Puzzler's Desk

Pieces are small but workable. Took a while to do this puzzle. It is great quality. Sent one to daughter and hubby’s sister. They loved it too.

I purchased this puzzle because I wanted to compare a wooden puzzle to a cardboard puzzle. I made a Ravenburger puzzle of the same pattern. I was not particularly happy with it because all the puzzle piece edges were dimpled which made the seams very obvious. I liked that the laser cut wooden puzzle does not have the dimpled edges. Both the cardboard and wooden puzzles were 1000 piece puzzles. The Wooden City puzzle have smaller pieces. I didn't have a problem working with them, but if you have vision problems then you may find these pieces too small. It seems that all the pieces have unique shapes. This makes it harder to put a piece in the wrong place which I liked. All the pieces don't interlock with one another. This caused frustration when my sleeve cuff would catch on the puzzle and pieces would move out of position. Once the puzzle is fully assembled, there are enough interlocking pieces that the puzzle can be slid on a surface without the puzzle falling apart. Many internal pieces have straight edges. I quickly stopped trying to make the boarder first and switched to collecting pieces by color or pattern then connecting them together. The specialty pieces also provide good centers of focus to start attaching pieces to. I'm looking forward to building another puzzle from Wooden City. I appreciate that these puzzles are a fraction of the price of other wooden puzzles.

I have done wooden puzzles like this before, but this was my first experience with this particular brand. The box that it comes in is a large cube shape that is a little too large for what is inside. That will irk me trying to store it. The puzzle pieces themselves are inside a large paper bag (also larger than it needed to be) inside the box, and they give you a small picture of the puzzle. I cannot work this puzzle yet as my board is being used, but I can tell this is going to take some time. From what I could tell, the pieces look like they will fit okay. They range in size from larger to very small. This is going to be a challenge for me for sure. It is probably a good puzzle and comparable to others like it. I just wish they would drop the size of the box so it will be easier storing. I cannot imagine having about 20 of these to keep. Even 5 or 10 will take up some space. I do keep all puzzles I like to do again later.

This is an amazing jigsaw puzzle and would make a superb gift for someone who likes their puzzles. There is no doubt that it is expensive but you have to consider what you are getting for the price. The puzzle is made from birch plywood and so there is no give at all in the pieces. The 1,000+10 pieces are very precisely laser cut and the quality of the image is bright, detailed and vibrant. On the reverse there is another pattern to help you decide if you have the right piece in the right place. But instead of the usual ABC arrangement there are leaf patterns which very cleverly bring out the wood styling. But the big feature is that some of the pieces are in the shape of animals and birds which makes everything so much more interesting. There is a huge choice of designs to choose from. I thought the pieces were a little small and many of them come out in unusual shapes but it all goes together beautifully. I would see this as being suitable for older children, teens and adults. A small picture is included for reference.If you are not put off by the price then I have no hesitation in recommending these Wooden.City puzzles to you!