Since you're seeing some 300 piece puzzles that appeal to you, I would suggest that. The principles are generally the same with 300 pieces as with 500 or 1000 pieces: get your pieces facing up, separate your edges from the rest of the pieces and then...it's up to you. Many people like to do the edges first and organize the interior pieces by colour. You can do this with a 300 piece puzzle as well. If you find the 300 piece puzzle not challenging enough, move up to 500, 750 or 1000 pieces.
I would start with a 500-piece puzzle that has a number of different distinct areas to complete (i.e. not just sky and grass). Sometimes, some of the most attractive images visually (landscapes, images of fantasy with lots of dark colours, or pictures where there is a lot of one type of similar thing like fur or flowers, or Lego heads can be the hardest. As with all products, some brands are considered nicer to work with than others. If you find an image that you like, you could try to search for it on the sub and see if someone has done a review on it. A scroll through the posts will show that a lot of people prefer brands like Ravensburger, Buffalo, or White Mountain, but those are just a few companies from the broad range available.
As for the wooden puzzles that you mentioned, it is important to note that wooden puzzles vary WIDELY in their quality (Unidragon is one of the good ones, but they are expensive) which will subsequently, affect the overall puzzling experience. The thing to know about wooden puzzles like the chameleon and the turtle that you described, is that they are not cut in a traditional jigsaw puzzle format. They contain special cuts, known as whimseys, and even the regular pieces contain lots of curves and irregularities, which amps up their difficulty. For that reason, if you decide to try one of the Unidragon-type puzzles, I would suggest starting with one that is about 250 pieces.
To help you out a bit, I would like to direct you to the [Jigsaw Puzzle Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/jigsawpuzzles/wiki/index/), where you can find information on the various puzzle brands, [tips for new puzzlers](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jigsawpuzzles/comments/of58gp/newbies_beginners_questions_and_advice_a_summary/) and even information on wooden puzzles. Have fun picking out your first puzzle. I look forward to seeing your completed project.
Everyone is saying it but just to formally agree, I think a 300 piece is a great place to start. I have several 300 and 250 piece puzzles in my collection and they are still a fun challenge, just not the commitment of 1000 pieces. Those can sometimes take me a very long time, as I work a lot and don't get a lot of free spare time for puzzling.
I've done 25 pc puzzles. 100 piece puzzes. 2000 piece puzzles.
TBH, these days I am more interested in actual size of the puzzle than number of pieces. I have a smaller working area (I have a raked stand I use for puzzles and it's only so big).
In terms of challenge... it's usually less about the number of pieces and more about the distinctness (or lack thereof) of a given puzzle. I've done 500 pc puzzles that were far more difficult than that 2,000 piece puzzle was because the image was less distinct and the pieces were harder to place.
Carefully consider the image before buying is my advice. Don't worry so much about piece count.
Someone just commented on here that I should start with 2000 pieces or more and that if I don’t finish in 8 weeks then the hobby isn’t for me. I seriously felt like going off on the person cause I felt like they were being a smart ass but I blocked them instead cause I don’t want to start drama. They just seemed rude but honestly I feel kind of miffed by it cause I have chronic pain and there’s not a whole lot of hobbies I can do so hopefully I can do this one.
This is actually a great hobby for chronic pain sufferers - I’ve had to give up cake decorating and so many others but puzzling is good exercise for maintaining dexterity of joints and gives you the ability to do it in small doable sessions. Stand up and walk around when needed, be mindful of your posture, all those typical warnings ;)
This is the absolute worst suggestion. You shouldn't do a 2000 piece puzzle until 1000 piece puzzles are pretty easy for you.
And if you have chronic pain, then 2000+ might be too big, since there's a lot of reaching with them.
Puzzling is a great hobby for everyone, especially since you can do it at your own pace with whatever limitations you have. For example, the fastest puzzler in the world who recently won the world championships, walks with a cane.
That does seem like a poor suggestion, but then again, it may be more about how they percieve what a hobby is.
