Ravensburger Krypt Silver 654 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle for Adults - 15964 - Every Piece is Unique, Softclick Technology Means Pieces Fit Together Perfectly

My mom is into puzzles and wanted a challenge. This gave it to her! She typically does puzzles completely on her own, but with this one she was ready to give up a few times. I had to help her complete it! When I bought it for some reason I believed that the coloration was different throughout the puzzle. Like it was all silver, but different shading a bit so you could at least tell what pieces went to what part of the puzzle or something. I was completely wrong. The entire puzzle has the exact coloration so that is of no help. This doesn't bother me in the least since it made the puzzle that much more of a challenge, which made it that much more fun for us. This is the ultimate challenge puzzle. It's no easy puzzle by any means, it is something to brag about finishing. My mom called a craft store about how to store the completed puzzle when we were done and mentioned what puzzle we completed, and the employee she talked to said "You finished Ravenburgers Krypt???" The puzzle has a reputation! Honestly even if we never finished it and gave up I think we would have had fun trying and talking about the difficulty. And any reviews from people saying "I solved this quite quickly!" are lies from sad people trying to pretend. WAY too many pieces look the same! There are pieces that take up the spaces of two pieces, and you don't know where they go! The center is circular, leading you to believe you can figure out which ones belong in the circular center and which ones belong on the edges. But beyond the middle of the circle, the closer you get to the edge, the more the pieces look exactly the same as the square ones. They did a great job of camouflaging the center pieces to look like the edges, leaving you with even more pieces to sort through to get a match. It's no easy puzzle by any means! Total puzzle fun and a great challenge!

This is a highly enjoyable puzzle for people with significant patience and experience with puzzles. Despite lacking a picture, the puzzle's circular design and variety of specialized pieces make completing it less challenging than one might expect. I completed it in about a week during spring break, spending about three hours average each day on the puzzle. As another reviewer mentioned, a disciplined and organized approach will make the difference between frustration and relative ease. I followed a process something like this: after opening the puzzle, flip over all the pieces to their shiny side and begin sorting them into separate piles by shape so you can look at similar types of pieces at a glance and find the one you want. I sorted the contents of the bag into: 1) piles of border pieces 2) rectangular pieces with six tabs 3) rectangular pieces with five tabs 4) pieces with two tabs facing out and two tabs facing in 5) pieces with three tabs out and one tab in 6) pieces with one tab out and three tabs in, and 7) pieces with non-rectangular shapes and/or 'strange' tab arrangements. This process took a few hours, and the border and a large number of pieces came together fairly easily as I sorted the pieces. After this I began using the image on the back of the box as a piece guide and to mark off pieces that I had already placed. If you are interested in doing the puzzle on 'hero mode,' you can try it without looking at the box. The puzzle guide included in the box was unnecessary for me, and other reviewers have suggested that it contains errors. You should quickly notice that most of the piles arranged above correspond to specific places on the puzzle; for example, most of the rectangular pieces with six and five tabs will be placed on the far right and left of the puzzle, and many of the 'weird' pieces will comprise the outside ring of the circle. If you have a disciplined and patient approach, this puzzle's difficulty can be scaled down to a very reasonable level, and if you are interested in making the puzzle very difficult, for instance by not using the box as a piece guide, that is possible, too. After having done many 'normal' puzzles in the 1000-2000 piece range, the Krypt puzzle was a very interesting and enjoyable change of pace. I wish now that Ravensburger would release this puzzle's predecessors in the US, which were released as part of the company's Think series, had similar pictureless designs, and came in pink, blue, and bronze.

