14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, but not the best for geography, September 25, 2006
This review is from: The Global Puzzle (Toy)
I have mixed feelings about this map. Keep in mind that the world is mostly water, so if you buy a world puzzle, most of your pieces will be water. This particular map is good because on the water pieces the makers have alphabetically listed all the countries of the world, with their capital, population and area. So as you put the water together, you are learning about the countries. However, the country pieces are not all shaped like the country, as the box leads you to believe. Many countries are simply to small to allow this. Also, there are lots of tiny (and I do mean tiny) pieces that could easily be lost.
Overall, I think that if you like doing puzzles, and want to learn some geography along the way, this is a great thing to buy. It will definately keep you busy for a few hours, anyway. But if learning geography is your primary goal, I suspect that buying A Broader View's continent puzzles might be a better way to go. I haven't seen them yet, but I have read online that they are wood framed, ranging from 26-55 pieces. And they claim that the pieces are country shaped. I have my doubts since the same was advertised about this puzzle, but it seems more reasonable since they are not trying to cram so much into it. I couldn't find these puzzles on Amazon, so you'll have to try A Broader View's website.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Deceptive Advertising, June 1, 2006
= Durability:2.0 out of 5 stars = Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: The Global Puzzle (Toy)
Don't be fooled by the perfect cut of the countries on the box cover. I bought this for my [...] thinking the pieces were actually in the shape of the countries and it would be a good learning tool. Not quite. Some were. Most were not. Some countries were so small they were difficult to read. This will be in our next garage sale.
Springbok puzzles are still the best.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Putting the World Back Together Again, November 29, 2007
= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: The Global Puzzle (Toy)
If you've ever felt like the world has fallen apart and you're the only one with the sense to put it back together, this puzzle is a good first stop. It's a lot of fun, and very educational. It's hard to learn geography, mostly because of all the memorization entailed. But this puzzle will help you learn where all the countries are and other geographic facts.
The country pieces don't interlock, so it's challenging. Most of the country pieces are shaped like their actual borders, but some really tiny and very large countries are not. The small pieces (some are VERY small) are easily lost, so be careful. All countries are featured, and all capitals. The oceans tiles (most of the planet is water) would be really hard to piece together, so they put some basic demographic facts about all the countries in the ocean space--listed alphabetically to aid in assembly. This is a nice touch, but also my main reservation.
My two complaints: there isn't enough oceanic geography and there isn't enough topographic data. The puzzle is purely geopolitical (good in its own right), but lacking in mountain ranges, rivers, and water-based features. Sure, the major oceans and seas are named and so are the more basic features like the Gulf of Mexico. But smaller features are not labeled, like Straits, etc. You can see the Nile, but it's not named. Niether are ANY mountain ranges or topographical features (although, it would not be practical anyway... but it's still a trade off: better country data for poorer data elsewhere).
Regardless, this is a great product. One just has to realize that it is geopolitically centered. I would really love if the made additional map-puzzles in this line for terrain features. IE pieces shaped like rivers, pennisulas, mountain ranges, etc. And with topographical, rather than political, data. That would be an excellent compannion piece if they would add it to their line.
Buy this for kids failing geography, puzzle-lovers and nerds of all ages.
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