Missing The Point – Aztec Pyramid Of The Sun

The Aztec Pyramid Of The Sun is located in Teotihuacan, Mexico.  It was originally built around the year 200 by the Aztecs and is approximately 70.556667 meters tall.  Although archaeologists are puzzled by the warren of tunnels beneath the pyramid, beneath the Aztec Pyramid Of The Sun puzzle, you will find jigsaw pieces providing clues on how to enter the pyramid.

The Aztec Pyramid Of The Sun puzzle made by iDventure is a sequential discovery jigsaw puzzle box.  It arrives in a nicely decorated pyramid-shaped box that unfolds like a 4-petal flower with each side dropping down to reveal the pyramid in all it’s naked beauty (no pictures for obvious reasons).  There are visible interactive mechanisms on each of the 4 sides of the pyramid with no indication as to their purpose.  The directions advise against playing with the mechanisms until the jigsaw murals are complete, when all shall be revealed.  It then points you to where the jigsaw pieces are cached in the base of the pyramid to get you started.  The parting advice is to follow the stars.

All the jigsaw pieces are jumbled together and need to be separated into the side that they support.  The instruction manual has a picture of the mural on each side if that is how you like to tackle your jigsaw puzzles.  Once separated, you start with the first mural.  Yes, there is a first one.  Surely you haven’t forgotten to follow the stars so soon.

The sides of the puzzle are quite a bit steeper than the actual pyramid, 75 degrees vs. 32 degrees. The puzzle comes with the sage advice to carefully avoid tipping the pyramid.  However, once you start filling in the pieces on the sides, you won’t be too tempted to tip it.

As each side is completed, you can interpret the clues for manipulating the mechanisms to get you closer to the goal, which is?  A good guess would include opening the top of the pyramid to access the inside.  Along the way, various tools are released to be used in conjunction with the various mechanisms.  And yes, eventually the pyramid reveals it’s secret and one last puzzle to complete.

I worked on the pyramid with my wife and we got the full SD experience.  We thought that there would be clues where there weren’t, missed clues where there were, and still managed to stumble to the end.

I’m embarrassed to say that some of the clues were more clever than I was.  I missed the point and bungled through at least one part where I used trial and error instead of finding the elegant path.  However we both had fun and enjoyed working on it together.