International Intellectual Museum — Attraction in Ulaanbaatar

My husband took me here because it impressed them so much when they visited the first time. The docent was attentive and very helpful, answering questions about puzzles and history. Specifically, "everything is puzzle": almost everything in the museum, right down to the furniture and display cases, is made out of interlocking wooden parts not unlike the burr and turtle puzzles the founder made his name in.

AND WE GOT TO MEET HIM! He just happened to be puttering through, maybe enjoying his collection, when we ran across him. The docent interpreted his wishes that we enjoyed his museum and relayed our impressed thanks. He seemed like just a nice old guy, the kind my eccentric grandfather would've got along with like peas in a pod.

Getting to the museum can be a bit of a walk because it's tucked away among a series of Khrushchevkas but it's completely worth it. I didn't take any pictures because we thought they were disallowed but they have a few photo opportunities they'll...

If you're into puzzles or chess, come here. More than 500 chess boards in different styles and from different places in the world, probably thousands of of puzzles. This is the lifelong project of a single person, and is a guided tour. So expect to learn some history, see a LOT of beautiful puzzles, but don't expect to spend a lot of time solving puzzles.

They have a gift shop that is also very much recommended, you'll be hard pressed to find these kinds of puzzles for less than twice the price anywhere else. More than the price though, they have a few puzzles for purchase that are hard to find outside of mongolia. Puzzles made of bone, or puzzles with extra artistry on them.

P.S. they have an english...

I'm an engineer and love this type of puzzles so I was utterly disappointed with this place. The very unfriendly staff informed us that it is not a play area but a museum when they kicked us out after 1h which we had to spent on their tour. Nowhere was indicated that the ticket would have a time limit and on their webpage they try to appear as if you could try a lot of their amazing puzzles. If they wanted to be a museum then the tour was really bad with nearly 0 information (This is a wooden chess board..., this is a chess board made of bones.... ). I was enraged afterwards. (Definitely not for children; boring)

Ich bin Ingenieur und liebe solche Puzzle/Denkaufgaben. Ich war total enttäuscht von dem Museum. Die äußerst unfreundliche Mitarbeiterin informierte uns darüber, dass das ein Museum ist und kein Spielplatz, obwohl Sie im Internet sehr damit werben ein "Museum zum Anfassen" zu sein. Stattdessen wurden wir 1h durch die 4 Stockwerke gescheucht mit dieser Tour, die nahezu 0 Informationsgehalt hatte. Schlechte Leistung für ein "Möchtegern-Museum". Danach wurden wir sofort und unter unserem Protest hinaus komplementiert. Beim Ticketkauf ist nicht klar, dass es dieses Zeitlimit gibt. Ich war sehr verärgert. Wenn ich nur ein Spielzeug kaufen will, kann ich das überall machen und muss nicht vorher noch sinnlos Geld zum Fenster raus werfen. (Auf keine Fall für Kinder...