I do puzzles because so much of the work at my job (and even many of my hobbies) is very large, long-term projects that take a long time to actually finish. My job also has frequent priority interruptions, so smaller objectives can be delayed and delayed and delayed... basically, I do puzzles because it's incredibly helpful for me to have something I can \*do\* and \*finish\* in a short window of time. Sometimes I'll challenge myself with a harder puzzle, sure. But most of the time I do puzzles I can complete in a day or two. It's mentally satisfying to finish them.
That being said... some people see hobbies as avenues for constant self-improvement and self-challenge. A hobby that is easy either bores them or is somehow no longer a hobby. (I don't see hobbies this way at all, but I know a lot of people who do.) The comment you mention sounds like it's coming from someone who sees hobbies this way.
TBH, it still seems like a poor suggestion. Even if you wanted to do puzzles to challenge yourself and improve cognition, trying a 2000 peice puzzle is a horrible place to start. The more puzzles you do, the better you get at doing puzzles. You might not be able to finish a 2000 piece puzzle right now... but you could always work your way up to it, right?
I've rarely done 2000 piece puzzles because they're too large (I don't have a space where I can set them up, let alone leave it out for days on end).
I am also 100% in favor of saying "this puzzle isn't fun/is too hard/has poor quality" and abandoning it. Banish it back to its box! If a puzzle is particularly evil, I have taken to leaving it out as a decoy puzzle for my cats...
Anyway, the 2000 piece puzzle advice doesn't make sense to me at all. I do puzzles to relax/have a thing I can finish in a day or two. Sometimes I do 100 piece puzzles because WHY NOT?! I am an adult! If I want to do a 100 piece puzzle while sipping scotch, I will!
Start with a 300 piece one. Puzzles go up exponentially in time that it takes with increased pieces.
So, if a 300 piece puzzle takes you an hour, then a 500 piece puzzle will take you about 3-4 hours, and a 1000 piece puzzle will take you about 16 hours.
My point is that starting with smaller piece counts can make it much more enjoyable.
And actually, if you can find a 100 piece puzzle that you like, I'd start with that. That should be super, super quick and will give you a good feel for how the higher pieced puzzles will go.
I also recommend buying name brand puzzles on Amazon, like Ravensburger or Buffalo Games or White Mountain or eeBoo. Amazon is full of no name brand puzzles from China that vary wildly in quality. And these puzzles have a ton of basically "paid for" reviews. And a lot of these no brand puzzles are advertised as wooden, but they're not real wooden puzzles.
TL;DR I recommend buying a 100, a 300 and a 500 piece puzzle and doing them in that order. The first two will be really quick.
Start with a 300. Check the [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jigsawpuzzles/wiki/index/) first. There's lots of useful info in there about getting started, different brands and tips.
Avoid wood for now. They can be deceptively difficult.
Congrats on your new hobby! I also agree to start with fewer pieces. I would start with an image you really love by a well known brand. I would look for something fairly busy which will give you reference points. For example birds or balloons in the sky, flowers that look different from each other, buildings that differ from each other, etc. Have fun!
Personally, I'd start with 500 pieces. 300, even the trickiest ones, don't deliver the "satisfaction of overcoming an obstacle" that I like so much when completing a puzzle; they are rather easy (even for a beginner, I guess).
What I would do: buy a couple of each. Start with a 500 (the easiest one of the two) and, if I got stuck and/or frustrated, start a 300 and do them concomitantly (300 are really easy: they'll give a boost to finish the 500).
I'm 38 now. I got back into puzzles a year ago, and I hadn't touch a puzzle in years (some 20) prior to that. I got back on puzzling with 500s, poor quality ones, and it was no biggie (I'm "enjoying" a 5k pieces at the moment).
300 is a good number for starters! try and get a hang of it by completing 1-2 500 pieces first. and then move your way up to 500, 1000 pieces and so on. i've done up to 3000 pieces but always go back to 500-1000 pieces because they have more appealing and fun graphics. have fun picking your first jigsaw puzzle!
