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Over half a million copies sold

Six murders. One hundred pages. Millions of possible combinations… but only one is correct. Can you solve Torquemada’s murder mystery?

In 1934, the Observer’s cryptic crossword compiler, Edward Powys Mathers (aka Torquemada), released a novel that was simultaneously a murder mystery and the most fiendishly difficult literary puzzle ever written.

The pages have been printed in an entirely haphazard order, but it is possible – through logic and intelligent reading – to sort the pages into the only correct order, revealing six murder victims and their respective murderers.

Only three puzzlers have ever solved the mystery of Cain’s Jawbone: do you have what it takes to join their ranks?

Please note: this puzzle is extremely difficult and not for the faint-hearted.

The next challenge for fans of Cain's Jawbone: the TikTok sensation and international bestseller.

A body is found stabbed to death in a locked room. The police find no weapon, no motive and no suspects.

However, the murderer has in their possession a box of one hundred cryptic picture postcards which – if properly understood – would explain not just this murder, but nine others. This book contains those cards.

Solvers must rearrange the pages of text to unravel the story and identify the murderer, victim and location for each of the ten murders. They must also consider the separate puzzles presented by the curious images on the other sides.

Torquemada taught us that complete dedication is key and from devising detective pinboards to daily investigation diaries, Cain’s Jawbone puzzlers did him proud. But now the time has come to dust off that magnifying glass, because a global movement to solve the first picture postcard puzzle is about to begin. Do you have what it takes to explain The Researcher’s First Murder?

Since 2016, podcasting legend Jeff Cannata has delighted Filmcast listeners with show-stopping movie reviews in poetic form. Now, lovers of the silver screen can enjoy reels of these laugh-out-loud limericks in Best Summed Up: a must-have quiz compendium for cinephiles.

From applauding filmmaking mastery in box office sell-outs to damning dismissals of action big hitters that have missed the mark, Cannata critiques every genre of contemporary film and unpicks all must-see releases from 2018 to 2024 with his signature wit and wisdom.

The challenge is simple: readers must identify the film described by each verse in five, delightfully moreish levels of brain-teasing poems. So grab some popcorn and see if you can achieve award-winning status of your own by completing the ultimate test for movie buffs.

YouTube sensation Stuart Ashen is back with his second instalment of terrible old computer games you’ve probably never heard of... because what the world needs right now is to know exactly how bad Domain of the Undead for the Atari 8-bit computers was.

Attack of the Flickering Skeletons is even bigger than the original Terrible Old Games You’ve Probably Never Heard Of – this second excavation of gaming’s buried past will not only unearth more appalling excuses for digital entertainment, but also feature guest contributors and several special interest chapters not based around single specific games.

These are NOT the games you’ve heard of a million times in YouTube videos. This is a compilation of truly obscure and dreadful games. Dripping with wry humour and featuring the best, worst graphics from the games themselves, this book encapsulates the atrocities produced in the days of tight budgets and low quality controls.

Welcome to a world of games you never knew existed. You will probably wish you still didn’t.

As Daniel Hardcastle careers towards thirty, he looks back on what has really made him happy in life: the friends, the romances… the video games. Told through encounters with the most remarkable – and the most mind-boggling – games of the last thirty-odd years, Fuck Yeah, Video Games is also a love letter to the greatest hobby in the world.

From God of War to Tomb Raider, Pokémon to The Sims, Daniel relives each game with countless in-jokes, obscure references and his signature wit, as well as intricate, original illustrations by Rebecca Maughan. Alongside this march of merriment are chapters dedicated to the hardware behind the games: a veritable history of Sony, Nintendo, Sega and Atari consoles.

Joyous, absurd, personal and at times sweary, Daniel's memoir is a celebration of the sheer brilliance of video games.

Not all games are released equal. The barriers of language and culture can leave our world divided, and this includes the video games that we get the chance to play. Matt Barnes, Dazz Brown and Greg S-C of DidYouKnowGaming? created the YouTube series Region Locked to give people an insight into the weird and wonderful titles that never left their home countries, and now they bring their expertise to you in this book.

Encounter masterpieces you never knew existed from your favourite series and developers, as well as some utterly bizarre creations that seem so outlandish you might wonder how on earth they were released in the first place. The authors explore what it's like to play these games and investigate the fascinating characters behind them to discover why such remarkable creations never enjoyed international exposure.

The book covers games from all eras and a variety of platforms so there’s sure to be something to pique the interest of everyone, from casual gamers to hardcore fans.

