Daniel's Top 5 Favorite Puzzles

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This blog post is written by me, Daniel, "the puzzle hubby". I'm still a non-puzzler - or as I like to call myself, a fill-in puzzler. In March I was with Emilia in the Pussel SM, Swedish Jigsaw Puzzle Nationals. I was there just to watch and have a small vacation.

I don't do too many puzzles and most definitely did not have any intentions to compete in Sweden. Somehow, I got asked to be someone's pair on the spot and I did end up competing in the pairs category. I was happy to fill in.

I think it was my fourth puzzle ever that I have done. As Emilia, I was also competing as an international guest, "unofficially" so to say. I placed 79th in the classification round. But there was a rule that for international pairs, the best three move forward to the final no matter what is their placement. As there weren't too many international pairs, I was in the final with my pair Diana.

If we go even more back in time, the very first puzzle I did was a 500 piece puzzle you all know from the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship 2023. Ocean from Ravensburger's Circle of Colors collection.

I was with Emilia in the WJPC, and I was giving her tips after she touch-and-go qualified from the semifinals to finals with that Ocean puzzle. I don't think she was very much receiving my awesome tips and pointed out that I have never done a puzzle in my life.

Later that night (or should we say 2 AM), I finished my first puzzle on our hotel room table. We may have differences in opinions about whether my tips were relevant but sometimes it helps to listen non-puzzler's point of view.

Non-puzzlers for sure are not inside this speed puzzling bubble and may see things in completely new ways. Sometimes this can be very beneficial. But today, I'm not here to share my speed puzzling tips, I'm here to share my favorite puzzles that I have done!

Circle of Colors: Ocean, Ravensburger

This was my first puzzle ever. I was getting excited from watching the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship. When I first started the puzzle I thought it would have been easier process. I thought all the little creatures would have been easy to identify but in the end, that wasn't the case.

Ocean circle puzzle — Picture taken in the night from our hotel room.

This *Ocean puzzle was much more difficult and challenging to see what direction the creatures were facing. Even though there were different colors but then there were also multiple creatures of the same colors and they all looked the same. At least that's how it felt.

It took me like six hours to finish, I think. I was very determined to finish it even though it started to be a bit painful. It was a fun puzzle to do. It was a good choice to do a round puzzle as a first one because they are so different from regular puzzles.

The Blue Car, Clementoni - With Emilia for BOTYP 3.5

I would like to say that this was very difficult for me. I don't think I would been able to finish as quickly without Emilia. This *Blue Car puzzle was quite challenging because, in every section, the pieces were very similar. There weren't really patterns to put together.

In the pink area, there was a small balcony and I was trying to put all those pieces together but I made it incorrectly and Emilia had to fix the situation later. I would not recommend this to a beginner. If you do, please do it slow if you are a beginner - and have a lot of patience.

I enjoyed the livestream we did for Emilia's YouTube channel. We did this puzzle in real-time. It was nice to share the experience with other people from all around the world who were watching, talking about the puzzle, and hearing their opinions.

I have done mainly Ravensburger puzzles. In addition to this Clementoni puzzle, I have also done the *Funny Dogs puzzle by Trefl Prime but I didn't like it too much. I have also done *Painted Safari by Mudpuppy, I liked it a lot. Super nice pieces and animals. The pieces felt high quality and from my viewpoint didn't have any glare. And that puzzle didn't have burned colors, the colors matched the poster.

Vintage Travel Guides, Aimee Stewart, Ravensburger

So much fun to look for all the little details. This felt almost like dozens of mini puzzles in one puzzle. It felt exciting. It wasn't intimidating because you could build it little by little. I find this a beginner-friendly puzzle.

Aimee Stewart has such a unique style. She has so creative mind. Her illustrations are amazing. She is recognisable. When you see her illustrations you know right away that it's hers. This *Vintage Travel Guides puzzle was a great example of that.

It would be cool to see more artist puzzles that are custom-ordered for puzzles. I don't like traditional animal puzzles (they are hard). I don't like collage puzzles because they are deceiving because they look easier than they are - especially ones with dogs and their fur.

London, New York & Paris Postcards, Ravensburger

All of the postcards feel more beginner-friendly for the reason that there are quite many identifiable objects. It makes it more straightforward when you can identify different sections, build puzzle islands, and then just put them together.

As 500 piece puzzles, these are not intimidating. As a beginner, you can still do them in a reasonable time. The images are nice to assemble. They feel unique. If I would need to put all postcards in order from easiest to "hardest", the order would be the following:

*New York Postcard. It's the easiest because the Statue of Liberty covers a lot of the puzzle and it's easier to put together than the other centerpieces in other postcard puzzles. I did this alone, my second puzzle ever.
*London Postcard. It's easy because all the little items are more different from each other (than in the other postcards) and easier to identify. Did this together with Emilia as a practice for BOTYP 3.5.
Paris Postcard. I did this with a pair in Pussel SM, Swedish Nationals. It felt the hardest, pieces were harder to find. The patterns were familiar from the other postcards I had done before. And the dotted areas were easy to put together.

Pokemon, Ravensburger - 500 Piece Round Puzzle

I like this puzzle because I'm a Pokemon fan. It makes me feel nostalgic, and takes me back to the good times in my childhood. It was so much fun because I could recognise what Pokemon is what just by looking at the pieces. Also, it was fun that I could remember the Pokemons by their names.

I like round puzzles because of their funky pieces. Funkiness is very interesting to me. It's different from traditional puzzles. My first puzzle mentioned earlier was round too. I also like the colors of this *Flower Pokemon puzzle.

I have also done another Pokemon puzzle together with Emilia. And then later I did it with my friend for the second time. This puzzle is *The First 151! - Pokemon puzzle from Ravensburger too.

What's next? Am I already a puzzler after all?

Hmmm.... you know I would really love to do more Pokemon puzzles. I don't know other Pokemon puzzles but I want to check them out. They make me feel quite good so I would love to have more Pokemon puzzles. I take a lot of joy out of them.

Maybe I will upgrade myself from a fill-in puzzler to a puzzle hobbyist or whatever. I think it's good for me to engage more with puzzles. Firstly, to spend more quality time with Emilia. Secondly, to do it for relaxing.

The only challenging thing is the time it takes me to finish a puzzle. Not sure where to fit it with my daily life or weekends.

I would like to thank you for reading this, and I hope to see you in one of the competitions. Who knows, maybe I will be your fill-in puzzler pair someday!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate links in this article are primarily to US Amazon. If puzzle is not available in US Amazon but available in Amazon DE, the link is directing to the latter one. Those puzzles that are available on both sites, the Amazon DE links are listed below for my European readers.

*Circle of Colors: Ocean, Ravensburger

*The Blue Car, Clementoni

*Vintage Travel Guides, Ravensburger

*London Postcard, Ravensburger

*New York Postcard, Ravensburger

*Pokemon (round), Ravensburger

*Painted Safari, Mudpuppy

*The Funny Dogs, Trefl Prime

*The First 151! Pokemon, Ravensburger

*Paris Postcard is currently not available anywhere. It was earlier this year available for pre-order. I will keep you updated if and when it comes available again.