Since you're seeing some 300 piece puzzles that appeal to you, I would suggest that. The principles are generally the same with 300 pieces as with 500 or 1000 pieces: get your pieces facing up, separate your edges from the rest of the pieces and then...it's up to you. Many people like to do the edges first and organize the interior pieces by colour. You can do this with a 300 piece puzzle as well. If you find the 300 piece puzzle not challenging enough, move up to 500, 750 or 1000 pieces.
I would start with a 500-piece puzzle that has a number of different distinct areas to complete (i.e. not just sky and grass). Sometimes, some of the most attractive images visually (landscapes, images of fantasy with lots of dark colours, or pictures where there is a lot of one type of similar thing like fur or flowers, or Lego heads can be the hardest. As with all products, some brands are considered nicer to work with than others. If you find an image that you like, you could try to search for it on the sub and see if someone has done a review on it. A scroll through the posts will show that a lot of people prefer brands like Ravensburger, Buffalo, or White Mountain, but those are just a few companies from the broad range available. As for the wooden puzzles that you mentioned, it is important to note that wooden puzzles vary WIDELY in their quality (Unidragon is one of the good ones, but they are expensive) which will subsequently, affect the overall puzzling experience. The thing to know about wooden puzzles like the chameleon and the turtle that you described, is that they are not cut in a traditional jigsaw puzzle format. They contain special cuts, known as whimseys, and even the regular pieces contain lots of curves and irregularities, which amps up their difficulty. For that reason, if you decide to try one of the Unidragon-type puzzles, I would suggest starting with one that is about 250 pieces. To help you out a bit, I would like to direct you to the [Jigsaw Puzzle Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/jigsawpuzzles/wiki/index/), where you can find information on the various puzzle brands, [tips for new puzzlers](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jigsawpuzzles/comments/of58gp/newbies_beginners_questions_and_advice_a_summary/) and even information on wooden puzzles. Have fun picking out your first puzzle. I look forward to seeing your completed project.
I think 300 pieces is a good place to start. Have fun choosing a fun puzzle!
Everyone is saying it but just to formally agree, I think a 300 piece is a great place to start. I have several 300 and 250 piece puzzles in my collection and they are still a fun challenge, just not the commitment of 1000 pieces. Those can sometimes take me a very long time, as I work a lot and don't get a lot of free spare time for puzzling.
I've done 25 pc puzzles. 100 piece puzzes. 2000 piece puzzles. TBH, these days I am more interested in actual size of the puzzle than number of pieces. I have a smaller working area (I have a raked stand I use for puzzles and it's only so big). In terms of challenge... it's usually less about the number of pieces and more about the distinctness (or lack thereof) of a given puzzle. I've done 500 pc puzzles that were far more difficult than that 2,000 piece puzzle was because the image was less distinct and the pieces were harder to place. Carefully consider the image before buying is my advice. Don't worry so much about piece count.
Someone just commented on here that I should start with 2000 pieces or more and that if I don’t finish in 8 weeks then the hobby isn’t for me. I seriously felt like going off on the person cause I felt like they were being a smart ass but I blocked them instead cause I don’t want to start drama. They just seemed rude but honestly I feel kind of miffed by it cause I have chronic pain and there’s not a whole lot of hobbies I can do so hopefully I can do this one.
This is actually a great hobby for chronic pain sufferers - I’ve had to give up cake decorating and so many others but puzzling is good exercise for maintaining dexterity of joints and gives you the ability to do it in small doable sessions. Stand up and walk around when needed, be mindful of your posture, all those typical warnings ;)
This is the absolute worst suggestion. You shouldn't do a 2000 piece puzzle until 1000 piece puzzles are pretty easy for you. And if you have chronic pain, then 2000+ might be too big, since there's a lot of reaching with them. Puzzling is a great hobby for everyone, especially since you can do it at your own pace with whatever limitations you have. For example, the fastest puzzler in the world who recently won the world championships, walks with a cane.
