Is That Vendor Market Worth It? A Guide for Authors

Many authors hate marketing their books—and I totally get it. However, there is something really rewarding about introducing your book to someone new and watching their face light up at the idea of reading it. That alone is a huge reason to attend a vendor market as an author. Also, there’s the money you make selling books, which doesn’t hurt!

Not every author needs to participate in vendor markets to build a successful writing career. And not every vendor market an author attends will be a success. That’s why I thought I’d put together this guide filled with information I’ve learned firsthand after participating in countless different types of markets over the past several years.

This guide is for all sorts of writers, whether you’re traditionally published, indie, or hybrid.

Checking Expectations

For many vendors, the dream is to make buckets of money, but there are a lot of non-monetary benefits that make vending at a market worthwhile.

In addition to selling copies of books, you might get exposure, establish valuable connections, or even make lifelong fans. Even if someone doesn’t buy your book the day of the event, they may take a photo of it, share the title with their friends, add it to their wish list, or sign up for your newsletter.

I always bring a clipboard for my newsletter where people can opt in to my monthly emails. Whether they buy a book or don’t have the funds right now, I want to stay in touch because they might be interested in supporting me in the future or buying other books from me down the line.

But at a market, you’ll also meet other people who run their own businesses, do creative work, attend other markets, or write books. These professionals are worth adding to your network and keeping in touch with. They can help you grow as a writer, creative, and entrepreneur, as well as clue you in on what other markets are worth doing and which might be worth passing on.

And if nothing else, you’ll learn a lot about vending and what works for you personally by going out and doing it! The experience of getting out there, learning to set up and break down your table, and talking to people about your books will be invaluable for future markets.

A friend and I selling books and sipping brews!

Types of events worth considering

There are so many choices! Seriously, countless different avenues and events provide the opportunity to sell books, so look into ones that both appeal to you and attract people who might be interested in your work. I try not to write off events that I haven’t tried before because you never know which might be the best fit. I never would have thought to try a brewery market until a friend invited me to join her, and we sold tons of books to patrons sampling the venue’s new line of winter brews.

Here is an overview of different types of markets to consider:

Conventions

These events typically cater to a specific genre, fandom, or group. They can be pretty narrow, like a horror-literature convention, or broad enough to include everything from movies, television, comics, books, and pro wrestling. Although your books don’t have to fit the con's theme perfectly, there should be enough overlap to appeal to attendees: i.e., I do much better at comic cons since comic fans enjoy reading in general, but at a cosplay event, attendees were more interested in sewing content and purchasing accessories.

Generally, conventions are paid events and typically indoors, although climate control in the spaces they use can be iffy. They’ll state in the vendor/artist application form what amenities will be provided; common provisions include a table, chairs, and an extra badge. Attendees are excited to participate, and many budget for purchases. These events can be anywhere from one to several days.

Artist Markets

Many artist markets are hosted outdoors and free to browse, making them excellent at bringing lots of new eyeballs to creators’ work. They attract tourists and locals alike, even people who may not have been aware of the market ahead of time. That said, most attendees will enjoy walking through without making too many purchases—although I have found books to be pretty popular impulse buys for many people.

Generally, artist market organizers view writers under the “artist” umbrella and are happy to invite you to their event. Many are juried to ensure a high quality of offerings for the market. They typically don’t provide any part of your setup, so you’ll need to bring everything, including a canopy for shade, a table, and chairs.

Artist markets can be a single weekend or weekly during a certain time of year. Some may have you commit to the whole market, while others may allow you to sign up for a single week.

Community Events

These are some of my favorites! The table fees are often low, and sometimes they benefit a local cause or charity. Plus, they’re short events that only last a few hours. I’ll bring a minimal setup and a modest amount of inventory. Because of the community aspect, these events bring in a decent number of locals who are happy to support their neighbors’ businesses.

Book Festivals

I love a good book festival! I’ve been to ones that were free to attend and ones with an admission fee. They typically last one to two days and can be held indoors at a convention center or outside. In order to cater to newer authors, some provide packages that include a table, tablecloth, chairs, and even a canopy.

Book festivals are kind of a toss-up for me. The networking is fabulous, and I always make tons of new friends at book fests. However, attendees aren’t going to buy books from every author, so unless the event is super well attended, you may not actually sell that many books.

I think that the learning and connections make book festivals as a whole worthwhile, so I make sure to sign up for at least one every year.

