Today’s puzzle is ‘Well Played’ from the brand Happily Puzzles and it features the photographic work of Alex Bamford. I have been wanting to try Happily Puzzles for a while and finally bought one to try out. I really like the artwork that Happily Puzzles curates for their puzzles. This puzzle caught my eye because my house is currently covered in Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars due to my car-loving four-year-old. I picked this design with that in mind and because I think this photo is actually quite beautiful. I love the rainbow gradient that the cars create.

I mistakenly thought this was going to be a somewhat easy puzzle to assemble so I was a little surprised when it turned out to be on the spicier side. The middle of the puzzle went together rather easily but it was the top and bottom that proved to be more of a challenge. I pretty quickly realized that each red car was the same shade of red which made identifying the location of all of the red pieces a bit harder than expected. The black, white, and silver cars were slightly easier to put together but sorting their details from all of the black and silver elements of all of the cars (like the tires and the silver bodies visible where the cars were dinged and chipped) meant that I was slower in putting them together.

Despite the more challenging nature of those two sections, I really enjoyed putting this puzzle together. One reason that this was a more enjoyable build is that the quality is lovely. The pieces are a nice thickness, fit together nicely, and they have a unique soft touch finish that is matte. Not only is overhead lighting not an issue but they feel nice to touch and move around. You can move both small and large sections around fairly easily. You’ll note in the video that I moved the entire stripe of yellow cars from the bottom portion of my desk to the top with ease. In fact, the only partial negative I have is there is some puzzle dust but it’s nowhere near the amount you’d find in say, a Ravensburger. I think the issue might actually be the unique texture on the pieces which dust kind of clings to.

The packaging is solid and feels like decent quality. An interesting choice is that the box has no plastic wrap or stickers holding it together when purchased new. I had no problems with this, but I have never seen a brand not seal the puzzle box from the get-go. I didn’t have any issues and generally don’t see a problem with this (it’s certainly more eco-friendly), but thought it was worth noting. The company aims to have as small an environmental impact as possible by using sustainably sourced paper, 100% recycled board, and vegetable-based ink.

Happily Puzzles has a small assortment of puzzles available at the moment, about 32 designs at the time of this blog. It’s about a 50/50 mix of full-size puzzles and their new offering, Mini puzzles! The new minis are 99-piece puzzles that are just as cute as the full-size ones but they only cost $10. For the full-size puzzles, Happily tends to choose collage style images with a decent mix of challenge level. Well Played is actually one of the more difficult designs that they offer but I do feel like they have a good option no matter how experienced you are.

To conclude, I was really pleased with the quality level when you consider the price (approx $25-$27 at the time of this post). I think they offer a pretty top shelf quality at a reasonable price and a great assortment of images to choose from. I’m looking forward to sourcing more of them in the future (especially that tea design)!

Details & Links

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Want to put together this puzzle?

Buy Well Played 1,000 Piece puzzle by Happily Puzzles Here

Other Puzzles from Happily which I want to get:

In The 80’s – This puzzle looks really fun to put together and is stuffed full of 80’s nostalgia
Hot Stuff – A puzzle about loose tea leaf canisters? This tea drinker says, yes please!
Crafty – I really love this collage style design of beer cans all lined up in a grid. Something about the simplicity really works. It’s kind of similar in style to Well Played actually.

Brand: Happily Puzzles
Title: Well Played
Pieces: 1000
Artist: Alex Bamford