Chess pieces from the travel kit, placed appropriately on the abbreviated chessboard within the octagon, will move when the octagon is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. The goal is to manipulate the pieces via rotation into a checkmate for white, whereupon one drawer in the base will open, and to manipulate the pieces into a checkmate for black (brown) whereupon another drawer in the base will open. The internal mechanism of this leopardwood, holly, and mahogany box can be viewed here and is a puzzle in itself.