Vendor and Craft Fairs

I’m grouping these two types of fairs together since they’re often smaller, single-day events, and both accept writers. I particularly enjoy fairs leading up to the holidays, because attendees go specifically to stock up on handmade, local, or unique gifts.

That leads to a factor I always investigate: who is actually promoting the event? Unfortunately, these events are very reliant on the organizers adequately advertising the fair since they tend to be indoors or, if outdoors, tucked aside on a business’s property. Some organizers do a great job spreading the word, but I’ve also been to markets that were total busts because no one knew something was being held that day.

…so which do you choose?

There are so many different types of events and ways to find them, so once you learn about an event, how do you determine whether that particular one is worth your time and money?

I’m not going to choose events for you, but here are some factors I consider when deciding whether or not to sign up for an event:

Location Location Location

I made a rule for myself earlier this year [read the post where I explain why] that I will no longer attend any event held at a fairground. The TL;DR is simple: attend events in locations that make sense for you and your comfort.

Although indoor events sound like the absolute best as far as comfort, I’ve been to enough events with either no AC or broken HVAC to decide that indoor doesn’t always mean better. Even something like a craft fair at a high school in the dead of winter can go awry if the organizers request heat, and then the mix of unseasonably warm weather and lots of bodies turns the school gym into a sauna.

Huge convention centers will have climate control on lock. Mid-size venues like hotels, schools, and commercial centers may prove to be more variable. Small businesses, including bookstores, restaurants, and breweries, may be better at adapting to changing temperatures. Sometimes older buildings have unique challenges like inadequate accessibility, bad plumbing, drafty windows, and aging systems that might break.

On the other hand, outdoor events are reliant on the weather—and we all know that books don’t fare well in rainy conditions. There will be times when outdoor events have to cancel last minute, and you may not be able to get your table fee back in these instances. But if the weather smiles on you, you better believe that happy strollers will be in the mood to buy lots of books!

For any event that requires admission, pre-purchased ticket sales can help the event and vendors predict attendance. However, if a venue is particularly hard to find or out in the boonies, there will naturally be some attrition from people who planned to go and those who actually make it there.

Similarly, for free events over-relying on natural foot traffic, it can be hard to get potential readers’ attention if there are other things going on that day or your table is hard to find.

Different locations and facilities will also provide certain equipment for their vendors. They’ll also have different requirements for what you need to provide. It may be harder to do outdoor events if you don’t have a canopy. On the flip side, some events will provide signage for all the vendors, which is a huge bonus.

Cost

Very few markets are free to sell at. And even if they are, you may have other costs including gas, lodging, parking, and food. There are other one-time costs—like finally purchasing a canopy—that are a bit steep if you only plan to use that item for a single event. For your first market, you’ll need to purchase at the very least a tablecloth, books to sell, and some swag like bookmarks.

If you choose to expand into outdoor markets and craft fairs or plan to do several events, you may want to invest in a canopy, folding table, high-quality signs, and more.

But the main cost I want to focus on is the table fees for each of these vendor fairs. It’s worthwhile to calculate the sales required to offset your table fees ahead of time (I’ll get more into this later). You’ll need to sell significantly more books to break even for an expensive table.

Something that I have found with multi-day events is that they don’t necessarily multiply my book sales. Most of the people who come by my table have multi-day passes and won’t buy 2 or 3 times as many books. Just because an event spans three days doesn’t mean I’ll get three times the sales. In my experience, it will go up a little over a single-day event, but not by much. Ultimately, I won't pay much more for multi-day events; I just don’t see the value.

I really wish that the cost of a market were tied to how well the vendors will sell. Sometimes organizers spend too much on extras, overextend, or set fees significantly higher than expected sales can justify. Other events may have a lot of overhead, and that’s totally fine, but I’m not going to make a profit at the table price point, so I choose to opt out.

Logistics

I sometimes wish I could bring a formal OSHA complaint against every comic con that expected me to man my table for 10+ hours in a single day with no breaks.

There are a number of logistics that go into each event that are worth considering before signing up. First, look at the number of days and hours per day for the event. In the case of a longer event, it may be worthwhile to bring a person to help, which you’ll want to arrange ahead of time.

There are also distance and travel considerations. Events are always a little more hectic when you’re also driving several hours, checking into a hotel, and making arrangements for your pets, plants, and/or kids while you’re away. I’ve found flying for an event completely unfeasible, but some people may be more comfortable with this.

