Escape the Dwarf Halls is a puzzle adventure gamebook, so do not read it in order. You solve a puzzle, and the answer in the door brick is the page you turn to next.
The story
Mount Tallcairn is shaped like a pyramid, and inside it the dwarf builders have cut a city of nine halls, one above another. A hundred years ago they lent the valley village of Brackenfoot their Golden Plumb, the plumb line that makes a wall stand true. It must come home for the Topping-Out, when the last and highest stone of the city is set at sunrise.
You carry it up with Scree, a young mountain goat. At sunset the Night Stone rolls across the Low Gate, as it does every evening, and the builders have all gone up. The way out is up too: nine halls of five locked doors each, from the Low Gate to the Sky Door under the point of the mountain.
How it plays
Every chamber is one page: a short story beat, a puzzle, and a Next Door box. Solve the puzzle, find the number in the door brick, and turn to that page. A wrong answer sends you to a dead end that tells you which brick to recheck, so a slip costs you a minute and not the whole game.
A look inside
At a glance
- 45 locked doors in nine halls
- Climb from the Low Gate to the Sky Door
- Hints and full answers in the back
- Ages 10 to adult; paperback, 148 pages
Books mentioned
Escape the Dwarf Halls
A puzzle adventure gamebook, paperback, 148 pages. 45 locked doors in nine halls.
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More field notes
Portrait Pairs: When a Gilt Frame Multiplies Two Bricks
A frame holds two bricks and its plaque shows their product. Try each pair of factors and let the pyramid decide. A lock from Escape the Mansion After Dark.
Negative Numbers in a Pyramid: Moving Left on the Number Line
Adding a negative number is just a step to the left. A number line, a pyramid and a few easy habits make negatives feel ordinary.
Number Bank Pyramids: Place Every Number Once
An empty pyramid and a bank of numbers. Each number is used exactly once. A worked sample, a 20-second video and a pyramid to try yourself, with the one rule you need to read the hidden digits.
Pascal's Triangle: Patterns Hiding in a Number Pyramid
One simple rule builds a triangle full of surprises: doubling rows, counting and triangular numbers, Fibonacci numbers, a fractal and route counting. Each pattern is drawn step by step.
Escape the Museum After Dark: The Story and a Look Inside
Escape the Museum After Dark: the story, how a chamber plays and a look at a real page.
Frost Village Puzzle Hunt: What It Can Do for Players
Frost Village Puzzle Hunt (Ages 7 to 12): what is in it, what players can get out of it and how to run it.
Fossil Camp: Nine Sites, Nine Bone Cards, One Cracking Egg
A dinosaur egg is about to hatch and the nest is behind the Bone Gate. A tour of the Fossil Camp kit for ages 6 to 9, with its video.
Call It x: Your First Algebra Is Hiding in a Pyramid
When a brick is missing and the sums don't reach it, name it x. A gentle four-step method, drawn out.
Escape the Bakery After Dark: The Story and a Look Inside
Escape the Bakery After Dark: the story, how a chamber plays and a look at a real page.
The Case of the Vanishing Trophy: What It Can Do for Players
The Case of the Vanishing Trophy (Ages 8 to 12): what is in it, what players can get out of it and how to run it.
Timeline Rows: Equal Steps Like the Years on a Museum Wall
A timeline row goes up in equal steps, and every row above it is a timeline too, with a step twice as big. A lock from Escape the Museum After Dark.
Gauss's Trick: Add 1 to 100 in Ten Seconds
The famous 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 100 shortcut, why it works (with drawings), what we really know about the story, and the pyramid of bricks hiding inside it.
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