Ravensburger Wooden Puzzle Review

Today is all about Ravensburger- a tried and true puzzle brand. Probably THE puzzle brand that pops into people’s minds when puzzles are brought up. And for a very good reason too! With the influx of new puzzle brands Covid brought to us, you don’t have to look very far to find high quality puzzles with unique artwork anymore, but there is something about Ravensburger puzzles that just make them the GOAT. If I haven’t done a Ravensburger puzzle in a while, it’s just a sigh of relief when I finally do, like I’m returning home after a long hard day of work!  

Fantasy Forest by Ravensburger

But did you know that Ravensburger has ventured into the realm of wooden puzzles as well? And my Jigsaw Junkies- they do it so well! I was a bit worried that I would be disappointed- but I don’t know why. Would Ravensburger do something badly? I think not!

When you open up the box- you’re greeted with a sustainable and eco friendly bag sealed with a sticker. You’re also greeted with the most delicious woody smokey smell- think campfire. This is not overpowering like some wooden puzzles can be- I noticed it when I opened the box, but didn’t really notice it when I dove into the actual puzzle process.

The pieces themselves are so thick and high quality. Measuring in at 4mm thick, these chonky pieces are going to hold up for many lifetimes. The image is printed directly on the wood- which means you won’t have to deal with peeling paper, and again, this equals high quality sustainability to me! The image is bright and crisp, and the colors are really saturated. There is also a pattern printed on the back of the wooden pieces.

And oh the shapes! One of my favorite parts of wooden puzzles are whimsies (pl) and this did not disappoint. If you have never done a wooden puzzle before, a Whimsy (sg) is a recognizably shaped piece that dates all the way back to the original Victorian puzzle cutters. This puzzle has 40 whimsies in total, and they ALL fit the theme! Each whimsy shape is actually found somewhere within the puzzle image itself, and I absolutely adore when the whimsies match the theme to perfection like that! Because whimsies come in any shape, this means that the rest of the puzzle pieces have some very wonky shapes incorporated into them as well. See the second picture of the pieces- it shows some very randomly shaped pieces mixed with some very normal shaped pieces. The mixture of all of these shapes makes my puzzle heart so happy!

So, let’s move onto the puzzle build. I tend to find that a 500 piece wooden puzzle is easier than a 500 piece cardboard puzzle, so to make it more challenging for myself, I took all 40 whimsies out and did the puzzle without them. This adds quite a level of spiciness to the puzzle, and upped the challenge factor by a lot! It also makes for some really cool pictures as well! If you are new to wooden puzzles, I would not suggest doing this! That being said, this puzzle build was top notch! The pieces fit together well, and was incredibly satisfying from start to finish.

I was truly impressed with this wooden puzzle, and I really hope Ravensburger continues to come out with more. For now, if you want to check out the other wooden puzzles they offer, take a look at:

Fantasy Forest by Ravensburger

Fantasy Forest by Ravensburger

Until next month my Jigsaw Junkies- happy puzzling!

Amanda @600hoursofpuzzle