GAMES Magazine
| Categories | Puzzle |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | Games Publications |
| First issue | September/October 1977 |
| Company |
Playboy (1977–86) PSC Publications (1987–90) Bits & Pieces (1991–95) Kappa Publishing (1996–) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Website | GamesMagazine-online.com |
| ISSN | 0199-9788 |
Games magazine (ISSN 0199-9788) is a United States magazine devoted to games and puzzles, and is published by Games Publications, a division of Kappa Publishing Group.
It was originally published by Playboy (debuting with the September/October 1977 issue), then in 1987 was acquired by PSC Limited Partnership for three years and then was briefly out of business in 1990 and 1991 after the PSC owners filed for bankruptcy. The magazine was bought and brought back to life in 1991 by the mail-order company "Bits & Pieces" based in Manhattan. Kappa Publishing Group acquired it in 1996 and moved the Games office to Kappa's headquarters in Pennsylvania. The magazine is published ten times a year (monthly, except for January and June).
Throughout its publishing history, Games has differentiated itself from other puzzle magazines by its creative covers that are themselves puzzles, color sections containing feature articles and games, and a large variety of puzzle types, with wit and humor used throughout. Each issue contains a feature article and puzzles in its introductory color section, "Pencilwise", board and video game reviews in its closing color section, and "Wild Cards".
All puzzles in the magazine are ranked by difficulty: a one-star (one light bulb) puzzle is an "Easy Hike"; two stars is an "Uphill Climb"; three stars means "Proceed at Your Own Risk". Some puzzles are ranked as a "Mixed Bag" denoted by one filled and one unfilled star, meaning that some may find the puzzle very easy while others will be challenged, that the puzzle may have a range of difficulty with it, or that (like many logic puzzles) it may easily be solved by exhaustive trial and error but requires thinking to solve in a deductive way.
Each issue typically has a three to six page article about gaming and hobbies as a broad subject.
Common puzzles in the color sections (including the magazine cover) include:
Recent issues have included a multipart puzzle over several pages, where the solution of each sub-puzzle is used to complete the overall puzzle. Recent versions of these have been based on traveling to various locations in the world, though this aspect is only used for the theme of each sub-puzzle.
Pencilwise is a newsprint pencil puzzle section which forms the core of the magazine and contains common puzzle varieties such as:
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