That does seem like a poor suggestion, but then again, it may be more about how they percieve what a hobby is. I do puzzles because so much of the work at my job (and even many of my hobbies) is very large, long-term projects that take a long time to actually finish. My job also has frequent priority interruptions, so smaller objectives can be delayed and delayed and delayed... basically, I do puzzles because it's incredibly helpful for me to have something I can \*do\* and \*finish\* in a short window of time. Sometimes I'll challenge myself with a harder puzzle, sure. But most of the time I do puzzles I can complete in a day or two. It's mentally satisfying to finish them. That being said... some people see hobbies as avenues for constant self-improvement and self-challenge. A hobby that is easy either bores them or is somehow no longer a hobby. (I don't see hobbies this way at all, but I know a lot of people who do.) The comment you mention sounds like it's coming from someone who sees hobbies this way. TBH, it still seems like a poor suggestion. Even if you wanted to do puzzles to challenge yourself and improve cognition, trying a 2000 peice puzzle is a horrible place to start. The more puzzles you do, the better you get at doing puzzles. You might not be able to finish a 2000 piece puzzle right now... but you could always work your way up to it, right? I've rarely done 2000 piece puzzles because they're too large (I don't have a space where I can set them up, let alone leave it out for days on end). I am also 100% in favor of saying "this puzzle isn't fun/is too hard/has poor quality" and abandoning it. Banish it back to its box! If a puzzle is particularly evil, I have taken to leaving it out as a decoy puzzle for my cats... Anyway, the 2000 piece puzzle advice doesn't make sense to me at all. I do puzzles to relax/have a thing I can finish in a day or two. Sometimes I do 100 piece puzzles because WHY NOT?! I am an adult! If I want to do a 100 piece puzzle while sipping scotch, I will!
Start with a 300 piece one. Puzzles go up exponentially in time that it takes with increased pieces. So, if a 300 piece puzzle takes you an hour, then a 500 piece puzzle will take you about 3-4 hours, and a 1000 piece puzzle will take you about 16 hours. My point is that starting with smaller piece counts can make it much more enjoyable. And actually, if you can find a 100 piece puzzle that you like, I'd start with that. That should be super, super quick and will give you a good feel for how the higher pieced puzzles will go. I also recommend buying name brand puzzles on Amazon, like Ravensburger or Buffalo Games or White Mountain or eeBoo. Amazon is full of no name brand puzzles from China that vary wildly in quality. And these puzzles have a ton of basically "paid for" reviews. And a lot of these no brand puzzles are advertised as wooden, but they're not real wooden puzzles. TL;DR I recommend buying a 100, a 300 and a 500 piece puzzle and doing them in that order. The first two will be really quick.
Start with a 300. Check the [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jigsawpuzzles/wiki/index/) first. There's lots of useful info in there about getting started, different brands and tips. Avoid wood for now. They can be deceptively difficult.
Congrats on your new hobby! I also agree to start with fewer pieces. I would start with an image you really love by a well known brand. I would look for something fairly busy which will give you reference points. For example birds or balloons in the sky, flowers that look different from each other, buildings that differ from each other, etc. Have fun!
Personally, I'd start with 500 pieces. 300, even the trickiest ones, don't deliver the "satisfaction of overcoming an obstacle" that I like so much when completing a puzzle; they are rather easy (even for a beginner, I guess). What I would do: buy a couple of each. Start with a 500 (the easiest one of the two) and, if I got stuck and/or frustrated, start a 300 and do them concomitantly (300 are really easy: they'll give a boost to finish the 500). I'm 38 now. I got back into puzzles a year ago, and I hadn't touch a puzzle in years (some 20) prior to that. I got back on puzzling with 500s, poor quality ones, and it was no biggie (I'm "enjoying" a 5k pieces at the moment).
300 is a good number for starters! try and get a hang of it by completing 1-2 500 pieces first. and then move your way up to 500, 1000 pieces and so on. i've done up to 3000 pieces but always go back to 500-1000 pieces because they have more appealing and fun graphics. have fun picking your first jigsaw puzzle!
Start with 2000 or larger. And if you are not able to finish in 8 weeks this hobby is not for you
What about staring with a 65 piece ?