Best Cluebox Puzzles Ranked

Quick answer: the Cambridge Labyrinth is the best Cluebox, and if you only ever buy one it should be that. Davy Jones' Locker and Captain Nemo's Nautilus are close behind, Schrodinger's Cat and the Trial of Camelot sit in the middle, and Sherlock's Camera comes last.

Best for: anyone choosing their first Cluebox, and anyone who has done two and wants to know which to get next.

iDventure make escape-room-in-a-box puzzles, and there are six of them. They look similar, they cost about the same, and the marketing is good enough that every one of them sounds essential.

Greg has solved all six and ranked them. One thing has to be said before the ranking, because it changes how you read it.

Is the Ranking Relative or Absolute?

Relative, entirely, and this matters more than any individual placement.

In the video he says it outright: if he were ranking these against all puzzles in the world rather than against each other, mostly they would be in the A tier. So the bottom of this list is not a bad puzzle. It is the sixth-best of six good ones.

His view of the brand is unambiguous: iDventure entered the market by storm, and as a marketer himself he rates what they have built. They are the highest quality, the best value for money, amazing storytelling, branding, everything. The overall experience is insanely good.

There is also no D tier here, deliberately. He used only S, A, B and C so that no box got pushed further down than it deserved.

Watch: Ranking Every Cluebox

The full ranking, argued box by box, and deliberately kept broad so that nothing is spoiled for anyone who has not solved them yet. The same applies to this article.

What Is the Best Cluebox?

Cambridge Labyrinth. S tier, alone.

It is the only box in the series he calls a masterpiece, and the reason is design rather than story. An absolute genius of puzzle design, of level design, of game design. Put the story aside for a second, the gameplay of this, wow, this is brilliant.

The endorsement that matters most is comparative: he had solved every other box, including the two that came after it, and still rated it top. I don't think any other box achieved what this box achieved.

His recommendation is as direct as it gets: if you'd get only one of the Cluebox series, this would be the puzzle for you to go with. There is a full review of it on explorepuzzles.

Which Clueboxes Are in the A Tier?

Davy Jones' Locker. The one that surprised him most. When I solved it I was completely flabbergasted. I didn't believe that an escape room in a box puzzle can do these shenanigans. One particular feature did it, and he will not say which, which is the correct instinct.

It is also the clearest example of the series improving: it came after Schrodinger's Cat and visibly learned from it. They learned from the first installation and they improved upon it. Left to rank it on its own he would have called it the best iDventure puzzle, and it only lands in A because there are six and the Labyrinth exists. There is more on it here.

Captain Nemo's Nautilus. Expanded the concept again, and physically different from the two before it, with wooden pieces of unfamiliar shapes. He is honest about the limits of his own judgement on this one: he solved it at a time when he was not especially open to puzzling, and he cannot now say whether it beats Davy Jones. Reviewed here.

Which Are in the B Tier?

Schrodinger's Cat. The first one, and it suffers for it. It would be rank A, but it's introductory, and the later puzzles expanded on the concept. Basic relative to its siblings, and he is careful to add the qualifier that matters: it's not basic at all compared to other puzzle boxes or escape room in a box puzzles in the market.

The line that sums up the whole exercise: I know it's hard, but not everyone can be an S tier.

Trial of Camelot. Fun and difficult, with one trick he rates as genuinely unusual and found in no other box in the series. Two things hold it back. He did not understand one or two of its riddles and found some a little clunky, and it is really long, possibly the longest of the six. Progression-wise he rates it smarter than Schrodinger's Cat, which puts the two level. The full review is here.

Which Cluebox Is the Weakest?

Sherlock's Camera. C tier.

And the objection is aesthetic rather than mechanical, which he says plainly. The box is busy, and he does not like it: something about it, too much information, I don't know, it turns me off. He prefers the minimalist Japanese puzzle box look where there is nothing on the box at all, and acknowledges immediately that iDventure cannot work that way, because ciphers have to be printed on something.

The verdict comes with its own correction attached: obviously it's not a bad puzzle, it's actually pretty amazing compared to other escape room in a box puzzles. Last of six excellent boxes.

Which Cluebox Should You Buy First?

The Cambridge Labyrinth, if you are only buying one. That is the one unambiguous recommendation in the whole ranking.

If you intend to buy several, Schrodinger's Cat first is the better route despite its B placement, because it is the introductory one and the later boxes build on what it teaches. Starting with the Labyrinth and working backwards makes the earlier boxes feel smaller than they are.

Cluebox puzzles belong to the take-apart family, and the mechanisms behind them are covered in puzzle box mechanisms. The sequential discovery element, where the box hands you tools as you go, is explained in what a sequential discovery puzzle is, and the whole field is mapped in the guide to mechanical puzzles.

We do not sell Cluebox. We make 3D-printed interlocking and packing puzzles, which is a different corner of the hobby. If the sealed-box idea appeals, the nearest things we make are Impossible Dovetail Box and Secret Box, and the wider range is in mechanical puzzles.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best Cluebox?

The Cambridge Labyrinth. Greg ranks it alone in S tier and calls it a masterpiece of puzzle, level and game design. He still rated it top after solving the two boxes released after it, and his advice is that if you buy only one Cluebox it should be this.

How many Cluebox puzzles are there?

Six in this ranking: Schrodinger's Cat, Davy Jones' Locker, Captain Nemo's Nautilus, Cambridge Labyrinth, Trial of Camelot and Sherlock's Camera.

Which Cluebox should a beginner start with?

Schrodinger's Cat if you plan to buy several, because it is the introductory box and the later ones build on it. The Cambridge Labyrinth if you are only ever buying one.

Is Sherlock's Camera a bad puzzle?

No. It is last of six, and the objection is aesthetic rather than mechanical: the box is visually busy where Greg prefers a minimal design. He describes it as still pretty amazing compared with other escape-room-in-a-box puzzles.

Are Cluebox puzzles worth the money?

Greg rates iDventure as the highest quality and best value for money in escape-room-in-a-box puzzles, with strong storytelling and branding. Ranked against all puzzles rather than against each other, he says most of these would sit in the A tier.

Does this ranking spoil the puzzles?

No. Both the video and this article deliberately stay broad, so you can read either and still solve all six. The one feature that most surprised him in Davy Jones' Locker is left undescribed on purpose.