Adult Puzzles

Wooden puzzles for adults

Puzzles and brain teasers are a great way of entertainment for children and adults. Many people think that puzzles make perfect gifts for any occasion.

The word “puzzle” is a generic term for a wide variety of logic, mathematical, geometric, spatial and other challenging games. One of the most well-known puzzles are sudoku, tangram, 15 game, Rubic’s Cube and all the incalculable word games. Jigsaw puzzle is a mosaic of multiple pieces that connect to each other by matching colors, shapes and curves and contain some part of the whole picture.

The history of a jigsaw puzzle

The first jigsaw puzzle was invented in 1760 by a Londoner and cartographer John Spilsbury. Initially, he engraved a geographical map on a wooden panel, cut it out and started to use the pieces to teach geography. In those times, they made adult wooden puzzles to show the boundaries between countries for geographical studies.

Later on, in the 19th century, they started to make jigsaw puzzles out of cardboard. Such games were cheap and served as a long-lasting way of entertainment in the times when entertainment was scarce and simple. During the Great Depression the popularity of puzzles grew immensely, but after the World War II the increased prices led to a fall in demand for jigsaw puzzles. However, jigsaw puzzles were never forgotten. The industry resurrected quite fast and developed an immense variety different forms and shapes of puzzles.

Types of jigsaw puzzles

Puzzles for children and adults

First of all the jigsaw puzzles are divided into kids and adult puzzles. Kids puzzles usually contain from 2 to 260 pieces and build a bright, contrasting, distinct picture with reasonably large pieces. Traditionally, children’s puzzle characters are animals, cartoon or  fairytale heroes.

The images on adult puzzles are more intricate and difficult for assembling. They are the pictures of landscapes, animals, architecture, fantastic scenes. Adult puzzles contain 500 pieces and more.

Different material puzzles

Apart from cardboard and wooden puzzles for adults and children there exist puzzles made of plastic, foam rubber (or soft puzzles) and magnetic puzzles.Cardboard puzzles are the most widespread ones, primarily due to their affordable price. Plastic puzzles are more solid and durable. That is why they are more expensive. Wooden puzzles are eco-friendly as they are totally biodegradable. Soft puzzles are more suitable for playing in bath time. Besides, they are cheap. Magnetic puzzles have soft vinyl details that adhere to metallic surfaces. These can turn quite handy as you can keep them on your fridge, for instance.

Fluorescent or luminous puzzles

Such puzzles are covered with a special mixture that accumulates light and makes the key components of the main theme glow in the dark.

Volumetric holographic puzzles

In such puzzles the picture changes depending on the sight angle.

Globe puzzles

Globe puzzles are plastic spheres with slightly curved inward pieces. Surprisingly enough, assembling all the pieces into one quite solid sphere needs no additional gluing. Such a sphere stands on a special base holder included in the kit.

3D puzzles

Three dimensional puzzles take shapes and forms of diverse mechanisms, ships, planes, cars or architectural wonders of the world. They are produced in Poland, China, USA, Ukraine, Australia and some other countries. They are mostly made of environment-friendly and recyclable plywood on pre-cut panels. The purpose of such puzzles is to make a 3d model with an engine that resembles a real mechanism. Difficult 3d puzzles for adults are real challenges! The come in “all-included” kits in wooden boxes with visual step-by-step manuals. Nowadays, 3D  adult wooden puzzles are much sought after as gifts.  Additionally, manufacturers can make personalised wooden puzzles  for your company with your logo.

Tabletop and floor puzzles

Most of us associate puzzles with tabletop games. However, there exist puzzles that are meant to be assembled on the floor. These are carpet puzzles made of foam rubber, soft plastic or wood. People buy floor puzzles for their youngest kids, as a decoration or even an orthopedic carpet.

All in all, a jigsaw puzzle is a fascinating game that develops fine motor skills, logic, visual perception and concentration.

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