Load-in and load-out are hectic times for an event. For outdoor events, it’s a lot harder to set up a table and canopy solo. Plus, books are heavy, and lugging boxes and boxes of books to and from your car is a lot of work. Some events will only have load-in the day before or super early in the morning. These details are definitely worth considering since they add considerably to the time and work involved for you.

I brought... TWELVE boxes of books to a recent event.
Books are heavy!

During the event, there are other considerations, including restrooms and food. I don’t mind a temporary toilet, but I get that those are a hard pass for many people. On the other hand, I have some pretty severe food allergies, so I never rely on food provided at an event or purchased from convention center cafeterias.

Organizers

The people who put on an event are just as important as all the other considerations and something you’ll get a feel for as you start doing markets.

The best organizers run a well-oiled machine. They communicate clearly and respond to inquiries quickly, provide load-in information and table assignments well in advance, choose high-quality vendors and providers, promote their events, get good audience turnout, have contingency plans in case something goes awry, and are generally great to work with. I’ve absolutely chosen events purely because of the team organizing them.

Great organization doesn’t guarantee that you’ll have great book sales, but it does make the whole experience much smoother. First-time events can be a toss-up. People aren’t always aware of all the work that goes into them, and certain aspects—typically promotion and marketing—get overlooked.

I have gone to first-time events and given organizers a chance, especially if they have a day job that’s similar to event planning and they’re truly passionate about the event they're hosting.

Decision Time

With all the above-mentioned considerations, how do you decide whether or not a market is worth your time, money, and book stock?

For markets, I recommend starting small and local to give yourself a feel for how well you sell books in person before diving into a larger commitment. Look at the vendor, table, or booth fee for that particular event and calculate how many books you would need to sell in order to make back that investment.

For example, let’s say the library is hosting a charity market and is selling tables for $40 for a four-hour event. You plan to sell books for $14 each, and it costs you $6 for printing, shipping, and transaction fees. That’s an $8 margin made per book sale, which means you would need to sell 5 books to make back the table fee.

Next, look at the potential audience and attendance. Selling about a book an hour might be achievable for a well-attended library event. An event more tailored to your audience (i.e., space opera books at a sci-fi convention) may lead to better sales, although if the interest is too narrow (a romantasy book fest), you may face pretty fierce competition.

Some authors have multiple talents and businesses and may find that they can sell something in addition to their books at specific markets. For example, a writer who crochets and writes cozy stories may do exceptionally well at craft festivals selling both.

As you gain experience, you’ll be ready to move onto bigger events. Sometimes, it's worth joining a large event with a few fellow authors and sharing a table. Certain events, like conventions, may comp tables for creators who add to the event programming by talking on or hosting panels, giving workshops, or hosting activities. Check with a specific event to see how they handle complimentary tables, guests, and panelists, because they all handle these things differently.

Worth it?

Before deciding whether an event was worth it, take time to collect a little data.

• How much money did you take in?
• What were the printing costs for the books/items you sold?
• How much was the table fee?
• What other expenses did you incur?
• How many hours was the event, including load-in and out?

Doing a little math will show how much money you made and your net hourly rate, but we’re not going to stop there. Also look at:

• Number of newsletter sign-ups
• New contacts you made, including
  • Fellow writers
  • Businesses and creatives you could work with in the future
  • Professionals further in their career who could offer mentorships
  • Cool new friends!
• Information you gathered, including
  • Other market opportunities
  • Groups, clubs, and professional organizations
  • Publishing opportunities, calls for submissions, and other creative opportunities

Also, did you have fun? What was your overall experience?

I’ve found several events that were worthwhile just from the networking. Others were a bust for sales, but I still had a blast and want to go in the future just as an attendee. Others were pure torture and earned a spot on my blacklist. That’s okay! I still learned something by going!

---

I hope this guide has given you the confidence to try your first market—or be more selective about your next one. If you’re still unsure and need a little convincing, then keep reading about why I love fan conventions. And if you’re ready to take the plunge, I’ve got a great list of everything I bring to markets (I actually reference this post before every event—it’s that useful).

If you want to see me at an upcoming event, I’d love to say hi! I keep an updated list of future appearances on my events page.