Japan has produced thousands of intriguing video games. For any number of reasons, not all of them were ever released outside of the country, especially in the '80s and '90s. While many of these titles have since been documented by the English-speaking video game community – and in some cases, even unofficially translated – a huge proportion of the Japanese game output is unknown outside of their native territory (and even, in some cases, within it). Some of these games are oddities, the kind of uniquely Japanese title that wouldn’t have been commercial viable outside of the country; others may have done well but were victims of circumstance. Plus, for quite a long time, the Japanese industry developed separately from American and European output, with their own landmark titles that created trends and inspired later games. Even the older games have a visual and aural style that make them distinct from similar games from around the globe. Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: Japanese Video Game Obscurities seeks to catalogue many of these titles – games that are weird, compelling, strange, cool or historically important. Some of these may be familiar if you’ve comprehensively read Hardcore Gaming 101 website archives (though the actual text for this book is completely original), but we’ve also included a large number of titles that aren’t (currently) reviewed, and in some cases, have little to no English-language coverage whatsoever. Most of these games are Japanese exclusive, though we’ve also picked some that are suitably obscure outside of the country, or were only localized many years after their original release. In some cases, they’re games that were hugely successful in Japan but barely made a mark in the West.

This is the definitive behind-the-scenes account of Capcom’s horror video game series Resident Evil – one of the most popular, innovative and widely influential franchises of all time. Industry expert Alex Aniel spent two years interviewing key former members of Capcom staff, allowing him to tell the inside story of how Resident Evil was envisioned as early as the late 1980s, how its unexpected and unprecedented success saved the company from financial trouble, how the series struggled at the turn of the century and, eventually, how a new generation of creators was born after the release of Resident Evil 4. Itchy, Tasty narrates the development of each Resident Evil game released between 1996 and 2006, interspersed with fascinating commentary from the game creators themselves, offering unique insight into how the series became the world-conquering franchise it is today.

In Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of, Stuart Ashen has created a collection of hilarious and damning reviews of some of the most bizarre, frustrating, pointless and downright terrible video games ever made. And he would know. . . he's played them all. Dripping with wry humour and featuring the best, worst graphics from the games themselves, this book encapsulates the atrocities produced in the days of tight budgets and low quality controls. These are the most appalling games that ever leaked from the industry's tear ducts and have long since been (rightly) relegated to the dusty shelves of history. Welcome to a world of games you never knew existed. You will probably wish you still didn't.

"A labour of undiluted love and enthusiasm." — Daily Telegraph

As Daniel Hardcastle careers towards thirty, he looks back on what has really made him happy in life: the friends, the romances… the video games. Told through encounters with the most remarkable – and the most mind-boggling – games of the last thirty-odd years, Fuck Yeah, Video Games is also a love letter to the greatest hobby in the world.

From God of War to Tomb Raider, Pokémon to The Sims, Daniel relives each game with countless in-jokes, obscure references and his signature wit, as well as intricate, original illustrations by Rebecca Maughan. Alongside this march of merriment are chapters dedicated to the hardware behind the games: a veritable history of Sony, Nintendo, Sega and Atari consoles.

Joyous, absurd, personal and at times sweary, Daniel's memoir is a celebration of the sheer brilliance of video games.

The next challenge for fans of Cain's Jawbone: the TikTok sensation and international bestseller.

A body is found stabbed to death in a locked room. The police find no weapon, no motive and no suspects. However, the murderer has in their possession a box of one hundred cryptic picture postcards which – if properly understood – would explain not just this murder, but nine others. These are those cards.

Readers must rearrange the pages of text to unravel the story and identify the murderer, victim and location for each of the ten murders. They must also consider the separate puzzles presented by the curious images on the other sides. 

Torquemada taught us that complete dedication is key and from devising detective pinboards to daily investigation diaries, Cain’s Jawbone puzzlers did him proud. But now the time has come to dust off that magnifying glass, because a global movement to solve the first picture postcard puzzle is about to begin. Do you have what it takes to explain The Researcher’s First Murder?

“If you’re ready for an extra-hard, old-time challenge, have at it!”-- Will Shortz

From the creator and publisher behind the viral sensation Cain's Jawbone: A Very Novel Mystery, is a collection of 112 difficult cryptic crossword puzzles.

Before Edward Powys Mathers wrote the world's most fiendishly difficult literary puzzle, he was a cryptic crossword creator. Under his pseudonym "Torquemada", his puzzles would taunt readers for days. He created his first cryptic crossword puzzle in 1924 and went on to set them for the Saturday Westminster and the Observer for the next 15 years. His true identity was only revealed when he died in 1939. 

As well as earning the reputation for setting the world's toughest crosswords, Torquemada - or 'Torq' as he was often referred to - was also delightfully creative: with many puzzles written in perfectly constructed verse, or delivered as mini-narratives to their solvers. There's even a version where the clues are knock-knock jokes. 

For many years cryptic crosswords were simply known as puzzles in the 'Torquemada style'. This selection of Torquemada's best crosswords was originally published in 1942 and contains three short accounts of Torquemada's life and achievements, including one by his widow, R.C. Mathers as well as a foreword by the crossword puzzle editor for the New York Times, Will Shortz. The successful revival of Cain's Jawbone has inspired a new generation of puzzle solvers.

Here then is the next challenge for Torquemada's fans - dare you take it on?