EnigMarch, like NaNoWriMo… But for Designing Puzzles!

If you’re like us (okay, maybe just me), then you like to overcommit on lots of challenges throughout the year… NaNoWriMo, Inktober, Dry January, Fool’s Errand… You name it!

But this March something brand new and very, very exciting is happening in the world of puzzles:

EnigMarch

EnigMarch is a daily puzzle creation challenge. Every day in March, @EnigMarchHQ will share a prompt that can be used as inspiration to create any kind of puzzle you like, from cryptograms to mazes to chess problems to those fruit-counting ones you see on Facebook. All skill levels are welcome, from expert puzzlesmiths to absolute beginners—you don’t have to create a masterpiece, just something that’s convincingly a puzzle.

EnigMarch

With less than one month to go until the challenge kicks off, there’s plenty of time to purchase an extra notebook and get the puzzle-writing muscles flexing.

What We Know About EnigMarch So Far…

EnigMarch was born in a Discord community, from a general wish of many enthusiasts for a puzzle-making challenge. Sarah W and a few additional volunteers put the plan into motion and already it has many high profile board game designers and escape room enthusiasts committing to the challenge.

So what else do we know so far?

Takes Place: March 1st – 31st
Where: Online, here

The best part about EnigMarch is that it’s entirely self-paced. So unlike NaNoWriMo where you’re committing to 1,667 words a day, you can take EnigMarch at your own pace. Create for yourself, create for someone else, write a little riddle, or build out a full complex game that’ll have your friends and enemies scratching their heads.

It seems to be a no-judgement challenge with a nice, growing community.

How to Sign Up for EnigMarch

It’s simple – you don’t need to sign up for anything.

Daily prompts will be posted on Twitter and their website, but there’s also an Instagram page and a Reddit group you can catch up with and network in. Furthermore there is an additional thread in the Escape Rooms discord channel.

Once you see the daily prompt, all you need to do is go off and create a puzzle based on the prompt. Players are encouraged to share with the hashtag #EnigMarch on their platform of choice… That or leave puzzles in a public restroom, tie them to a pigeon’s leg, or burn them. In short, whatever you like!

To help, there is a page of resources that can be found here, that has many useful links about puzzle creation.

There’s even a puzzling playlist to get stuck into!

So, will you be playing EnigMarch? Let us know in the comments!