Escape Project E - Einstein Tile

Let’s face it—anyone with a love for puzzles or a mathematical mindset was captivated when the Einstein tile hit the scene. Not just for its clever name (“Ein Stein” = one stone), but for its elegant tiling properties—able to tessellate infinitely, though with a twist (literally—you need to rotate some).

I knew immediately that puzzle designers would be all over it. I’d already been playing with the tile for a side project when I noticed something interesting: arranged in a particular way, the tiles resemble a jagged T-shirt. That sparked an idea.

In the Escape Key project, I’ve experimented with puzzles that reveal a letter, omit a letter, or create an alphabet with one missing. For this mission, I didn’t just want to show a letter. I wanted a gate—a challenge that slows players down just enough to make the solution satisfying. Something clever, but not frustrating. A moment of self-imposed pressure.

I also knew the puzzles wouldn’t be solved in strict alphabetical order. Players won’t necessarily start with A, then move to B, C, and so on. So each puzzle has to stand alone and offer something meaningful, whenever it’s encountered.

From Tessellation to Typography

Instead of one giant letter, I had an idea: what if letters appeared on the joins between quadrilaterals in the tile arrangement? I started experimenting with fonts—cutting letters vertically or horizontally to see how they might disguise themselves. For example:

• Split a P vertically and it might resemble an F

• Slice an A horizontally and the top could pass for part of a V

Ambiguity became part of the puzzle. I gathered letters that could shift depending on perspective, and from my arrangement, I had nine join points—nine letters to work with.

I turned to my go-to anagram tool: Inge's Anagram Generator. It’s brilliant for unlocking combinations I’d never see on my own. It didn’t find a valid nine-letter word from my original set, but it did suggest crafty. That stood out. I removed those letters and tried again. This time it gave me job. And there it was: crafty job.

Building the Puzzle

With my phrase set, I laid out the letters C, R, A, F, T, Y, J, O, B across the tile joins—leaving one clearly missing (I’ll let you guess which!). To prevent frustration, I backed each letter with a keycap-shaped oblong to hint at where it belonged—avoiding the common escape room pitfall of players guessing wildly at positions.

The design was built in Adobe Illustrator, and I prepped two layers:

1. A black MDF background, laser-cut in two minutes, featuring the outline of the Einstein “T-shirt” and keycaps.

2. A clear acrylic overlay, etched (not cut through) with the letters on top of the quadrilaterals. This etching allows the use of Posca pens or acrylic markers to fill in the letters—making them shine.

The acrylic took 20 minutes to cut; coloring and fitting the letters took another 30 minutes. I spent about 20 more minutes shaping it all to fit snugly in an A3 frame. The result? A bold, layered puzzle with striking visual appeal.

What’s Next?

You can watch the full build process in the accompanying YouTube video. But I’d love to hear your thoughts:

• What would you change about this puzzle?

• How could I make it more (or less) challenging?

• What do you think of the way ambiguity and anagrams came into play?

Drop your ideas in the comments—and thanks for puzzling along!