When I think about my favourite book from childhood, there’s one series that instantly springs to mind—The Usborne Puzzle Adventures. If you were a kid in the ’80s or ’90s and had even the slightest interest in secret codes, haunted castles, or spy missions, these books were essential reading.
Unlike ordinary children’s books, these were interactive adventures packed with puzzles, riddles, and clues that made you part of the story. You didn’t just read them—you solved them.
One of the most memorable for me was Escape from Blood Castle. That cover alone was enough to give me excited nightmares. It was creepy, gothic, and gloriously atmospheric—perfect for a slightly spooky evening of puzzle-solving on the living room floor. Then there was Agent Arthur on the Stormy Seas, where you had to help a spy navigate a perilous mission involving boats, villains, and cryptic messages. I felt like a budget James Bond with a pencil.
Later, I got into the slightly trickier Advanced Puzzle Adventures, like The Intergalactic Bus Trip, which flung you into outer space with aliens and cosmic clues, and Journey to the Lost Temple, which had all the Indiana Jones vibes a kid could ever want—minus the rolling boulder (just).
These books weren’t just fun—they trained your brain without making it feel like homework. Looking back, they probably helped wire me for all the decoding I now do when checking gluten-free food labels like a low-budget archaeologist.
And the best part? I still have them, somewhere upstairs, probably tucked away next to a box of dusty VHS tapes and childhood drawings. I can’t wait to get them out again—this time to read with Ollie. Who knows? Maybe we’ll solve Escape from Blood Castle together, just with fewer snacks and more grown-up supervision.
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