Want Some New Bucket List Items? Try These Puzzles

I’ve come around to really enjoy jigsaw puzzles in my old (for various values of “old”) age, and especially love those with interesting themes, colors, and configurations. My family and I recently got the opportunity to try out a couple of new puzzles from Ridley’s Games, both centering around bucket list items.

50 Awe-Inspiring Travel Destinations and 50 Must-Read Books Bucket List Puzzles are both 1000 pieces and come in a cardboard bucket, with pieces loose in the bucket, along with a sheet of paper with the whole finished image on it. The bucket’s label deviates slightly from the finished puzzle, so the paper is really helpful.

Both of these puzzles have fun, colorful art and they each cover a topic near and dear to my heart: reading books and travel. The puzzle quality is right up there with the other Ridley’s puzzles I’ve done, and it was neat to assemble without really checking out the image ahead of time, keeping which books and travel destinations were included a secret from myself.

The images were busy enough that there weren’t any real monochromatic pieces that were hard to place, but had just enough vague cropping to make it a challenge (no expansive sky!). It was fun to collect like-pieces together and that made it a good puzzle to share with others, because everyone could be working on their own sections.

The Travel puzzle includes imagery from all over the world, via postage stamp shapes and other flat art, highlighting everything from Easter Island to The Northern Lights to Berlin to The Giant’s Causeway. You’ll be reminded of places you’ve been, and new places you want to go. There are even some places I hadn’t even heard of. I’ve only been to a small handful of the included locations, so it’s great inspiration for where to go next (Scotland, anyone?).

The Books puzzle includes 50 books that the publisher recommends, from old classics to newer works that you might have missed. Unfortunately, they didn’t get my memo about how including JK Rowling is problematic (see my Inspirational Women Puzzle post), but if you’re able to ignore that section, the rest of the puzzle is filled with bookshelves of book shapes and specific books along with some really fun related artifacts. I’ve read my share of the included books, but there are still plenty more that I’ve missed, and even a few I’d never even heard of. Perhaps it’s time for a road trip with audiobooks to one of the previously-mentioned travel destinations!

The Ridley’s Games Bucket List Puzzles retail for $20 each and are available on Amazon, among other places. They are some not-too-difficult puzzles that are really fun to share with your family.

Note: I received samples for review purposes.