A Puzzling Journey - Part VII

Part VII - So, what’s this about an “MPD”?

Originally part of the May 2025 edition of the Mercurius Newsletter.

When I announced that the Mercurius Temple was available for pre-order in August 2024 (well before the puzzle box was even finalized!), the very first reservation came from a wonderful individual named Al within just four days. The next three came in slowly over the following weeks; three weeks later, then two and a half, then finally another two weeks after that. Four pre-orders in about two months, based only on a handful of Instagram reels and posts, and with fewer than 500 followers? That already felt unbelievable.

An early Instagram reel showcasing a progress update... just a hollow puzzle box and a whole lot of blind, naïve optimism.

Then, in early October (2024), Al suggested I announce the release of my puzzle in a Discord server I had never heard of. Turns out I had created a Discord account a year or so earlier, completely forgot about it and had never joined any communities. So I figured, why not take a look?

That's how I found myself joining the Mechanical Puzzles Discord server (MPD) early one October morning. By mid-afternoon, I had posted in the "upcoming-puzzles" channel. Seven new orders came in almost immediately. The last five were gone before the end of the day. Sold out in 12 hours... I couldn’t believe what was happening.

Just a few months earlier, I was still wondering whether this whole puzzle-making endeavour was even viable. Now, somehow, my first puzzle has been featured on DocHitchcock’s YT channel and in a fantastic article on Boxes and Booze.

I’ll always be grateful to Al; for placing that first order, for inviting me into the MPD community, and for all the advice and encouragement along the way. And to everyone else I’ve had the pleasure of talking everything-puzzles with since, thank you as well.

It feels right that this chapter in my Puzzling Journey lines up with the end of my first production run. I still don’t know exactly where this road is taking me and my family, but I feel lucky to be on it, and grateful to be sharing it with such an incredible community.