Itzamna’s Eye is an Escape Quest published by Jumbo and comes from the same series as Ascalons Fury (click on the link to see this review). Once again it is the eccentric billionaire Jonathan Eaton who has sent you a package containing three envelopes (six riddles and two puzzles). Unlike in Ascalons Fury, this time you find yourself deep in the jungle. You have arrived here after an incredibly long flight, a harsh ride in a cheap jeep and an hours-long hike that would make the 4Days Marches in Nijmegen look like a walk in the park.
Finally, you reach your destination: an ancient Mayan temple, almost completely overgrown with vegetation. Once you arrive at the vintage building, you must find the door to the temple. Once again, a large puzzle must be solved before the envelopes can be opened one by one. Two envelopes contain a puzzle which, when solved, must be placed in the larger puzzle, but in order to know how this must be done, the riddles must first be solved. Only after the last riddle has been solved, it is known which gemstone you must have and in which colour: the Eye of Itzamna.
But who was Itzamna? Itzamna was one of the most important gods of Mayan mythology. Also called the supreme god/creator god. As a ruler of heaven and earth, Itzamna had an enormous influence and it is therefore not surprising that the eye (with which all kinds of secrets can be deciphered and unravelled) is at the centre of this quest.
What is particularly nice about Itzamna’s Eye is that it tries to connect to the Maya culture as it is known today. This is of course obvious from the name of the game, but also a riddle seems to be based on the calculation methods of the Mayans and another riddle has been devised in which a derivative Mayan alphabet must be used. A great deal of creativity and extremely intelligent/high-quality artwork must be attributed to the game. The creators have simply put a lot of thought and time into making the puzzles challenging in themselves, but also into entertaining the player(s).
Itzamna’s Eye is certainly not inferior to Ascalons Fury. Personally, I like Itzamna’s Eye even more because the puzzles were more fun to solve due to the different shapes and the riddles were really well thought out. The next in Jonathan Eaton’s series is very welcome and eagerly awaited.
Okay, three more riddles then:
– It exists only when there is light, but disappears when there is light. What is it?
– If you overtake the number two in a race, what position are you in?
– What has 21 eyes but can’t see?
