Ravensburger Puzzles - PC

This is the only jigsaw software I've purchased, and I seem to be having a much better experience with it than others have; many of the bugs others ran into seem to have been fixed in my software. I was able to install it on both my one-year-old laptop (Win7) and four-year-old netbook (WinXP), and it seems to run just fine on both, although sometimes I have to restart the program because it doesn't load properly. I had no problem using the menu options for importing my own images and turning them into playable jigsaws (tried this on both netbook and laptop and worked just fine with each). The music does cause a lag, but only when it changes from one song track to the next; if one keeps it on just one track, this doesn't happen. I do wish there was an instruction book, but there is a "question mark" icon in the controls panel on the puzzle worktable which, when clicked, will tell you what all of the button options are and how they work. The software takes a while to load, but once loaded, seems to run well and without issues.I was looking for a program which would simulate the experience of assembling jigsaw puzzles as a pass-the-time game (not to replace real jigsaw puzzles) for myself, and this program works for that. I do not mind that not all of the puzzle images and sizes are unlocked at the start; it gives me something to look forward to accomplishing as I puzzle along. I would not consider this software as a replacement for physical jigsaw puzzles, though; it simply doesn't have the same "feel" of a tabletop puzzle. It also is not quite polished enough to feel like a final version...more like they ran out of production time so just put their beta version on the market, bugs included.All in all, it's worth ten dollars or so...just don't expect a realistic and complex jigsaw experience.

I love this collection of puzzles. I read the reviews before buying it and thought I might not like it. It is true there is no instruction about the buttons on the side in the box, but it you press help. There is some explanation. It is true you have to go through a collection of puzzles to get to the true mode and to unlock more in the free mode you have to have more and more puzzle pieces. Some of the puzzles are not pictures that turn me on, but they are challenging and fun! I'm Addicted!About the buttons: the hand is to move pieces of puzzles or the work board ( the slide at the side reduces and enlarges and I have found that if you reduce immediately you will find all the pieces that are hidden on the screen). There are trays to load different color pieces but they won't take pieces with a reduced intensity. The second button is a lasso tool and you can round up group and place them elsewhere on the screen but they won't allow you to scroll down. The third button I haven't figured out . The fourth is the edge collection box. The last is the picture of the puzzle but it is so big it covers the pieces.The quickness of time and the amount of puzzle pieces unlock the pictures and while you don't have access to all the puzzles immediately you have more than enough to work before others are released.

This software loaded and ran on my desktop PC which has Windows Vista and a 256 MB ATI Radeon x1300 pro graphics card (the box mentions at least 128 MB ATI Radeon x1000 series or later so I believe my card should have been fine). However there was a major problem. All of the puzzle pieces were totally white. They did not show any of the puzzle design at all. I tried reloading several times but always got all white pieces. I finally tried it on my ASUS netbook that has Windows 7 and it works properly on that machine. However the little screen of a netbook is not really suitable for a jigsaw puzzle. Even so, I have almost completed campaign mode on my netbook. I find the puzzles quite hard as I have not found any way to turn off rotation of the pieces. Also, I have not found any option to auto organize the inner pieces. There is an option to gather the edge pieces into a tray but the rest of the pieces are spread out quite widely (the table top is very large) and there does not seem to be an option to auto arrange them. You can highlight them as a group and move them but that isn't the same. It appears to me in general there are limited options and features. It isn't very expensive software and I will probably play it enough to make it worth the cost but I am somewhat disappointed.

The puzzles offer an interesting pastime for people of all ages and interests.There are puzzles of varying levels of difficulty and also the option of making ones own puzzles, with pictures of ones choice. The thing that makes the puzzles such a real experience for me is the fact that sometimes the last piece or two appear to be missing and starting a search to find it. How often we find lost pieces in jig saw puzzles and it is annoying. These have the advantage of never getting lost. I am a grandmother and gave the puzzles to my children, grandchildren and three siblings this holiday season. They seemed well pleased with the choice.

Love the selection of puzzles and able to select number of pieces to be played.

Tried to load it on two computers....one with XP and the other with Win7 operating systems. NO GO !! I'm returning it.

Garbage program. Very limited options.

A lot of great puzzles to do on this CD. I've bought a few of these jigsaw puzzles now and like them all.