If you’re looking for legit riddles, puzzles and games to download and use for free for a party or classroom (or whatever), then I urge you to check out public domain books. There’s a huge treasure trove of them waiting to be discovered, and you don’t have to sift through millions of AI slop posts trying to find something good.
I’ve collected a list of free, public domain ebooks available for download on Project Gutenberg. These books have riddles, crossword puzzles, “conundrums,” games for groups and children, and much more. I went through the PG website and manually picked titles to add to this list, pulling from various categories including Games, Riddles, Puzzles and “GV: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation: Recreation, Leisure.” The PG website produced ebooks in various formats, and all these books have an HTML version so you can read them right on the computer if you want. Enjoy!
👉 All Literature Posts / More Riddles and Puzzles
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Riddles and Puzzles Book List
- The Canterbury Puzzles, and Other Curious Problems by Henry Ernest Dudeney (1907)
- Twentieth Century Standard Puzzle Book by A. Cyril Pearson
- The Book of Riddles by Anonymous (1846)
- At the Sign of the Sphinx. Second series by Carolyn Wells (1906)
- Minute Mysteries [Detectograms] by H. A. Ripley (1932)
- Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney (1917)
- The Puzzle King by John Scott (1899)
- Conundrums, Riddles and Puzzles by Dean Rivers (1903)
- Pictured Puzzles and Word Play by A. Cyril Pearson (1908)
- The Crossword Puzzle Book by Prosper Buranelli, F. Gregory Hartswick, and Margaret Petherbridge (1924)
- The Cross Word Puzzle Book: Second Series (1924)
- The Crossword Puzzle Book: Third Series (1924)
- Merry’s Book of Puzzles by J. N. Stearns
- Nuts to Crack: A Galaxy of Puzzles, Riddles, Conundrums, Etc. (1895)
- The Handbook of Conundrums by Edith B. Ordway (1914)
- The Santa Claus’ Book of Games and Puzzles by J. H. Tingley (1864)
- Puzzles and Oddities: Found Floating on the Surface of our Current Literature by M. A. A. D. (1876)
- How to Solve Conundrums (1900)
- Classical Enigmas, Adapted to Every Month in the Year by Mrs. Ritson (1811)
- A Little Book of Filipino Riddles by Frederick Starr (1909)
- Food for the Mind: Or, A New Riddle-book by John-the-Giant-Killer (1778)
recommended
Kindle Paperwhite
I do most of my reading on my Kindle Paperwhite. I like using an ereader because the eInk screen is easier on my eyes, and I like the Paperwhite in particular because I can adjust the backlight, warmth settings, font size and styles, and so on. If you plan to do a lot of e-reading, it’s worth the investment!
Books About Games
- Lady Cadogan’s Illustrated Games of Solitaire or Patience by Lady Adelaide Cadogan (1914)
- The Book of Sports by William Martin (1852)
- Hoyle’s Games Modernized by Professor Hoffmann and Edmond Hoyle (1909)
- The Boy’s Own Book of Indoor Games and Recreations by Dr. Gordon Stables, C. Stansfeld Hicks, J. N. Maskelyne (1890)
- How to Amuse Yourself and Others: The American Girl’s Handy Book by Lina Beard and Adelia B. Beard (1893)
- Things Worth Doing and How To Do Them by Lina Beard and Adelia B. Beard (1906)
- The Child’s Rainy Day Book by Mary White (1905)
- Home Fun by Cecil Henry Bullivant (1910)
- Home Amusements by M. E. W. Sherwood (1881)
- Ten Recreational Parties by Helen Durham (1924)
- Cassell’s Book of In-door Amusements, Card Games, and Fireside Fun
- Games for All Occasions by Mary E. Blain (1909)
- Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium by Jessie H. Bancroft (1922)
- Outdoor Sports and Games by Claude Harris Miller (1911)
- What Shall We Do Now?: Five Hundred Games and Pastimes by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1907)
- Foster’s Complete Hoyle: An Encyclopedia of Games by R. F. Foster (1897)
- School, Church, and Home Games by George Orrin Draper (1923)
- How to Behave and How to Amuse: A Handy Manual of Etiquette and Parlor Games (1895)
- My Book of Indoor Games by Clarence Squareman (1916)
- Popular Pastimes for Field and Fireside, or Amusements for Young and Old by Caroline Smith (1867)
- Games for Hallow-e’en by Mary E. Blain (1912)
- Games and Play for School Morale by Melvin W. Sheppard and Anna Vaughan (1920)
- Games for Everybody by Mary Christiana Hofmann
- It is to laugh: A book of games and stunts by Edna Geister (1922)
- Games Without Music for Children by Lois Bates (1897)
