The Sphinx's Riddle Pyramid 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
The salt caravan of the Amber Reach, a desert, is nearly out of water. The old wells are drawn on the Well Map in the Star Chamber at the top of the Riddle Pyramid, written in the Makers' alphabet, which nobody alive can read.
A stone Sphinx sits at each of twelve gates: stern but fair, she asks a riddle, teaches one sign to whoever answers it, and lets through anyone who reasons well. You are the caravan's youngest map-reader, with Fig the fennec fox, and the caravan leaves at sunrise.
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
- Twelve riddle gates and 60 puzzle doors
- 16 secret signs to learn and three endings
- 18 true desert and star facts, in a 220-page hardcover
- Ages 10 to adult; hardcover, 220 pages
Books mentioned
The Sphinx's Riddle Pyramid: Twelve Riddle Gates to the Star Chamber by Sunrise
A puzzle adventure gamebook, hardcover, 220 pages. Twelve riddle gates and 60 puzzle doors.
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