A Look at Lenticular Puzzles

I wanted to try something new for my blog post this month. After spending a few days pursuing Puzzle Warehouse's huge selection, I decided to try out a couple of lenticular puzzles. Lenticular puzzles have a very unique effect; when you look at them from different angles, some have a 3D effect and others shift colors. The two I'm going to tell you about are the color shifting type. Depending on what angle you're viewing them from, they'll be a different color.

Both puzzles are from Galison and come in a sturdy box that has a lenticular picture on the front of the box, so you can see what the puzzle is going to be like. This is helpful if you're unfamiliar with lenticular puzzles. They also both have 300pcs and include a double sided print for reference. The finished puzzle size is 17.75"×11" and the piece thickness is 2.2mm.

First up is Andy Warhol Soup Cans Lenticular Puzzle. I attempted to sort the pieces by color, but as you can see, the same piece can look

like a few colors depending on the angle you're viewing it from.

After sorting, I attempted to assemble the border. I was able to get the pieces that had part of the soup cans on it together, but the solid area border pieces were quite a challenge. So I decided to set the edge pieces aside and begin working on the middle of puzzle, the soup cans. I found the trick to knowing if I had a piece in the wrong place was to look at it from a slightly different angle. If the colors matched when the shift happened, it was correct. If not, I had it wrong and would remove it. The cans came together fairly easily. Just like with the border, the solid color areas were a bit more challenging.

The second puzzle I selected is a Jonathan Adler Lenticular Puzzle. As you can see these pieces also have a beautiful color shift.

A lesson I learned from the Soup Cans puzzle is that sorting isn't all that important with lenticular puzzles, because of the color shift. So I sorted out the edge pieces and quasi-sorted the rest of the pieces. I got most of the border together easily with this puzzle and then went to work on the middle section.

I again used the strategy of putting pieces together and then looking from a different angle to be sure they're in the correct place. I'm not sure if it's this particular puzzle, or because it was the second one I did, but this one came together much easier than the Soup Can puzzle.

These puzzles took a little getting used to, they are very different from your average puzzle, but that's what makes them fun. And when you're finished, you have an interactive piece of puzzle art that you could glue, frame, and hang on your wall. If you're up for a new challenge, I definitely recommend ordering a lenticular puzzle.

If art puzzles aren't your thing, check out these other lenticular puzzles: