Project Not All Puzzles Are Created Equal

When sitting down to learn Project L, it may not seem to be a tabletop game at all, but rather the classic video game Tetris. After all, square-shaped board puzzles are acquired and players must fit various polyomino pieces into the recessed spaces of the puzzles.

- Pete Mesling

Unlike Tetris, however, Project L relies more on strategy than suspense. Tetris’s increasing pace only allows for so much forethought, but in Project L, it’s all about the long game.

So how do you secure the upper hand? Project L is a simple enginebuilding game at its heart, so a few wise choices at the beginning of the game can pay dividends later. Players are faced with layers of options in terms of both prioritization and approach, so that’s probably not a bad place to start.

Black or White Puzzles?

There are always four black puzzles and four white puzzles placed face-up at the center of the table. One of the three actions during a turn is to add a puzzle from the center of the table to your own collection of puzzles in progress (with a maximum of four). If a black puzzle is taken from the center of the table, it is replaced with a black puzzle from the face-down stack of black puzzles. The same goes for white puzzles. The difference between the two is that white puzzles have a lower point value showing in the topleft corner. This is because they’re less complex than black puzzles, which can make it seem like white is the way to go — this isn’t a bad strategy for an opening salvo. In addition to acquiring the point value of any solved puzzle, players also acquire whatever game piece is shown in the top-right corner of the puzzle (the game pieces used to complete the puzzle are also returned to the player). Starting with a few relatively easy white puzzles can be a great way to begin amassing a variety of game pieces, which will serve you well when solving more complicated puzzles.