Puzzle Book review

I enjoy a good jigsaw puzzle. They test your mind, patience, and are a nice break from other forms of entertainment. Therefore, when Puzzle Book was released, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Although I was sent the basic version, I admit to investing in some of the DLC. There are plenty of unique themes to select, and affordable DLC expands the base game nicely.

This puzzle title was developed by QubicGames. It is a single-player or couch cooperative title. I spent most of my time completing each puzzle with one of my daughters. We worked together as we completed landscape images, pieced together mythical creatures, and laughed as a handful of dinosaurs came to life.

Puzzle Book focuses on the puzzles.

Unsurprisingly, Puzzle Book has no story. Instead, it lets each colourful, interesting, and challenging puzzle take centre stage. Depending on your patience and skill levels, you can pick from a quick 6-piece puzzle. Alternatively, you can select a 100+ puzzle to complete as you sit back, relax, and let your mind get to work.

Nothing about this game is pressing. You can take your time and allow a preview to help you through the tricky moments. However, there were some annoying elements that could have been better polished. I was always taught to complete the outside of the puzzle first. Sort the puzzle pieces, and get to work. Annoyingly, Puzzle Book doesn’t let you do this. Instead, it chucks a handful of pieces at you, and you must start putting the puzzle together. This was extremely frustrating, as that is not how jigsaw puzzles work.

The tainted experience.

Puzzle Book decides how it wants the picture to be created. This works, and I shouldn’t complain, but nothing felt intuitive. This tainted my relaxing experience as I couldn’t complete the jigsaw puzzle as I wanted. There was no logical process, and this was frustrating.

Another drawback was the lack of a permanent picture to refer to. You can use a preview to check your progress, but a permanent picture on the screen would have been much more realistic. The design choice worked, but it felt a little disconnected and like I was cheating when I referred to the preview.

Puzzle Book looks great.

I was thoroughly impressed by the detail of the images in Puzzle Book. Moreover, there is a nice blend of child-focused jigsaws and more mature images. Mythological creatures, landscapes, and other adult-focused ideas will appeal to older gamers. Alternatively, the simple, colourful, and fun child-like puzzles were great to complete with younger gamers. The audio is as refined as you’d expect. A simple soundtrack complements the calm atmosphere, and nothing is complicated or over the top.

The controls were easy to master. A highlighted hue helps you to identify your selected jigsaw piece. Furthermore, there were simple commands to select the preview, change the pieces, and keep on track. Replay value is limited despite the affordable DLC. There are plenty of puzzle piece choices, but this doesn’t change the core game. Therefore, it could become repetitive.

Puzzle Book is fun but limited.

If you do not get the complete edition of Puzzle Book, there are only a few themes to select. This holds it back even though it is fun as a 2-player experience. I liked the simple approach and the safe gameplay. Accordingly, I think it is good, and I recommend buying a copy from the Xbox store!