Fun Riddles & Trick Questions for Kids and Family! Review
***This review contains affiliate links (see affiliate disclosure)***
This audiobook by Riddleland who is both author and publisher and contains riddles and brain teasers that are aimed at the whole family so is suitable for pretty much anybody and is narrated by Dr Michelle Carabache. It is meant to be an entertaining family activity whilst at the same time helping to develop and challenge minds in terms of both logical and lateral thinking which are two key skills of puzzle-solving that can be used on many other types of puzzles as well as transferable skills that can be applied to real-life situations.
*ad
There are 300 riddles and brain teasers to solve so this will take plenty of time to get through as it is 3 hours in length with a lot of the puzzles needing some time for consideration before you come to the right answer so you can always pause it and come back to it when you have the answer or either have the time or desire to. The puzzles are asked and phrased in an amusing or jokey way to make them as appealing and entertaining as possible and there are a wide variety of topics and different types of brain teasers in order that they don't become repetitive and boring. There are plenty of jokes so is suitable for anyone who has a sense of humour or maybe even an aspiring comic and it shows how you can incorporate jokes to make the subject matter more fun and entertaining which means some people will be more interested in the brain teasers as a result.
This can be an educational audiobook as well as a fun challenge in which you could expand your vocabulary and improve your literacy and math skills as there are number puzzles included as well. Another educational element is that you will learn lots of interesting and amusing knowledge as you listen to and solve the riddles and brain teasers so you will not just improve brain puzzle skills like patience, math, logical thinking, divergent thinking, pattern identifying and problem-solving but broaden your overall general knowledge at the same time.
The specific advantage of it being an audiobook is that it can be listened to or played on the move and the listener can look and do other things while listening to it so, for example, their eyes wouldn't have to be focused on the challenge like with a puzzle book. It is naturally a great accompaniment for travelling be it on the train or bus for a long journey or on a plane when you don't have much to do and can be a very boring period of time so you can fill this time with something productive like puzzles. It can be transported easily depending on the device that you have that plays audiobooks like a phone or tablet which you will likely have with you anyway especially a phone so it will be readily available for you to listen to any time of the day almost anywhere you are.
The riddles and brain teasers are presented in a snappy, simple and short way so it is easy to understand what they are asking from you and as it is in audio format and a family-orientated activity a long-winded question would not be suitable and rather time-consuming and boring. The narrator asks the questions in a clear way so they can't be misheard and will repeat the questions more than once and then you will have a countdown period to think of the answer with the countdown noise varying from question to question. There is no real need for a pen and paper to work anything out as most can be worked out in your head as there is not a lot of information to remember as they are sort of rapid-fire questions so another reason they can be done almost anywhere and on the move.
This can be a single-player activity that you do alone with headphones on or a group activity with family and friends that can be done in the car on a family car journey or played out loud at home through speakers whilst having a family get-together or maybe even outside on a hot summers day in the back garden so there are plenty of opportunities to incorporate this audio puzzle book. Doing this as a shared experience or group activity with family or friends will make this a more fun experience and you could even add a competitive element by trying to answer the riddle or brain teaser first or who can answer the most questions correctly by keeping score.
If you can remember some of the riddles and brain teasers which you shouldn't really have any problems doing as they are relatively short questions then it can be a way to impress friends or even make friends by telling them a few of the riddles and brain teasers you have remembered and see if they can answer them.
This title in book format, that you would read instead of listening to, has the difference that you can see the questions which to many may be a help but is more of an individual experience than the audiobook in which it is better for many people to participate when the book is being played out loud.
The replayability is quite high because there are a lot of brain teaser questions so even when you have gone through them all if you come back to it at a later date then you will have bound to have forgotten a lot of them either completely or just the answer so you can try to answer them again and there are lots of interesting facts as well that could be worth revisiting if you have forgotten them.
The level of difficulty ranges from simple or beginner level to quite difficult with there being a countdown after each question is asked that gives you a short period to answer the questions which can add a lot of pressure. You can though pause the audiobook if you want to make it easier to give yourself time to come up with an answer. Some of the questions posed may even test or stump some experienced puzzlers but you can work your way to the more difficult riddles and brain teasers and improve your puzzle-solving skills as you go along. If you have a high level or are already very good at brain teasers then this may be one to skip as you will likely find most of it too easy but for those who do find it difficult there are answers included if you do get stumped.
In conclusion, a consistently entertaining audiobook that has hundreds of time-sensitive riddles and brain teasers to get through although the short period of time to come up with the answers can be a little bit stress-inducing. It is suitable as either a multi-person or individual activity and would be ideal for someone looking to give riddles a try for the first time. The questions posed and the answers that are given can provoke laughs and are at the same time educational as a person's general knowledge can be tested and expanded.
