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Usborne Puzzle Adventures #11
The Haunted Tower
The stories in this series of adventure and mystery are interwoven with plenty of puzzles to solve. Extra clues as well as complete answers can be found at the back of each book.
48 pages, Paperback
First published March 3, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 26, 2018
'The Haunted Tower' is part of the collection of Usborne Puzzle Adventures. I used to read these when I was younger, but since working at the library some years ago and realising they stocked several of these titles, I discovered that I can still enjoy the puzzles and silly little stories. I do struggle with some of the titles for younger readers as they are just too easy.
This book in particular tells the story of Nic and Ali who are visiting their cousin Charlie in the seaside town of Port Snoreham. They hear of a mysterious island called Spectre’s Isle which is reportedly haunted by the ghost of a pirate called Captain Swashbuckle. Legend tells that he died just off the shore of the island when his ship crashed, and he took all his treasure to the sea bed with him – however no treasure has ever been found. The kids decide to have an adventure and hop over to the spooky island to see what they can find.
The puzzles in this book weren’t too easy but gave me enough challenge to use my brain a bit. It wasn’t condescending, and I enjoyed the story/mystery. To think it was written the same year I was born, I think it has aged well enough!
This book in particular tells the story of Nic and Ali who are visiting their cousin Charlie in the seaside town of Port Snoreham. They hear of a mysterious island called Spectre’s Isle which is reportedly haunted by the ghost of a pirate called Captain Swashbuckle. Legend tells that he died just off the shore of the island when his ship crashed, and he took all his treasure to the sea bed with him – however no treasure has ever been found. The kids decide to have an adventure and hop over to the spooky island to see what they can find.
The puzzles in this book weren’t too easy but gave me enough challenge to use my brain a bit. It wasn’t condescending, and I enjoyed the story/mystery. To think it was written the same year I was born, I think it has aged well enough!
March 22, 2026
Review of this particular book:
This was without a doubt my favourite of this collection as a kid. It's so exciting! Sneaking onto a haunted island at night! Running from goons! Ghosts! Pirates! Treasure! There's always something going on.
It also has a larger variety of puzzles than the other ones I read, and some feel "dangerous," like a spike landing on you if you get it wrong. As a result of all this, it feels less cohesive than the other books, but more like an adventure.
Some of the puzzles are duds (the gravestone one is particularly egregious... it just doesn't work without a separate physical component), and the difficulty is all over the place, but overall this is a fun if slightly uneven puzzle adventure.
Review of the series in general:
I had a collection of some of these as a kid, and loved them! Reading them again now, it's obvious I didn't solve all the puzzles when I was young... some I struggled with even as an adult (and some I just outright got wrong).
That's one of the problems with these books... the difficulty is all over the place. About half of the puzzles I can solve within 30 seconds, a quarter I can solve after thinking about them for a couple minutes, and then there is a quarter where I need to get out some pen and paper to puzzle things out.
And if you get something wrong, welp, you've got it wrong forever! That's one of the advantages video games like Professor Layton has... it can tell you you're wrong without giving you the answer, so you can try again. For this reason, I advise checking the hints section before confirming your answer, just to make sure you didn't miss something.
Puzzle quality is also mixed. Most are fun, but there are some the feel unfair because you weren't given enough information, or the information given wasn't clear enough. Some puzzles would also really benefit by having physical components separate from the book (like maps and puzzles pieces), but I get why they didn't do that (budget).
The stories are all simple but entertaining enough for a kid... I certainly enjoyed them and re-read them even after going through the puzzles. It helps that so many of the pages are dense with fun details and jokes... though they have to be, because you often have to go back and check details on previous pages to solve puzzles.
But yeah! These tend to be a mixed bag and I don't know if people who didn't grew up with them would enjoy them, but I still think they're a good time for the most part and a fun diversion even as an adult.
This was without a doubt my favourite of this collection as a kid. It's so exciting! Sneaking onto a haunted island at night! Running from goons! Ghosts! Pirates! Treasure! There's always something going on.
It also has a larger variety of puzzles than the other ones I read, and some feel "dangerous," like a spike landing on you if you get it wrong. As a result of all this, it feels less cohesive than the other books, but more like an adventure.
Some of the puzzles are duds (the gravestone one is particularly egregious... it just doesn't work without a separate physical component), and the difficulty is all over the place, but overall this is a fun if slightly uneven puzzle adventure.
Review of the series in general:
I had a collection of some of these as a kid, and loved them! Reading them again now, it's obvious I didn't solve all the puzzles when I was young... some I struggled with even as an adult (and some I just outright got wrong).
That's one of the problems with these books... the difficulty is all over the place. About half of the puzzles I can solve within 30 seconds, a quarter I can solve after thinking about them for a couple minutes, and then there is a quarter where I need to get out some pen and paper to puzzle things out.
And if you get something wrong, welp, you've got it wrong forever! That's one of the advantages video games like Professor Layton has... it can tell you you're wrong without giving you the answer, so you can try again. For this reason, I advise checking the hints section before confirming your answer, just to make sure you didn't miss something.
Puzzle quality is also mixed. Most are fun, but there are some the feel unfair because you weren't given enough information, or the information given wasn't clear enough. Some puzzles would also really benefit by having physical components separate from the book (like maps and puzzles pieces), but I get why they didn't do that (budget).
The stories are all simple but entertaining enough for a kid... I certainly enjoyed them and re-read them even after going through the puzzles. It helps that so many of the pages are dense with fun details and jokes... though they have to be, because you often have to go back and check details on previous pages to solve puzzles.
But yeah! These tend to be a mixed bag and I don't know if people who didn't grew up with them would enjoy them, but I still think they're a good time for the most part and a fun diversion even as an adult.
July 27, 2011
Ali and Nic end up going to visit their cousin Charlie but they become intrigued by a mystery and end up and the spooky Spectre's Isle.
This is another good Usborne Puzzle book. This one is a bit more spooky. I loved how brave Nic is and although I still found some puzzles hard, I solved more in this book.
This is another good Usborne Puzzle book. This one is a bit more spooky. I loved how brave Nic is and although I still found some puzzles hard, I solved more in this book.
February 3, 2024
Um dos mais populares títulos dessa série maravilhosa entre os alunos da 3ª série em que eu estudava. Devo ter lido várias e várias vezes. A proposta toda da coleção "Salve-se quem puder" é muito boa, pois estimula ao mesmo tempo a curiosidade e a inteligência das crianças, que se veem envolvidas em uma trama de mistério cheia de quebras-cabeças que elas mesmas precisam resolver.
November 24, 2011
Borrowed from a co-worker, had this laying around in the office. Started reading out of curiosity but end up getting hooked. Strangely, I got mad when people disturb me while I was solving the puzzles, even though I read this in office lol
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews