ABOUT BOXENTRIQ

Factsheet / Press Information

Developer	Johan Åhlén
Website	www.boxentriq.com
Genre	Code-Breaking, Logic Puzzles, Lateral Thinking, Room Escape Games
Platforms	Android and iOS
Pricing	Free for the first 10 levels. One-time cost for remaining levels. No Ads.
Press/Business Contact	ɯoɔ˙bᴉɹʇuǝxoq [ʇɐ] uɐɥoɾ
Address	Johan Åhlén AB, Box 41, 234 21 Lomma, Sweden.
Summary	Boxentriq is a code-breaking game that takes you on a journey through logic puzzles, steganography (hidden messaging) and a storyline of joining a secret society. To solve the challenges of Boxentriq you need problem solving skills, creativity and being able to think outside of the box.

The birth of Boxentriq

It all started with a web puzzle

Back in October 2015 I launched the web puzzle Boxen. Unfortunately, in Swedish language only. It became popular beyond all expectations, and well-known for its difficulty. Only about 10 persons managed to solve all 30 levels. The first person to complete Boxen was Joel Eriksson, also known as the man who solved the mysterious Cicada 3301 puzzle.

Cicada 3301 was one of my biggest inspirations

I’ve always loved brainteasers. The combination of really difficult logical puzzles, and the multiple theories about who Cicada 3301 really are, caught my attention. I liked Cicada 3301 a lot also because it required not only technical skills to complete. I hadn’t been as fascinated since I read Gödel, Escher, Bach in my youth.

This led me not only to late nights of puzzle solving, but also to research the dark web and various secret societies. I thought I should do a puzzle game on this theme myself.

Much patience

Following the popularity of Boxen, I decided to create something bigger (and in English). I funded it through Kickstarter around spring 2016. My backers have shown extreme patience, because I was a big time optimist and thought I would be finished with the new game during that same year. Instead I kept getting new ideas and I even rewrote it completely once.

From Boxen to Boxentriq

I decided to change from Boxen to Boxentriq to make it more unique. The original name, Boxen, came from “thinking outside of the box” (or rather its Swedish translation). Boxentriq also contains the elements "eccentric", "iq" and "trick", which are words that I think represent the game. You can expect it to play tricks on you.

An unusual game

I’ve seen many other puzzle games inspired by Cicada 3301, with high to exceptional difficulty. However, they usually aren't much more than a bunch of puzzles, not related through any story or path. Also many puzzles contain too much guess-work.

Boxentriq contains a varied mix of carefully balanced puzzles, which require a combination of witty reasoning, lateral thinking and technical skills to solve. All related through a storyline. It also contains many twists and surprises, awaiting those who dare to try it.

- Johan

Fun facts

When I was around 12 years old, I (kind of) launched my first game, an adventure game for Sinclair ZX Spectrum (ancient computer that was popular long time ago).

I advertised in Sweden’s leading computer magazine (probably spent 4-5 dollars on buying a text-ad) and sold less than 10 copies. The graphics really sucked, and I surely wouldn’t have won any awards with that game.

However, it was the beginning of my path in development and a couple of years later I shared first place in the national “Programming Olympics” for secondary school students. I’ve also got a few other awards since then. But that’s another story!

Credits

Game Design & Development: Johan Åhlén

Images