Turn The Screw

Turn The Screw is a screw-pin puzzle with the look of a scrapyard. Each board is a tangle of twisted iron sheets and plates, held in place by bolts, nuts and rings, and the description calls it a maze for good reason: the pieces overlap and pin each other down, so working out what can come loose first is the whole challenge.

The game describes itself as an unscrew and screw pin game, so both turning bolts out and turning them in are part of the action. In this genre, the order of moves decides whether a board comes apart cleanly or jams; a plate held by two bolts usually stays put until both are dealt with, and a sheet lying across another tends to block it until it is cleared.

The goal, in the game’s own words, is to become a screw master. The maze tag suits its layered, look-before-you-touch structure better than a plain sorting label would. It appeals to players who enjoy mechanical puzzles and the satisfaction of a knot of metal coming apart piece by piece.

1. Study how the iron sheets, plates, bolts and rings overlap.
2. Find a bolt whose removal frees something.
3. Unscrew and screw pieces to loosen the structure step by step.
4. Keep going until the puzzle is solved.

Start with the top layer. Pieces lying on top of others are usually the ones holding the rest of the board in place.