SPOILER: It involves a boring dinner, a mysterious game, and the most joy I’ve had in years. And it changed our family’s holiday traditions for good.

As a family therapist I technically am aware of all the benefits of playing games (our kids learn faster, we spend quality time together, we bond, engage our brain in creative and strategic thinking, we are in a safe space to feel “winning” and “losing” emotions – just to name a few).

However, it took INSCAPE’s “Escape Rooms in a Box” for me to truly experience them for myself the first time. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Let’s start where all good Christmas stories do.

From the beginning.

Once upon a time, there was me. Silly, ol’ me busy with work and zero time to make good on my “I’ll do my Christmas shopping early this year” promises. LIES. All lies. Anyway. There I was, mid December. Mariah screaming at me from the shopping mall speakers. With no idea what gifts to get. I procrastinated for a while by doing some weekly grocery shopping. Then I went and got two books and a PC game for my youngest, new sweaters for my husband, a bottle of “the fancy wine Miss Stuart recommends” for my mum. And then? I gave up and decided to shop the rest from home. What’s Amazon for, after all?!

Now before you judge (because maybe you’ve got it all figured out and actually stick to your plans – in that case, kudos to you)… listen… Christmas shopping is hard for me, okay?! It is stressful. There are usually still three million things to do before the holiday. And we all have that one annoying person in our life that we don’t know what to get, no matter how long we stare at store shelves or search bars.

My “annoying person” is my eldest son. Seventeen. He likes: tennis. Computer games. His car. In that order. He also has everything he needs for tennis, computer games, and his car. And anything he doesn’t yet have, he usually saves up for and buys himself. He is incredibly hard to shop for. And even harder to surprise. Because he’s also incredibly smart (which adds to the “annoying” part).

I miss those early Christmases and birthdays when anything you wrapped in a bit of colorful paper made his eyes sparkle and him go: “Wooow, Mom, woaaaah!”

It’s the best feeling in the world. Making your child screech from joy. Seeing those eyes widen with genuine excitement.

It’s also the best thing about gift giving for me. No matter who the person I’m gifting to is: Their happiness… their joy makes me happy. I’m more of a gift giver than a gift receiver. And maybe you’re a little bit like me.

But as a mom and wife, somewhere along the years gift-giving turned into a chore. The holiday to-dos overwhelmed everything. And finding the right presents became harder and harder. The magic of “gifting” on Christmas and playing with those gifts and the children all Christmas day long… got lost. And I never truly noticed how much I missed that aspect of the holidays. I just noticed that I became more stressed than excited about Christmas every single year. That during the holidays everything felt dampened. Expected. Pre-planned.

Everyone “had to” go to Grandma’s and stuff their cheeks with a four-course dinner. Everyone “had to” make a bit of small talk (“How was school this year? How are the colleagues at work? How’s your arthritis, Mom?”). Then, full and tired, everyone had to sit in front of some screen or other for some time until it was acceptable to go to bed. And the next day? Everyone had to get up early, be thankful for their presents and find their own way to enjoy the free time.

Until last year.

And this is where this mysterious game comes in.

INSCAPE’s Puzzle Boxes

That was what Amazon recommended to me when I got home and searched for my remaining gifts. And I thought: Why not? It’s not a computer game for a change. It’s made entirely of wood… so. Real. Touchable. It’s something else. And since my teenager believes himself to be the smartest person in the room at all times anyway (I’m exaggerating… his ego is actually pretty in check for a tennis player), it might be a nice challenge for him.

I bought it on a hunch. Wrapped it in wrapping paper after it was delivered (every wooden puzzle box actually comes in its own cover box and is pretty hefty… like a treasure trove). And then I promptly forgot about it.

Fast forward to Christmas morning.

For the first time in years, my son was actually surprised. There was that little glint in his eyes again. Like back when he was a toddler.

He sat on the sofa instead of going to his room. Started the puzzle. Said, “This is actually pretty hard. Mom… come here for a second? What do you think this symbol means?”

My son. The teenager-almost-an-adult-but-not-quite. The Mr. Know-It-All of the family asked for help. And so we sat there with this wooden box. On the sofa. For almost two hours. Encouraging each other… “Nice solve, Mom!” Getting deeper and deeper into this wooden puzzle. Snacking in between. When we were stumped (one of the riddles was way too hard, even for us) we used the URL that brought us to a simple web page that pointed us to the right solution.

