You read correctly; the Bandit has expanded into puzzles! Whether you are a seasoned puzzler, a new pandemic puzzler, or just curious about the hobby, The Puzzle Bandit is here to help, keep reading this week's blog on our top 5 puzzle brands, and the selections they have to offer.

Did you know, the last puzzle craze was during the Great Depression? It was a cheap option of entertainment for people to do at home, with many of the puzzles in the early 1930’s actually being advertisement puzzles for companies.

The past year and a half has brought a huge uptake in puzzle popularity, puzzle manufacturers have seen a 300-400% increase, and with pandemic related pauses in productions these popular brands sold out quickly and struggled to replenish. Puzzle manufacturers are even reporting they are having shortages in the cardboard required to produce new puzzles. Many manufacturers have made the decision to only run popular puzzles such as 1000 piece puzzles, as they cannot keep up with the demand and have down time to retool their factories.

5. HEYE Jigsaw Puzzles

HEYE puzzles are manufactured in Germany, and offer some of the most entertaining, fun and appealing puzzle designs in the market. Heye’s original focus for their puzzles was on cartoons and humour, however, the company currently prides itself on using artists of the highest order. If you are interested in cartoons or movie-themed puzzles check out our selection of Heye puzzles, including the Movie Masters Seek and Find Collection, featuring Steven Spielberg Films and Tim Burton Films puzzles.

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4. Gibsons Jigsaw Puzzles

Gibsons is a UK based puzzle company dating back to 1919, they specialize in British-themed puzzles, which a great pick for those daydreaming of past or future travels. Gibsons are known for their thick sturdy pieces and their puzzles are cut in a gridded ribbon pattern, making for easy piecing together where the pieces ultimately line up in grid like patterns with consistent rows and columns.

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3. Eurographics Jigsaw Puzzles

One of the more well known puzzle manufacturers, and what you may not know is that Eurographics is actually a Canadian puzzle company, located and founded in Montreal, QC in 1987. Eurographics original focus was on photography and fine art puzzles, however nowadays you can also find other selections from, funny animals, hobbies such as knitting, sewing and reading, a variety of food puzzles such as sushi, donuts, and cookies, and tons of top travel destinations like Yosemite National Park, Neuschwanstein Castle, and Machu Pichu. Whatever your preference might be you can guarantee beautiful and vividly colored puzzles when choosing Eurographics. Their puzzles use a cut pattern that's both a regular ribbon cut and a random pattern making a more abstract puzzle pattern with multiple sizes of pieces once completed.

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2. Cobble Hill Jigsaw Puzzles

Cobble Hill is another Canadian owned puzzle company, based in Victoria, BC. Having been founded in 2005, they are, surprisingly with their popularity, fairly new to the industry. A fun fact about the company is that it is named after Vancouver Island’s Cobble Hill.

These puzzles are high-quality with attention to details, they often feature cheeky and whimsical artwork and are usually in a random cut pattern, and a linen finish, which cuts down on glare. Their random cut pattern offers unique variations on the usual shape of pieces. The pieces may have small, large, or missing tabs and blanks, bringing a more abstract pattern to the completed puzzle. While Cobble Hill overs something for everyone if you are looking for a pop of color on your table check out their Orange puzzle, Colourful Rainbow puzzle or the Classic Archie Comics puzzle.

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1. Ravensburger Jigsaw Puzzles

Puzzles holds a gold standard around the world for their puzzles (and games, books, toys, etc)

Ravensburger concentrates on ribbon cut puzzles, meaning they are your tried-and-true cut pattern, with pieces effectively lining up in a grid pattern with identical rows and columns. You will discover a variety of artistic styles and a distinctive thick blue paperboard backing with Ravensburger puzzles.

Board Game Bandit and Puzzle Bandit has a variety of Ravensburger puzzles including the popular Disney and Disney Villainous puzzles. If you are looking for something different with a new twist, check out the Ravensburger Escape Room puzzles! These puzzles differ once completed from what is shown on the box, making the completion of them trickier, especially for you puzzlers who love to line up each piece with the box cover! Once you complete your puzzle you then solve the escape room mystery using the story enclosed and the puzzle picture in front of you. Ravensburger also supplies sealed clues and spoiler codes for online videos if you need help along the way.

A 2018 poll, done on behalf of Ravensburger, found that 59% of people said puzzling was relaxing, and 47% of people found it relieved stress.

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Unplugging and engrossing yourself in a good puzzle is an excellent choice to unwind and take your mind off the happenings in the world, turn on some music, exercise that brain and lose yourself in one of these great puzzles!