On February 12, 2026, German publisher frechverlag will release the logic puzzle Around the Block through the TOPP brand it uses for games and puzzles.
Around the Block follows the model of many logic puzzles, challenging solvers to "fill in a grid" with specified polyomino pieces — but in this case, you're filling only part of the grid, leaving a single path uncovered that connects various elements in just the right way.
Each of the forty puzzles in the box presents you with a grid — from 4x4 to 7x7 — that depicts a car, one or more passengers, a destination point, and (possibly) one or more pairs of tunnels. When placing the specified pieces, you need to create a path only a single square wide that has the car at one end, all of the passengers en route along the path, and the destination point at the other end. Some grid spaces depict a construction zone, and you must cover these spaces since a car would be wrecked if it rolled on that rubble.
If you create a path that leads to a tunnel, the path will exit from the other tunnel of the same color, allowing your car to hop around the grid in discontinuous paths, well, forcing you to do so since you must incorporate the tunnels, thereby allowing them to fulfill their purpose in life.
Around the Block first appeared in 2022 from UK publisher Professor Puzzle, and while it's no longer available on that market, I've found that puzzles of this type never have an expiration date. I've purchased logic puzzles like these, both new and used, for more than thirty years, and while they'll often feel familiar to one another, they never feel dated or made obsolete by newer releases, which has made them ideal as gifts for both kids and schoolteachers who want to challenge their students to reason and solve problems without resorting to traditional homework.
And since I'm talking about frechverlag/TOPP, I'll mention that I visited the publisher's booth during the 2026 Spielwarenmesse toy and game fair and discovered that it still has no announcement of an English-language edition of Die 7 Bazis' Krakel Orakel, which was nominated for Spiel des Jahres in 2025.
No announcement doesn't mean it will never happen, of course — only that at the present time, no such edition can be announced.