The whole time: No “resting teen” face. No boredom. Not one glance at his phone. The WHOLE afternoon.

That same son got up from the table to get us ice cream as a winner’s treat and said: “This… this was pretty cool. We should do this every year.”

Talk about a Christmas miracle!

But jokes aside, dear reader (now I sound like the narrator from Bridgerton): That one simple sentence made me happier than any Christmas gift ever could.

So do me a favor: Whether you’re a puzzle fan or not – whether you and your favorite person have done every escape room in your city or whether you’re more of a traditional “feast, film, sleep” kind of Christmas person… try one of the INSCAPE boxes this year.

Or at least get one as a gift if you're still looking for that last-minute idea that feels personal and creative.

In short: 

Last Christmas everything felt right. Light. Less “forced” than the other ones. We’ve tried and done some escape rooms and family game nights over the last year, which were all big successes. But we’ve all been looking forward to getting some peace and quiet over the holidays to “step into” the shoes of fearless adventurers and solve the mystery contained in a strange wooden box.

IMPORTANT DETAIL: All the boxes have a different overarching theme. Wild West, Ancient Rome, Egypt, Alien Artifacts… So from history nerd to mythology or sci-fi fan… there is a storyline for everyone out there. Which I love. Because every box feels totally different from the one before.

THE INSCAPE PUZZLE BOXES

Escape rooms in a box?

The INSCAPE puzzles are neatly designed wooden boxes. 3D puzzles, basically – a little like escape-room meets brain-teasing sculpture. Reviews online praise the themes, the clever mechanisms, and the attention to detail on each box.

Each box can be “solved” by groups of one to four players. As “adventurers” you dive into the story and usually start with the first riddle clearly marked on one side of the box.

The difficulty level of each box is clearly marked in the description. They usually go from “moderate” to “expert level,” so you can pick your challenge level depending on who you’re playing with.

The boxes are completely (100%) made out of wood and can be reassembled after playing. Which makes them highly sustainable as a gift. They can be replayed or re-gifted.

Each box is protected by a magnetic box cover. Which makes them look great on the shelves as well – almost like mysterious artifacts waiting to be discovered.

The Goal

The goal of each game is to get “inside” by solving riddles and discovering new mechanisms within the movable wooden parts. The last level of the box hides a wooden token for the winners – or rather: the worthy adventurers and savvy archaeologists who bested the legendary riddles.

The more boxes you solve, the more tokens you have to show. (My son may or may not be displaying his on his bookshelf like tiny trophies.)

Assistance and Clues

Each box comes with a short “storybook” describing your newest adventure and mission, and with two QR codes that help you find the right solutions when you are stuck and assist you in reassembling the box once you’ve solved the final riddle. The page also allows you to note and keep track of your solving times and give feedback/leave notes after each box.

Co-op Game – Smarter Together & No loser’s tears.

There isn’t a divide between winners and losers in this game. Everybody plays together. Everybody wins. Everybody works together. It’s you against the mystery and workings of the box. Which makes playing even more fun and sociable. It’s a feel-good game and real quality time with your cleverest friends and family members.

REVIEWS FROM OTHER FAMILIES & PLAYERS

I’m obviously biased because these boxes basically rescued our Christmas. But I’m not the only one raving about them. Here are the kinds of things other buyers mention in their reviews:

Many people also mention how solid and heavy the boxes feel right out of the packaging – like a real treasure chest you’d find in an old attic or a secret archive somewhere.

Why these boxes work so well as gifts

LAST BUT NOT LEAST…

…a good reminder. Everybody has got their Christmas feel-good gifts

Presents are opened on Christmas Eve, and it's very understandable that people will want to go off enjoying their gifts once the festivities die down for the night. Those that got books likely will go read their books. People who got jigsaw puzzles go start on their puzzles. People who like video games will go play their games, and so on. My recommendation if you want to gift something that can be enjoyed right away over the Christmas holidays? A puzzle box. It can be solved by one person alone or by you as a group/family.

Don’t wait until next year to discover that one small, clever gift can change the whole mood of the holidays. If you’ve been looking for something that feels thoughtful, creative, and genuinely fun to use together… this might just be it.

One wooden box, one shared story, and – if my experience is anything to go by – a Christmas that feels just a little more like it used to when everyone still believed in magic.