Witch's Kitchen Escape Puzzle

First off, the idea and execution of this puzzle is genius. I didn't know what to expect or how an escape room concept could be built into a jigsaw, but not only does it work, it works really well. I wanted to provide some balance by addressing a lot of the negative comments this puzzle has received which, in my opinion, are unfair and in many cases incorrect. Be warned, many other reviews will contain spoilers, I hope I have kept my comments below vague enough that it is spoiler free. 1. 'The solution is wrong' or 'the solution doesn't work' - This seems to be the most common complaint, but I can assure you it absolutely DOES work! We solved the individual puzzles (which matched to the answer book) and then found the final answer exactly as the manufacturer intended. The problem seems to be that most people who have complained about the ending not working have either not understood how to use the final clue OR have found the answer and gone one step further than intended. Once you have the answer, that's enough! And I know this because we tried to solve the puzzle using the final clue in the way other reviewers mentioned, but after a while the penny dropped that the clue leads you to the answer in a different way. If you look really closely at the picture in the answer book you can see the manufacturer never intended the final clue to be used in the way so many are complaining about. So it's not the puzzle that's wrong and the clues do work! I hope that's suitably vague so as not to give anything away. 2. 'The puzzle is not the same picture as the box' - The manufacturer perhaps should have mentioned this on the box, it is mentioned in the instructions. But this just makes it part of the escape room experience. The picture on the box is how you enter the kitchen, but you need to find clues so you rummage around move and open things, the cat scarpers in surprise. The picture on the puzzle is then revealing what you have discovered so you can solve the room. The picture is still substantially the same as the box so the box can be used as a guide. Don't buy this puzzle if you just wanted a nice cat picture, remember the purpose of the puzzle 3. 'The puzzle is too hard' - This is the first jigsaw puzzle I have done in about 30 years. It took me and my wife around 7 hours over three evenings to complete, and about another 2 hours to solve the riddles. That felt about right and any less time I think I would have been disappointed we completed it too quickly. There is a lot going on and it was challenging but at no point did we grind to a halt. We were able to complete the edges first as usual and then fill in from there. The picture on the box acts as a useful guide, even though some bits have changed it is substantially the same 4. 'The puzzle is too dark' - Here I half agree. It is a dark puzzle but that's the atmosphere the picture is trying to represent, and there are lots of light areas too. We did find it a little difficult in the evening because not enough light made the image a bit too dark, but too much light and it would reflect off the surface. Would perhaps be best in natural daylight. We thoroughly enjoyed completing and solving this puzzle and have already ordered the next one.

I really enjoyed this puzzle. The level of detail means it’s interesting and not too difficult to complete. The places where the picture changes are the challenges to solve. A love of code breaking and number puzzles is important. I solved 7 of the 8. Had to open the envelope to find out the final one. They all then combine to solve the overall problem, but I don’t think I would have got there on my own without the answer. I will buy another though and now I know the system perhaps I’ll manage the next without help.

The puzzle quality is outstanding as Ravensburger is a fantastic brand. I enjoyed building it up, although I would recommend putting it up together in a room with good natural light as there are many dark pieces. The concept of looking for clues and solving the mystery could benefit from improvements as the description is far too vague, so one is eventually forced to use hints. It took me 2 days to solve - total time of 12 hrs.

Interesting

No Spoilers I bought this as a present for my wife who loves puzzles. The jigsaw was surprisingly challenging and we completed this across 3 evenings (maybe 6-7 hours). Difficulty was increased as the image is dark. When you finish the jigsaw there are some puzzles to complete. It's a little bit unclear what you have to do as the instructions are a bit vague BUT between the two of us we completed the 8 puzzles and worked out the final solution in about 15-20 minutes - so overall I'd have to say the Escape Room element was quite easy. This has left us both wanting to do more in the range - so I would definitely recommend.

Not familiar with this type of jigsaw in that the picture isn’t exactly what the jigsaw is. There are hidden items that are only in the actual jigsaw, plus it is very dark in colours adding to the difficulty. Wouldn't buy this type of jigsaw again. However the make is good and the pieces are precise which helps as they won’t easily fit into wrong locations.

I enjoyed the puzzle well enough and it is quite challenging due to lots of dark, fluid and blurry patterns, which I liked. Gave up on the escape clue (more like an IQ test) almost instantly, but now that I understand the logic I might try with another one.

Kept the mrs quiet for ages, trying to put the puzzle together. Then even longer to workout the numbers to find the clues

Entertaining and the rightblevel of difficulty for young teens and up

Me gusto mucho, muy buena opción como regalo, la calidad del rompecabezas excelente y la imagen, entretenido por ver diferencias y resolver acertijos, lo recomiendo¡

Inte så roligt som väntat, men kanske inte 'min grej'. Pusslet i sig var roligast, men hade då för få bitar för oss.

Wer puzzelt, wird es genießen. Es war sehr machbar und die Lösung hat auch gut funktioniert

Puzzle difficoltà bassa , almeno x me, ottimo x chi vuole cominciare. Gli indovinelli divertenti da trovare e risolvere, davvero ben fatto, ottimo come regalo e da fare in compagnia. Consegna integra e veloce, che dire , perfetto