The 9 Best Brain Teasers For Adults

This wiki has been updated 19 times since it was first published in January of 2019. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy working on puzzles, riddles, and word games. Challenge yourself to a battle of wits with the selections in this adult-friendly assortment to give your neurons a good workout or develop your fine motor skills. You can even use them to drive other grownups crazy at your next office party. When users buy our independently chosen editorial recommendations, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.

1. Ugears Mechanical Puzzle

The Ugears Mechanical Puzzle (about $60) is a personal safe that you build yourself and then use to torture your friends or spouse as they try to decipher the correct moves to get treats and prizes out of the box. The plywood pieces join together easily and need no glue.

Great for passing around groups
Handy instruction manual
Provides hours of challenging fun

2. Creative Crafthouse Calibron

Constructed of all natural wood pieces, the Creative Crafthouse Calibron (about $34) looks simple, but is made to keep the smartest of users baffled. Each block is laser engraved with sizes to help identify them, if you want to take a more scientific approach to problem solving.

Comes with a cover
Solution included
It has smooth edges

3. Educational Insights Kanoodle Genius

With hundreds of combinations to choose from, the Educational Insights Kanoodle Genius (around $10) will test the capacity of your mind and exercise your critical thinking skills. Stored in its own sturdy slim case, it can be taken anywhere and pulled out whenever boredom strikes.

Sharpens spatial reasoning
Single player game
Suitable for beginners or advanced

4. Hanayama Puzzle Cake

If you like the challenge of putting things back together in the correct places after you've dismantled them, the Hanayama Puzzle Cake (around $13) may be just what you are looking for. Its sturdy cast metal discs are precision-engineered to slide smoothly against each other.

Rated as difficulty level 4
Requires no force to solve
Less than 1 inch thick

5. Hanayama BePuzzled

For a serious challenge, try out the Level 6 series of the Hanayama BePuzzled (appx. $9) collection. Each intricate design involves a set of interlocking pieces that can only be separated by precise manipulations, and putting them back together is just as tricky.

Multiple options to choose from
Promotes highly logical thinking
Clever and well made

6. Siam Mandalay Powder Keg

The Siam Mandalay Powder Keg (about $16) is beautifully handcrafted of organic monkey pod wood into a cylindrical shape that will pique the interest of anyone who walks by. If any part breaks, you are guaranteed a replacement free of charge.

Lovely accent piece
Excellent gift option
Surface is somewhat rough

7. The 125 Best Of All Time

If wordplay and riddles are your thing, you'll find hours of entertainment within the pages of The 125 Best Of All Time, a prodigious assortment of mental exercises and intellectual challenges that gradually increase in difficulty to keep you at the top of your game.

For beginners to expert logicians
Includes fun facts and background
Not well optimized for kindle

8. Rokr 3D Wooden Building Set

With a lot of patience and meticulous attention to detail, you can turn the Rokr 3D Wooden Building Set (appx. $46) from a pile of delicate components into an elaborate clockwork piece that makes an impressive showpiece for your home, or a charming present for a friend or relative.

Made of high-quality plywood
Detailed instructions included
Parts will warp if they get damp

9. Bits and Pieces EZ Atom

Getting the marble nucleus snugly secured back in the middle of the Bits and Pieces EZ Atom (around $13) may look like an easy task, but you'll soon find that it's a bit trickier than you thought. This is a great trinket to keep on your desk or to give to a coworker as a gift.

Solid die-cast joints
May require some force
Loosens up over time

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Last updated by Misty Alder

Born and raised in the American Deep South, Misty's career in elder care took a sharp left turn when she was swept away to the land of Robin Hood by her very own Merry Man. She's a coffee-swilling master of stitch-witchery with a magical touch in the kitchen and a neverending stream of Disney gag reels playing in her head. A certified nursing assistant by trade and a toy aficionado by choice, some intense parenting ensured she was well versed in gardening, carpentry and electrical engineering by the time she entered grade school. Her culinary artistry, tool-wielding wizardry, and skill with needle and thread were honed over nearly four decades in the kitchens, workrooms, and outdoor spaces of family, friends, and clients. Voracious reading took care of the rest.

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