Customer Reviews

The Global Puzzle

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I recently bought this puzzle for my nieces and nephews. Not only did they love the puzzle, but the whole family learned how little we knew about World Geography. Now I actually know that Cameroon is in South Africa. I recommend this for any young student or adult who desires to learn about the world we live in.

We bought this puzzle for our 10 year old daughter. 600 pieces seems to be the magic number. She gets frustrated with 1,000 piece puzzles, but anything under 500 is boring because she can finish it in 10 minutes. This is a great educational toy and you can't beat the price.

During Christmas, I bought this puzzle to entertain my 5,6 and 8 year old nieces and nephews while my sister cooked dinner. I am not a puzzle person, but thought it might keep them busy and teach them something at the same time. I was right. What surprised me is how much fun I had as a 29 year old completing the puzzle! I was shocked by how little geography I knew. During the holidays, we had a ball completing the puzzle and have saved it. Each time I come over, we go and look at the puzzle to identify new places members of our family have traveled. Great product!

I'm not a "puzzle person," but the Global Puzzle was a surprising treat! I wanted to learn about world geography in a fun way, and this puzzle did not disappoint. The ocean pieces are shaped like ordinary interlocking puzzle pieces, but the countries were shaped as they actually are and do not interlock. This made it difficult to keep everything together (they kept sliding apart). But if you follow the suggestion on the box and fit all the ocean pieces first, it's much easier to fill in the countries. Overall, I would say this puzzle is unique and quite fun. But be careful--it's addictive! Once you start, you won't want to stop until it's finished.

I recently purchased this puzzle in the search for making my "geographically challenged" children learn more geography. Not only was this a great tool for learning, but I ended up joining in and educating myself in the process. For those parents who are worried that their children are not learning and becoming more "worldly", this is a perfect interactive tool that is both fun and helps feed their brain.

I originally purchased the puzzle for my 12 year old daughter but the whole family eventually put it together. In this case ignorance isn't just bliss, it is also fun. Our family was shocked how little geography we knew.

This puzzle turned out to be like two separate games. First, we tried separating the pieces by continent (which we did very poorly). And then we put it together. It was fun finding out how far off we were at times. Everyone was shocked how many countries we had never heard of or couldn't even place in the right continent!

Overall it was a great learning experience for the whole family. I recommend this product. It is well-designed, pretty and fun to put together.

After struggling to find a gift she would enjoy that would also provide a little educational content, I'm happy that I wound up choosing the Global Puzzle. It was a good challenge for her, but not so difficult that she got frustrated or bored and gave up. I would gladly recommend this product to others with children in this age range.