Professor Charlie's World Tour – Puzzle Advent Calendar

Imaginative and fun! Hints online if you need them. There’s some posts indicating problems but, at least as of November 2025, the set seems to be flawless. Also, surprisingly fast response and helpful if you should need to contact their customer service.

This was a nice series of puzzles. They were hard enough to be a challenge, but not so hard that the casual player would be unable to solve the clues. Probably most suitable for older kids through adults. Some of the clues/instructions were mildly confusing, but on the whole, everything was done well. There was a nice ending to it as well. If they made another one, I would definitely try it.

This surprised me at how fun it was! Team was Mom and Dad and a 7 and 11 year old. We all contributed to solving the puzzles though we have a couple puzzle die hards. Every day was a different puzzle. We need to snag a few hints online but overall we’re able to figure out most riddles. Certainly worth the cost for a month of fun.

My husband and I played and completed Professor Charlie’s World Tour. We had a really good time completing this game. It was unique and challenging. We did have to use the hint system a few times. We did it over a long weekend, but it could be done daily as an advent calendar. This game is not for small children. The 14+ age recommendation is good. The reason we gave it 4 stars is because the ending flopped and was more appropriate for a children’s game then an adult puzzle game. Well worth it however for the fun we had doing it together.

I just completed this enjoyable advent calendar. I had a hard time waiting until the next day to go on to the next clue. Most of the clues were very doable, but a couple were not very logical. Luckily there is online support in case you get stumped. I highly recommend this game for older kids and adults. This is coming from someone who is not used to this type of game. A good value too!

Let me first say that Professor Charlie's World Tour was an enjoyable experience overall--and if Hidden Games ever comes out with another such product (or an "escape room in a box" game) I would gladly purchase it based on my experience with this one--but the game has several problems. There are two envelopes where, if you go to the Hints page (which eventually you WILL have to do for one of them, after wasting a lot of time), it indicates that there is an error in the puzzle. For games that were manufactured before the errors were discovered, okay, there's not much else they can do; but once the errors were discovered they should have been fixed, or at least an errata sheet should have been included with the newer manufacturing runs. Several of the drawings are pretty bad (in fact, the drawings are one area where they really skimped on quality), either to the point of where you can't figure out what something is supposed to be, or the images are just plain missing significant features. Another puzzle requires that you orient some pieces correctly; but when you do, you don't get the answer. The answer is only revealed if a couple of the pieces are reversed. Then there's one puzzle where you have to "add a little imagination" (direct quote from the Hints page) in order to derive the clue, but then the clue refers to an object not found on any of the envelopes. [Or to put it another way, the translation from the original German (?) edition to English was poorly done.] But at least you can make a reasonable educated guess on this one to get to the correct envelope. And then there was one puzzle in particular... ============= Spoiler Alert ============= Skip the following paragraph if you don't want to know! I don't give the answer, but I reveal significant information about the puzzle. On one puzzle you have to call a phone number to get the clue. That's bad enough and really rubs me the wrong way in a board game. What makes things even worse, however, is that they log your phone number! I had to call back a second time (the first time was more of a test to see if that was what we really had to do), and the recording was different the second time, beginning with, "Oh, it's you again." How do they know it's me again unless they log my phone number into a database? I hope they're ethical and don't use it nefariously, but we ARE getting a lot more robocalls this year, even though we're registered in the national "Do Not Call" registry. Coincidence? Normally I would suggest that you just go to the Hints page and look up the final answer on this puzzle rather than risk calling a dubious phone number; but the problem here is, the answer given on the Hints page is the 4-digit numeric PIN that must be entered via the dial pad in order to receive the final answer over the phone. So you have a choice to make: Either call the phone number, or open the remaining envelopes to find the next letter. [The letters (not the envelopes) are sequentially numbered, so you can tell which letter is next without spoiling the game.] ========================================= And more. All in all, I counted nine envelopes that had "technical difficulties" of one sort or another, which is over 1/3 of the envelopes. Most are small and can be overlooked (and many readers might not think anything of them); but a few are significant. Like I said, though, overall Professor Charlie's World Tour was an enjoyable experience. Some things could be improved--like the use of the Internet could be toned down--but it was still a fun time just the same. The last piece of advice I'll give is to treat this game like an Advent Calendar (even though the product description says it can be played in one sitting). Hidden Games did a beautiful job of keeping the game non-seasonal, but once all is revealed after the final puzzle is solved, that's when you realize this is indeed an Advent Calendar. Another tip: There are 24 envelopes... but in order to figure out which envelope to open first, you have to solve the puzzle in Professor Charlie's introductory letter (i.e. the box contains 24 envelopes, an instruction sheet, a world map for you to follow along with the journey, and an opening letter explaining what's going on and to get you started). So... open the box, read the instructions, and solve the opening letter's puzzle on Nov 30 if you want to solve the last envelope's puzzle on Dec 24; or begin on Dec 1 like normal and solve the final puzzle on Christmas Day. Or just play it whenever the heck you feel like it (my wife and I did it as a Thanksgiving countdown since we already had EXIT: The Silent Storm as our "real" advent calendar), but realize that the final reveal might be a little out of season.

My daughter loves this! The daily puzzles take you on the narrator’s adventures. There are online hints and clues if you are stuck. She sets the next days clues out on top of the box and is the first thing she looks at when she gets home. This was perfect for her love of puzzles and problem solving. My favorite part is that it really looks like a bundle of international mail with a map that corresponds to Prof. Charlie’s adventures.

This has been a really fun advent! The clues are fun to play through, not overly challenging but some give you pause to think through. I love the unique set up. I also appreciate that this is an alternative to candy or toys. My teenager is enjoying this one and the whole family is interested in hearing the clues. Great value too!

Idéal pour ceux qui souhaitent perfectionner leur anglais

This is an awesome game! It’s suitable for those who love solving riddles. If you more of roll the dice or cards game type this is not for you. The riddles are not easy. It certainly challenged my 2 nerdy teens and cerebral partner. They hadn’t played this type of game before and we only did a physical escape room once before. We didn’t do it as an advent calendar instead we played it after Xmas during the holiday period. It took us 4 nights to complete. The hints are important and they do help. I like that the hint comes in stages where you get a subtle hint first then tap to learn more and tap again to get the answer. There is an error in one of the clues. The hint tells you this. So if you really struggling just have a look at the hint. Tip: note down each country as you open the envelopes. It gives you an idea of how much travelling is being done. The end felt flat to me. But it’s not about the end. It’s the journey that’s most enjoyable. Overall we all loved it and want to play a similar game next Xmas holiday. Highly recommend!

Estamos a adorar fazer os puzzles do calendário.

My son couldn't resist to wait until all 24 days passed and just being busy the whole morning to get this amazing game sorted. Couldn't wait for another edition and new adventures!

I bought this for December 2024, it was brilliant. Every day I’ve got to expend 10-15 minutes with my family solving the puzzle on the envelope. The puzzles are varied in difficulty and skills needed. This meant that everyone (including my teenager son) had days where could lead or be first in solving the puzzle. We had to search for clues a couple of times but in general is a good challenge, not obvious to solve as you read the challenge but doable in 10-15 minutes I wish they release a new one so we could play it this year again! Highly recommended.