Jigsaw puzzles used to be considered a niche hobby that was mostly for seniors and kids. Not anymore! These days, the puzzle craze is growing stronger than ever and adults of all ages are finding the joy and relaxation of puzzling. Whether you’re just dipping your toe into it or are a lifelong puzzler seeking out new challenges, puzzling is for everyone!
Keep reading to learn how to choose the right puzzle for your skill level, whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or expert. Keep in mind that this guide is for puzzles for adults, but some of the tips could be applied to kids' puzzles too.
Everyone starts their jigsaw puzzle journey as a beginner, and as Julie Andrews sings in The Sound of Music, “It’s a very good place to start!” So where do you start? Trust us, it’s about way more than the number of puzzle pieces!
The key is to start with fun and simple beginner puzzles that you want to work on. Make sure you love the puzzle image so you can set yourself up for success with an enjoyable and manageable challenge. It’s better to start with beginner puzzles and work your way up to more difficult puzzles as you improve.
Beginner puzzles are about 300 pieces or less. Any more than that could feel overwhelming, so don’t jump to 1000 pieces just yet. However, as we said, there’s more to it than just piece size. When you’re first getting started with jigsaw puzzles, you also want to choose a beginner puzzle image.
For example, try puzzles that have clear, distinct sections of color. A puzzle with collage-style images of multiple scenes is a great place to start. Avoid puzzle images that only have a few colors. For example, landscape puzzle images that are mostly made up of a blue sky could give beginner puzzlers a run for their money.
The bottom line is you want to choose a puzzle image with strong contrasts. Cartoon images are great for this, or any image that has clearly defined items, like animals or flowers. Maybe save those abstract puzzle images for later when you feel more confident.
Another way to choose the perfect beginner puzzle for adults is to look at the way the pieces are cut. Standard grid cut puzzle pieces each have their fairly uniform shapes, so the pieces are more familiar and predictable. Opt for grid cut or ribbon cut puzzles instead of irregular or random cut puzzles which can be confusing for a beginner.
Tips for Beginner Puzzles:
Examples of Beginner Puzzles:
When you’re ready to level up your puzzle game, the next stop is intermediate puzzles. These are puzzles with more pieces and more complex puzzle images. You can expect to spend more time on these puzzles than you did on beginner puzzles, so be prepared to test your patience!
Intermediate puzzles range from about 300 to 800 pieces. Look for puzzle images that have more subtle color transitions and require more observation. Nature scenes, detailed paintings, and puzzles with repeating patterns are great options.
You can continue working on grid cut puzzles, or you can experiment with other puzzle piece shapes. Irregularly cut or random cut puzzle pieces will definitely up the difficulty level, and you can even try your hand at borderless puzzles. Yes, those exist!
Tips for Intermediate Puzzles:
Examples of Intermediate Puzzles:
After spending time with the intermediate puzzles, you’ll feel a pull to an even bigger challenge. Congratulations, you’re now a puzzle expert! But be warned…expert puzzles aren’t for the faint of heart. You’re in for some major challenges if you want to earn your jigsaw puzzle stripes.
Expert puzzles have 1000 pieces or more. If you’ve got the time, you can get wild and work on a 5000-piece puzzle.
For an extra challenge, choose puzzle images with very little color variation. A forest of trees is a great option, or you could even go for a completely monochrome puzzle. This is when you might tackle large sections of sky or grass.
Try out some specialty puzzles, like shaped puzzles with irregular borders or double-sided puzzles. You could also increase the difficulty by choosing a mystery puzzle that doesn’t come with a reference image - you have to figure it out as you go!
Tips for Expert Puzzles:
Examples of Expert Puzzles:
No matter what level you’re at right now, the most important thing is to choose a puzzle that looks fun to you. Beginners, intermediates, and experts alike will feel that huge sense of accomplishment when they fit the final piece into the puzzle.
Looking for the perfect puzzle for your skill level? Completing the Puzzle has the largest collection of puzzles to rent. We offer over 1,300 puzzles from more than 50 brands across all difficulty levels.
Completing the Puzzle is a subscription program that delivers your next puzzle to your front door. Think of it like old-school Netflix (back when DVDs were a thing) - you add puzzles to your wishlist and we send you one. When you’re done, simply send it back to us and we’ll ship out your next puzzle.
The best way to get better at puzzling is to practice, and a Completing the Puzzle membership is the perfect way to log hours of puzzling. Sign up for a membership today!