Artifact Puzzles review
I recently made my first big purchase of laser-cut wooden puzzles. While I have been a collector of hand-cut wooden puzzles (mostly from France) for a while now, I have largely steered away from laser cuts because they seemed to me not worth the cost - they would be too easy for an advanced puzzler, and not that different from cardboard puzzles.
But after attending the Puzzle Parley last month, I became more acquainted with laser cuts, and open to the idea that I might be willing to pay for a smaller wooden puzzle even if it didn't completely confound me or demand a large investment of time.
I was also impressed by the presentation by Artifact Puzzles owner Maya Gupta, who explained the development of Artifact's newest venture, the Hoefnagel Puzzle Club, a cleverly conceived, subscription-based lending library of wooden puzzles.
After placing third in Artifact's speed puzzling contest, I had a gift card to use, so I took a deep dive into their web site and ordered five small puzzles, all in the Really Hard Puzzles category, thinking to myself, We'll see about that.
While I am probably best known as a thrill-seeker of large, extra challenging puzzles that take days if not months to complete, at the Parley I began to appreciate that having an array of smaller, interesting puzzles might help me become more social as a puzzler, and to better share my beloved hobby with others. I think in general people who work on gigantic cardboard puzzles work alone, and most people are intimidated by a puzzle with even 1,000 pieces, let alone 10,000. I have recently connected with several people in my local community who are casual but consistent puzzle fans, and I hope to lend some of these as a way of stimulating further interest in the hobby. Artifact's piece replacement service makes lending more worry-free.
I chose puzzles with difficult looking images that featured unusual piece designs. Artifact really stands apart from Liberty and Wentworth in that every puzzle's cut pattern is custom designed, with a real sense of artistry that is not limited to the figural pieces, but to the overall cut. I also found out that many of Artifact's puzzles have irregular edges, which I absolutely love, and which I don't think the other brands offer. I was relieved to find that the whimsey pieces didn't overwhelm the puzzles I chose - as I'm not a fan of whimsies. Artifact has a nice range with a sprinkling of classic fine art from all around the world, but also many well-chosen contemporary artworks. I wish they had a little more variety in the large sizes.
The boxes are made either of cardboard with a clever magnetic latch (for piece counts of below 200, I think) or a wooden box for the larger sizes. The boxes have a sticker with the puzzle image and other information, and the first thing I did was remove the stickers because in my opinion, a wooden puzzle should come in a plain box. I was able to remove the decals on the wooden boxes with no problems, but I did damage the cardboard boxes - maybe in a future order they will be able to send me any smaller puzzles sans decals.
I made all 5 puzzles in a couple of days, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Unlike most of my completed puzzles, these will not go into cabinets, but back in their boxes, so they can be enjoyed by others!
Artifact Puzzles review
I recently made my first big purchase of laser-cut wooden puzzles. While I have been a collector of hand-cut wooden puzzles (mostly from France) for a while now, I have largely steered away from laser cuts because they seemed to me not worth the cost - they would be too easy for an advanced puzzler, and not that different from cardboard puzzles.
But after attending the Puzzle Parley last month, I became more acquainted with laser cuts, and open to the idea that I might be willing to pay for a smaller wooden puzzle even if it didn't completely confound me or demand a large investment of time.
I was also impressed by the presentation by Artifact Puzzles owner Maya Gupta, who explained the development of Artifact's newest venture, the Hoefnagel Puzzle Club, a cleverly conceived, subscription-based lending library of wooden puzzles.
After placing third in Artifact's speed puzzling contest, I had a gift card to use, so I took a deep dive into their web site and ordered five small puzzles, all in the Really Hard Puzzles category, thinking to myself, We'll see about that.
While I am probably best known as a thrill-seeker of large, extra challenging puzzles that take days if not months to complete, at the Parley I began to appreciate that having an array of smaller, interesting puzzles might help me become more social as a puzzler, and to better share my beloved hobby with others. I think in general people who work on gigantic cardboard puzzles work alone, and most people are intimidated by a puzzle with even 1,000 pieces, let alone 10,000. I have recently connected with several people in my local community who are casual but consistent puzzle fans, and I hope to lend some of these as a way of stimulating further interest in the hobby. Artifact's piece replacement service makes lending more worry-free.
I chose puzzles with difficult looking images that featured unusual piece designs. Artifact really stands apart from Liberty and Wentworth in that every puzzle's cut pattern is custom designed, with a real sense of artistry that is not limited to the figural pieces, but to the overall cut. I also found out that many of Artifact's puzzles have irregular edges, which I absolutely love, and which I don't think the other brands offer. I was relieved to find that the whimsey pieces didn't overwhelm the puzzles I chose - as I'm not a fan of whimsies. Artifact has a nice range with a sprinkling of classic fine art from all around the world, but also many well-chosen contemporary artworks. I wish they had a little more variety in the large sizes.
The boxes are made either of cardboard with a clever magnetic latch (for piece counts of below 200, I think) or a wooden box for the larger sizes. The boxes have a sticker with the puzzle image and other information, and the first thing I did was remove the stickers because in my opinion, a wooden puzzle should come in a plain box. I was able to remove the decals on the wooden boxes with no problems, but I did damage the cardboard boxes - maybe in a future order they will be able to send me any smaller puzzles sans decals.
I made all 5 puzzles in a couple of days, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Unlike most of my completed puzzles, these will not go into cabinets, but back in their boxes, so they can be enjoyed by others!