Beth Martin’s upcoming events

How an Escape Room Book WORKS

Playing through a physical escape room is a ton of fun! Objects and clues are hidden throughout the space, and physical locks guard whatever comes next. New rooms and areas open as your group progresses through the puzzles. Plus, a game master lays out the basic rules (like “please don’t break the furniture”) and is available to give hints. The systems and game design that make escape rooms work have been developed, tested, and refined.

But what happens when you take the physical space out of the “escape room experience”? What limitations does that create—and what opportunities?

Escape-room-style games take many forms, from board games, card games, and jigsaw puzzles to video games and at-home kits that turn any room into an escape experience. When developing the Puzzling Escapes books, I played several of these games for inspiration and considered how to translate an escape room into book form. I put a lot of thought into the mechanics that make each Puzzling Escapes adventure fun and solvable.

Storytelling

What makes an escape room more than a collection of logic puzzles? The story, of course!

Every escape room tells a story: how you got into the current situation, what’s keeping you from leaving, and what will happen if you fail. Every escape room I’ve played begins with either a video explaining the scenario or an employee reading the story hook from a notecard. As players progress, they uncover more of the story through the room’s features, notes, letters, audio recordings, and other elements.

As a writer, the idea of telling a story through puzzles appealed to me. It was also the first design hurdle I tackled when developing an escape room in a book. Some escape rooms cast you as a specific character or a member of a particular faction, but generally, you play as yourself. Like popular choose-your-own-adventure books, “you” are the main character in each Puzzling Escapes adventure.

However, I didn’t want “you” to be the only character. Each book gives you a friend who’s stuck with you. To keep the entire puzzling experience immersive and within the story’s narrative, that friend provides any help you might need throughout the adventure.

Progression

No escape-room game—whether a physical room, video game, or board game—starts as a free-for-all with every puzzle available. The story unfolds gradually as players solve a mystery, discover how the room came to be, or decipher the solution that will grant them freedom.

In a physical escape room, players may not think much about how the story unfolds. There’s a natural sense of progress as locks open, new puzzle pieces are uncovered, and new rooms become accessible.

Some escape games I’ve played reveal one puzzle at a time, creating a structured narrative that players must follow linearly. This can be frustrating when only one puzzle is available and you can’t figure it out. Others, like Escape the Room: The Cursed Dollhouse, have physical rooms that contain several puzzles, letting players choose which one to work on next.

I decided to mimic the three-part structure I’d seen in many physical escape rooms. After the book’s introduction, readers enter the first section. Each puzzle begins with a bit of narration that moves the story forward, and solving it reveals a conclusion that carries the reader into the next part of the adventure.

Puzzle Management

Escape games that aren’t played in a physical room need a few extra mechanics, and one of the first challenges I tackled while developing Puzzling Escapes was puzzle management.

In at-home escape games, each puzzle might have a unique symbol, illustration, or name that players use when checking answers or looking up hints. These identifiers might be referenced in a booklet or deck of cards. As players progress, they may be instructed to turn a page in a book, open a box of game components, or draw cards from a deck.

I wanted the Puzzling Escapes books to be completely self-contained, without relying on outside materials or a website. Although a website can be a powerful tool for managing hints and checking answers, I’ve found the games that let me set aside my phone for a few hours the most satisfying.

I decided to use a keyword system in which each puzzle has a unique identifying word. Symbols work well for tracking puzzles in a board game, but I knew the book format would require readers to flip through several pages to look up information. Instead of organizing everything in puzzle order, I arranged each section alphabetically by keyword, making the next entry easier to find. Because readers move between sections frequently, tabbed dividers help them navigate quickly.

One of the joys of a physical escape room is finding cool objects that become important to future puzzles, so I added a dedicated Objects section to the books. Each item is part of a puzzle somewhere in the book; sometimes readers need an object from one puzzle to solve the next one.

Hints

Most puzzle enthusiasts know that the joy of solving a puzzle comes from piecing together the solution. When you get stuck, you don’t want the entire answer revealed.

Every good escape room needs some kind of hint system. In a physical escape room, a game master watches your group’s progress, so you can ask for help if you get stuck. With other escape games, however, no one is monitoring your progress.

Different games provide hints in different ways. Some include hints in the game materials, whether as a deck of cards, a pamphlet, or a book.

Another option is to host hints on a website. Websites can display only the hint a player needs and can support multimedia such as images and video, but they also require an internet connection and a smart device. Many players choose board games for a screen-free experience, so pulling out a phone midgame can give them the ick.

There’s also the option of including no hints at all—which I personally think ruins the game. Some games provide a forum where players can share hints and solutions, but new or obscure titles may not have an active community.

Because I’d already decided not to rely on a website for Puzzling Escapes, the keyword system also comes in handy for providing hints. Readers flip to the Hints section only when they need help, and because puzzles are identified solely by keyword, accidentally glancing at another hint won’t immediately reveal which puzzle it belongs to.

If readers still can’t solve a puzzle, they can read its full solution and keep moving forward.

Objects

One of the most satisfying parts of solving an escape room puzzle is the AHA! moment when a lock opens and reveals a cool object hidden inside a box.

In other escape games I’ve played, solving a puzzle may tell players to turn a page in a booklet. Other games use a deck of cards, a jigsaw puzzle, or a pile of objects that become available only at certain points.

The natural way to progress through a book is to turn the page, but I wanted something cooler than that for Puzzling Escapes. I wanted readers to discover hidden objects that were actually hidden. But how do you hide things in a book?

I knew the objects would have to be printed on pages, but placing them on the backs of pages keeps them out of sight. Storing all the objects at the end of the book also prevents readers from encountering them until they actively need them.

One frustration I wanted to avoid was making players cut out fiddly pieces with scissors. It never made much sense to me, especially in games with custom components. I wanted every object readers discover to be die-cut, ready to pop out and use. My publisher also recommended adding a pocket inside the front cover to store the objects so they don’t get lost.

Checking Answers

Verifying that readers have found the correct answer was one of the biggest challenges in making the Puzzling Escapes books work.

In a physical escape room, entering a combination and watching a lock open lets players know they’ve found the right answer. Or they might arrange objects in a certain way, triggering a circuit or magnets that open the next door. Whatever the mechanism, the feedback is immediate.

I had already decided not to rely on a website, so checking answers on a webpage was out of the question. But I didn’t want to simply print answers upside down, as children’s puzzle books often do, because readers might see the solution before they’ve finished trying to solve it.

The Exit the Game series has a clever answer-checking system that uses both a decoder disk and a deck of cards. Although neither a decoder disk nor a deck of cards fits naturally inside a book, its two-step checking process inspired me.

Requiring every solution to be a three-digit number imposes a few limitations on logic puzzles, but a consistent answer format also makes the answer-checking system simpler. Instead of a decoder disk, I list every possible solution, from 000 through 999. Rather than mapping each code to a specific card as Exit does, the codes point to entries in a keyword table.

At a glance, it’s hard to tell which entries in the keyword table are actual puzzle keywords and which are random words. The codes also don’t visibly correspond to particular entries without careful study. This keeps the correct answers from being unintentionally revealed when a reader checks a possible code.

I did eventually create an optional web tool for readers who prefer it to the answer-checking section in the books. And, of course, readers who are stuck can always read the full solution, which explains the answer in plain text.

First Puzzle Solved

Designing the mechanics that turned Puzzling Escapes into a playable escape-room-style book was a puzzle in itself. I found the process incredibly satisfying, and now, after writing several of the books, I have the system down.

Without locks, props, a game master, a required website or app, sound, or animation, I’m proud of what I’ve been able to pack into each book. And the core experience is still exactly what I wanted: an escape room in a book.

A standard system now handles how readers play the games, navigate the stories, check answers, and collect objects. With that framework in place, each new book lets me focus my creativity on telling a cool new story and crafting unique, mind-bending puzzles.

Of course, even better than the story behind Puzzling Escapes are the stories inside the books! Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were marooned on a tropical island and found an old shipwreck? Find out in Puzzling Escapes: The Secret of Shipwreck Island!

Puzzling Escapes: The Secret of Shipwreck Island

Break Out Myrtle Beach

What do you do when you’re on vacation and the heat index for the entire week is 109° Fahrenheit every day? (No hyperbole—the humidity was like 99%.)

Find an activity with really good AC, of course!

To be fair, as a logic puzzle connoisseur, I probably would have gone to an escape room even if the weather had been perfect and beautiful all week. I love escape rooms, and visiting new escape room places is one of the main benefits of traveling to a different area.

My husband selected Break Out Myrtle Beach since it was close to our hotel. After reading about the different rooms they offer, he picked the hardest one, “The Curse of Volcano Island.”

