Galactic Riddles

Numerion landscape: mountains topped with giant digits, digits floating in soap bubbles, number-shaped houses with doors and windows, a stadium, the Archive of Numbers, and a bench shaped like a 4

Planet

Numerion

On Numerion digits don’t stay on paper: they float through the air like soap bubbles, settle on rooftops, and, when the wind blows hard, jumble together into ever-new numbers. The mountains are shaped like gigantic digits, and every house is shaped like its own street number: finding an address is a breeze, and so is losing one.

The inhabitants, the Numerians, speak almost entirely in numbers. They say hello by shouting “17!”, pay compliments with a “42,” and argue by hurling prime numbers at each other. Every year they hold the Great Census of Digits and the Biggest Number Championship, and their folk songs are infinite number sequences whose ending nobody ever remembers.

Dord thought Numerion was the perfect planet, until he discovered that the 8s are all stacked a little crooked. Liz happily dances among the floating digits, careful not to trip over the zeros. M00N, thanks to her universal translator, understands everything the Numerians say and passes it on to the others, always with a bright smile.

Riddles from this planet

  • On Numerion, a lawn of floating figure-eight shapes stacked crookedly in front of a ring-shaped gate guarded by a chubby guardian, with Dord indignant

    Eight Eights

    On Numerion, a gate opens only for whoever makes 1,000 using the digit 8 exactly eight times. Liz, Dord, and M00N give it a…

  • During Numerion’s Great Census, animated digits line up and squabble in front of a census desk, while Liz breaks into a dance step

    Digit Frequency

    Which digit shows up most often in the numbers from 1 to 1,000? And which shows up least? Numerion’s digit census throws Dord into…

  • In Numerion’s stadium, packed with cheering digits, Liz gets ready to write on the blackboard during the Biggest Number Championship

    The Biggest Number

    What’s the biggest number you can write with just two digits and no other symbols? A challenge fit for the champions of Numerion.

  • On Numerion, a small green Martian sitting on a bench counts on his fingers, while Dord traces an equation in the sand and M00N smiles at him

    The Martian’s Fingers

    A Martian stranded on Numerion solves a quadratic equation his own way. His answer reveals exactly how many fingers he has.

  • At a village festival on Numerion, a choir of Numerians sings on a stage shaped like a 3, while Liz dances, Dord covers his ears, and M00N sways in time

    Number Sequence

    1 – 11 – 21 – 1211 – 111221 – … What comes next? On Numerion, this sequence is a folk song everybody knows…

  • At night on Numerion, a spy in a checkered trench coat watches the door of the Archive of Numbers, while the crew hides behind a huge stone 5

    Espionage

    A spy is trying to crack the password to Numerion’s Archive of Numbers. But the rule isn’t what it seems.