About the original 1000 Playthinks, Will Shortz of the New York Times said it best: The most wide ranging, visually appealing, entertaining, gigantic collection of brainteasers since Sam Loyd's Cyclopedia of Puzzles almost a century ago. Now comes the same great Playthinks, but in a package that makes it an amazing value: The Big Book of Brain Games. With a more accessible title, it is presented in a more accessible format (perfect-bound in a slightly smaller, friendlier format, here is Playthinks perfected.) Inside, we wouldn't change a thing. With an obsessive collection of 1000 challenges, puzzles, riddles, illusions - originals as well as must-do classics - it's like salted peanuts for the brain. With jam-packed pages and full-colour illustrations for each entry, the book, opened anywhere, is a call to action. Twelve basic categories include Geometry, Patterns, numbers, logic and Probability, and perception. An easy to read key at the top of each game ranks its difficulty on a scale of 1 to 10, while indices in the back cross-reference the puzzles. (You'll find the answers back there, too)