Who doesn’t enjoy a great puzzle from time to time? A puzzle is a great mental warm-up, and the feeling of accomplishment when the solution becomes clear is like none other. But sometimes a warm-up isn’t enough. Sometimes you need a puzzle that demands at least two people, the manipulation of the fundamental forces of nature, several X-Men, and thinking… outside the box.
YouTuber FLEB (future YouTubers take note: that’s a YouTube name), showed off in his latest video the “Xbox Puzzle,” a unique puzzle that’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen before (unless you’re a professional puzzler or maybe Nikola Tesla).FLEB notes that the Xbox Puzzle was used as a part of The Famine Games, which is “a city-wide, weekend-long puzzle hunt where teams travel to various locations in the metropolitan DC area, solving clues and completing challenges along the way.” FLEB notes that the Games require teams to apply for entry and it’s apparent why: these puzzles are not messing around.
The Xbox puzzle first requires the solution to a cryptograph, which in turn gives the solver a list of names like Scott Summers, Bobby Drake, and Jean Grey — X-Men names. Then, the solver must use each respective X-Men character’s “power” in order to cause a little digital readout on the box to reveal a letter. Max Eisenhardt (Magneto), requires a magnet, Noriko Ashida (Surge) requires electricity, and Jean Grey requires the box being turned upside down (because talking at the box with one’s mind presumably doesn’t do anything).
Using the X-men’s powers on the box causes a small digital readout to reveal numbers. And when the powers are initiated in tandem, they reveal different numbers. FLEB notes that the numbers can then be used to find the corresponding letters in the alphabet (A=1, B=2, etc.), in order to solve for the final message. Which is… well, you’ll have to solve the puzzle. Or watch the video.
What do you think about this brain-bending Xbox puzzle? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Images: FLEB