their screens, they can be a soothing, solitary way of getting absorbed in something that diverts one’s attention in a non-screen way. While they usually comprise plastic- or wooden box-based pattern-solving, there can be many other kinds too. Here’s a detailed and comprehensive guide to these amazing secret trick boxes on Etsy.

Get Outside Club Puzzle Box & Escape Room Game

6

The Get Outside Club Puzzle Box & Escape Room Game combines the hobbies of escape rooms and puzzle boxes. This amazing and intriguing “Cabinet of Curiosities” box featured two puzzle box/escape room style games, each of which came with an audio storytelling experience. In order to complete each game, users had to listen to an engaging story to learn about the story’s background. Plus, it would also help them look for hidden clues to solve the box’s puzzles on the box.

Interestingly, each of the two games covered different subjects in the world of dark folklore. The first one centered around the old Appalachian legend of the Bell Witch Hauntings, which dates back to the 1800s in Northern Tennessee. The puzzle solver’s objective is to listen to the intriguing audio and filter the clues and important information to solve the box. The second puzzle is inspired by different stories from old German folklore surrounding a horseman beheading his victims. The audio is an investigative reporter’s story of tracking the Huntsman for her whole career. She documents her investigations as part of the audio, which you need to make sense of to solve the box.

Wood Art Team Wooden Puzzle Stash Box 

5

As travelers who love puzzles, we would love the idea of a portable puzzle that we can carry in the palm of our hands. That’s exactly what the Wood Art Team Wooden Puzzle Stash Box is. We loved the exterior look of this box which borrows design elements from retro, steampunk, and industrial styles. The box itself is made from solid recycled maple wood, and we had the option of three colors and designs – brown craved, black carved and painted, and plain black. Moreover, they feature hand-carved Transylvanian traditional motifs and are finished with shiny beeswax and natural oils that keep this box smooth. What’s more, this simple and elegant design is of medium difficulty and requires three steps to be solved – something that’s up to you!

That said, this puzzle box has the most interesting backstory. The maker’s great-grandfather, Constantin, loved a beautiful woman named Ecaterina in secret. She visited his workshop one day, asking him to make her a Japanese puzzle box with a hidden compartment. He, in turn, crafted a beautiful mind puzzle, slipping in a note in the hidden compartment that read “This is where you can keep your dreams safe,” signing it “Your future boyfriend, Constantin, 23rd January 1903.” And then the maker revealed that Ecaterina was their great-grandmother!

Natumo Shop Puzzle Box

4

The elegant woodwork and the high-quality workmanship are what make the Natumo Shop Puzzle Box such an absolute stunner and eye-catcher. At first glance, it just looks like a gorgeous wooden puzzle box. However, its true magic is revealed when we glance at it – it even comes with a secret compartment in which one can stash small gifts and travel memorabilia! So, the puzzle boxes made for an excellent surprise for the recipients, especially the travelers who love to keep even the smallest of travel memorabilia on them. What’s more, this gift box came in two versions or rather two sizes. The smaller version, for instance, had a hiding place that could accommodate keys, vouchers, Etsy travel jewelry, and even money. The larger version has not one but two compartments.

“We have travel-loving friends who even have personalized Etsy wooden keepsake boxes for their travel mementos. And this only added to their amazing collection!”

WOW Travel

Boxnmor Five Woods Puzzle Treasure Box

3

The Boxnmor Five Woods Puzzle Treasure Box is one of the best Etsy.com puzzle boxes we’ve come across. This one-of-a-kind box even came with a nice gift card included, which made for an excellent gift for our puzzle-loving traveler friends. We were impressed by this large puzzle treasure box, which is made from five solid pieces of laminated domestic and imported hardwoods. What’s more, it comes with two lined drawers on the inside where they could keep their travel memorabilia. But that’s not all. This box came with an environmentally friendly clear satin finish. The best bit? The box even came signed with the maker’s card and boasted felt pads on the bottom. So, they protected not only the box and the bottom but also our furniture.

EscapeWelt Orbital 3-in-1 3D Wooden Puzzle Box

2

The EscapeWelt Orbital 3-in-1 3D Wooden Puzzle Box is the perfect thing for seasoned puzzle breakers. This box is like a miniature quest room, and puzzle breakers can embark on an exciting adventure with this box right in their hands. And since this box is so compact and portable, our travel-and-puzzle-loving friends could even take it along with them! In fact, after they had solved and assembled this box, they could even use it as a place to keep travel memorabilia.

All we needed to do was follow the instructions and solve the puzzles one by one, thus gradually unlocking new symbols and ciphers. We also had to move many mechanisms to get to the secret compartment on the inside to assemble the gift box quest room. Finally, the box is designed from birch wood, making it safe and ecologically clean.

Yemmagoods Traditional Moroccan Thuya Burl Wooden Secret Box

1

Sitting at the top of the list is the Yemmagoods Traditional Moroccan Thuya Burl Wooden Secret Box. The Thuya tree is a very rare and exclusive tree limited to the coastal Essaouira-Agadir region of Morocco. Ancient Romans named it Thuya (Aarar tree), which means “Tree of Life.” Not only does it have a unique fragrance similar to cedar, but the roots (the burl) are also even rarer, making its products luxurious treasures, including this box!

This box is handmade by traditional Moroccan artisans and features intricate natural wood burl grain patterns that look mesmerizing. What’s more, artisans have cut and polished every little mother-of-pearl or wooden piece by hand to make this beautiful decorative box. It’s so well-made that even seasoned travelers will have a hard time figuring out how to open it and get to the secret compartment. But when one does, you could even store your travel memorabilia like keepsakes and jewelry. What could be better?

How To Choose The Best Etsy Puzzle Boxes?

Level of difficulty

One of the first things we looked at while choosing a puzzle box was the recipient’s skill level and how challenging it would be for them to solve it. For instance, we’d choose a simple one for those who are just getting interested in puzzle boxes. On the other hand, for anyone who enjoys puzzles, we’d choose slightly complicated ones so they can actually enjoy solving the ultimate puzzle box.

Build

Next, we looked at the build of the puzzle box and chose sturdy ones that would last the recipients a long time. For instance, wooden puzzle boxes with hidden wooden compartments are exceptionally sturdy. Moreover, the box should be well-constructed and visually appealing for use.

Instruction manual

Finally, puzzle boxes should come with instruction manuals and solutions for unlocking them. They help the user solve the puzzle and guide them when they need it.

How do puzzle boxes work?

They’re usually ornate wooden boxes that need to be solved by lifting, shifting, pressing, or rearranging the pieces making up the box in a specific order.

When were puzzle boxes invented?

Puzzle boxes originated in Japan’s Hakone region in the 1800s and were originally designed for workers who had to safeguard their tools.

How does a puzzle box work?

We can open puzzle boxes, a.k.a. trick or secret boxes, only by solving the puzzle on/in the box. While some can be solved in simple moves, others require a series of complicated discoveries.

Some images on this article are copyrighted by Etsy.