We know the little wooden puzzles, which are solved in a few moves. But those of the company NKD Jigsaw, in Lodève (Hérault), are jewels of ingenuity. Biscornuous and full of details, they promise cold sweats to those who try to unravel their secrets. These works of art come from the imagination of two friends: Christophe Laronde, a Fine Arts graduate, and Julien Vigouroux, a journeyman mason.
These puzzle, mechanics and magic enthusiasts created NKD Puzzle in 2019 to market these new kind of puzzle boxes, made with eco-responsible materials, and without waste, in their workshop. But, beginners can be reassured, there is “for all levels”, says Julien Vigouroux. “The idea is that people rack their brains. Not scare them away! “The good idea is also to offer, if customers wish, puzzle kits, to assemble yourself. But the already assembled versions are however available, in limited quantities and more expensive, “because it can take more than 200 hours”, confides the entrepreneur.
A Canadian youtuber blew up orders
It was the Canadian YouTuber Chris Ramsay who allowed the Hérault company, in October 2019, to explode. In one of his videos, seen more than 6.6 million times, he tackled one of his puzzles, “the most beautiful” he had the opportunity to solve, he assured. “We went from four orders per month to four orders per day,” says the entrepreneur. Around the world.
The company has set itself a new challenge: to offer a digital version of their puzzles. They have created, with the Aiko Creative Vision studio, “Aenigma Venatorum”, a mobile game that allows you to start solving their flagship puzzle boxes on your smartphone, reproduced in 3D, in a celestial universe. That’s good, for the purposes of creating puzzles, NKD Puzzle was already making models on a computer. It was enough to animate them, and to make them manipulable, as easily, or almost, as in the real world, on a touch screen. A way to reach other puzzle enthusiasts, but who are more focused on their smartphones. “And to tell them: ‘That exists in real life, too!’ “, notes Julien Vigouroux, whose vocation is, above all, “to get people off their screens”.
The app is free to download from Google Play and the Apple Store. The first level is accessible for free. And NKD Puzzle launched a campaign on Kickstarter until May 15, to accompany the financing of the following levels. It allows contributors to receive the physical version and the digital version of the puzzle boxes at home. Ready to take up the challenge?