QuizKnock's NazoLock Brand on Why Puzzle-Solving Thrives Despite Time Pressure
The interview frames NazoLock's separation from QuizKnock as a strategic move to clarify its identity as a puzzle creator, not a quiz maker, at a time when the puzzle market is growing.
Key Facts
- NazoLock launched as an independent puzzle brand from QuizKnock in July 2024.
- The team has five full-time employees and over a dozen part-time workers.
- NazoLock creates walking-type puzzle events for Tokyo Metro and Tokyo Dome City.
- The puzzle-solving and escape game market exceeded 10 billion yen in 2025, per an NPO survey.
- Leader Yoshiaki Yamamoto said the separation from QuizKnock was to avoid confusion between quizzes and puzzles.
Reporting from 1 source: KAI-YOU.
In an interview with KAI-YOU, NazoLock leader Yoshiaki Yamamoto and member Ryoto Kawakami discuss the brand's launch as an independent puzzle label from QuizKnock in July 2024, its team of five full-time employees, and its work on walking-type events for Tokyo Metro and Tokyo Dome City. The market for puzzle-solving and escape games exceeded 10 billion yen in 2025, per an NPO survey.
NazoLock, the puzzle-solving production team born from the intellectual entertainment group QuizKnock, launched as an independent brand in July 2024. Leader Yoshiaki Yamamoto and member Ryoto Kawakami told KAI-YOU that the separation was necessary to avoid confusion between quizzes and puzzles. The team now has five full-time employees and over a dozen part-time workers, with three members focused on puzzle creation and two on production management.
Their main work includes walking-type puzzle events for Tokyo Metro and Tokyo Dome City, as well as take-home puzzles sold through the online store QurioStore. The interview notes that the market for puzzle-solving and escape games exceeded 10 billion yen in 2025, according to a survey by the NPO IGDA Japan special interest group SIG-Experiential Entertainment.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.