I joke that the first logic puzzle for any escape room is getting there—I’ve been to a few that required ringing the janitorial staff to get the door code for a nondescript office building, then navigating a labyrinth of halls just to find the front desk. Break Out was easy to locate and well marked, but finding a spot to park took us a moment. They have a small lot accessible via an alley behind the block of buildings, but that wasn't immediately obvious when we first got there.

I have to say, the place felt magical the second we stepped inside, thanks to the super-powerful AC. Did I mention how hot it was all week?

The front reception area also had a few fun photo-op spots. The staff greeted us and said our room would be ready soon, so we took some fun pictures while we waited.

Even though our little group of four—hubby, daughter, father-in-law, and I—arrived early, we didn’t have to wait long before the room was ready. Our game master led us to the room, explained the rules, read us the scenario, and handed us a walkie-talkie.

They had pretty basic rules: clues are only used once, use the walkie-talkie to ask for up to three hints, please don’t break anything, don’t climb on stuff and hurt yourself, and you get one hour.

The Curse of Volcano Island

Scenario: Your plane has crashed in the ocean, and you’ve been able to swim to a tropical island where you discover what appears to be a deserted village. In the distance, a volcano rages, black smoke billowing from its peak. From clues around the island, you gather that there’s a ritual you can perform to appease the gods and break the curse of the island, preventing the volcano from erupting and taking your party’s lives.

The theming and decor were really fun and well done, creating the atmosphere of a primitive island hut at night. Small shipping crates and nooks within the hut held clues and locks. Many of the puzzles required arranging objects like statues and equipment or placing markers on a map.

We were able to figure out most of the puzzles on our own and only needed to ask for one hint. Another puzzle had quite a few layers, and the game master gave us a quick explanation of what to do so we wouldn’t get stuck.

I found one puzzle overly fiddly. It required rearranging a set of painted cubes in several different orientations, then translating the images they made into letters. As my daughter and I tried to quickly put all the pieces together, hubby and father-in-law solved the puzzle much faster using simple guess-and-check.

Overall, we were all satisfied with the puzzle difficulty and escaped in 45 minutes.

My overall rating would be 5 stars. The Curse of Volcano Island is a fun and challenging escape room that’s definitely worth the visit.

---

I have to say, the theme of the escape room we played while on vacation was kind of perfect considering the upcoming launch of Puzzling Escapes: The Secret of Shipwreck Island on September 15. Tropical islands are a popular theme for escape rooms, and I think readers will really enjoy the new Puzzling Escapes adventure!

Pre-order Puzzling Escapes: The Secret of Shipwreck Island on Amazon

The Morrison Game Factory: More Than a Board Game

I love innovative board games just as much as I love crafting cool escape room-style puzzle books. Shameless plug: check out Puzzling Escapes!

So when my husband came home from Games and Stuff with a tote full of new games, I immediately knew The Morrison Game Factory, a board game mystery which required an internet connection, was right up my alley. We decided to tackle it first since it was the shortest game in the bunch.

The components are surprisingly simple: a game board, a handful of pieces and dice, a box of cards, a board game catalog, an instruction sheet, and a mysterious locked pouch. While all of those supplies are integral to the experience, most of the game is actually played on a computer connected to the internet.

The Morrison Game Factory isn’t exactly an escape room, but it does have that same cooperative style. Everyone works together to solve puzzles and unravel the game’s mystery. Most of the gameplay happens on a website, with the physical components helping players work through the clues. Each solution is entered online, and as you solve more puzzles, more of the story is revealed.

I’ll admit, I was skeptical about a board game that relied so heavily on a computer. Board games are typically a great screen-free activity. But in this case, the website and game pieces worked beautifully together. We played using a laptop, but I think a smaller tablet or even a smartphone would be fine.

On top of the thoughtful gameplay, I really appreciated the retro-style artwork and cheeky descriptions in the catalog. The whole thing has a wonderfully playful, nostalgic feel. And since the game is only playable once, I also appreciated that any components meant to be written on can be reprinted from the game’s website. That means you can reset the game and pass it along for someone else to enjoy.

I’d put the puzzles at about medium difficulty. They were challenging enough that solving them felt satisfying, but approachable enough that my husband and I didn’t need any hints. That said, hints are readily available on the website if you do get stuck.

Overall, The Morrison Game Factory was a great time and so much fun! I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys logic puzzles, solving mysteries, or retro board games with a twist.