Ravensburger makes some of the best quality puzzles around, and the Krypt Silver 654 is no exception. The pieces are thick and lock together nicely. I thoroughly enjoyed building the puzzle which I found was easier than the Gold Krypt, but took around the same amount of time (a few days). Overall the puzzle was well worth the money spend. Below are 5 quick hints/observations that you may find useful. 1. Ravensburger includes a black and white picture of the finished puzzle that you can use as a key. I recommend using it! I’m not sure if I could of completed it without going crazy without using the key. 2. Since there is no picture, I would recommend sorting the pieces by number of holes/tabs, boarders, sizes, etc. as you take them out of the box. This will help reduce the number of possible “trys” you will need to attempt per piece. Sorting the pieces as you take them out of the box also keeps the puzzle dust in the bag instead of all over your work surface. 3. If you plan on buying a frame for the puzzle, it measures 19 ¾ x 27 ¾, a 20x28 frame works nicely. 4. The puzzle is well made and tight fitted, if you find a piece that works but just a little off, it is not the right piece!. I read some other reviews where people had to trim some pieces, this should not be the case. 5. If you intend to use sticky sheets (this is what I use) to keep your puzzle together, I found that it was easy to flip your puzzle over if you build it on a scrap piece of drywall. Use another scrap piece when completed to put on top and then flip it over. Some people recommend sandwiching your puzzle between two pieces of cardboard, but I found that drywall was much easier since cardboard tends to bend and flex.

This is the second in the series that I have completed. The Ravensburger Gold Puzzle was super difficult, but the Silver Puzzle was easier. Not saying this is an easy puzzle, not at all. The puzzle map it comes with is for the most part accurate. I photocopy the puzzle map and mark off the pieces as I go along. To do this puzzle efficiently and to avoid errors you must complete it in a systematic way like starting from one side or the borders and work your way towards the center. Pieces can easily fit that shouldn't and if you end up putting the wrong piece in it its becomes turns into a domino effect after that. If the pieces are hard to pull apart you have the wrong piece. A lot of the puzzle pieces either overlap another puzzle piece or falls short in lining up to another puzzle piece so it is near impossible to just randomly put pieces in and be 100% correct. So, you need to put a piece in and then look for the adjacent piece and keep on doing that. Sometimes you do have to try every single piece in that shape to finally find your piece, so this is a tedious puzzle that requires patience. But, at the end it is rewarding to have completed it. The puzzle pieces are not the sturdiest. So, you do have to handle with care.

This was without a doubt the best puzzle purchase I have ever made. At first I thought to myself "What have I done" when I opened the box and the reality of a totally blank puzzle hit me. But the more I studied the problem, the more I began to realize that even though there was no picture to go by, the included chart served the same purpose. It just takes a slightly different approach than one would take with a "Normal" jigsaw puzzle. Here is the approach I used to turn the working of this puzzle around from total frustration to total satisfaction and enjoyment. First I separated all the side pieces as most of us normally do, but I just put them aside until later. This removed a lot of bulk and confusion from the process at hand. Next, since there were no colors involved except the nice silver coating of the puzzle pieces, I sorted the pieces by size, making five or six piles ranging from the smallest to the largest pieces. That's because the bulk of the puzzle is made up of a large spiral with the size of the pieces gradually increasing from the center of the spiral to the outer edge. Finally I made an enlarged copy of the included chart. I enlarged it to almost 200% which made the pieces on the diagram nearly the same size as those in the box. Now I was set. Some say that using the chart as a guide is cheating, but that is like saying that looking at the picture on the box top of any other puzzle is cheating, so I say phooey on the cheating comment. With chart in hand, and a few of the smallest pieces on the table, I was set for a couple of days/weeks/months(?) of puzzle working enjoyment at its finest. I wound up completing the puzzle in just over a week. The action seems to really speed up as you approach the outer edges and install the side pieces. Then it is time for a drum roll! Technical comments: Ravensburger at their finest. The quality of this puzzle is supurb. All of the pieces are cleanly cut, and when a piece fits, it fits with a reassuring click into place. There is seldom any guesswork about whether or not you placed the right piece, even when there is no color to go by. Dust in the box was nonexistent. The covering of the pieces is beautifully textured and just spells quality. I would also point out that unlike many jigsaw puzzles on the market today, this one does not have a jungle of bizzare looking shapes to search through for the right piece. Five or six basic puzzle shapes are complemented by just a handfull of odd shaped pieces necessary to make the spiral fit. The pieces go in either vertically or horizontally in relation to each other, rather than looking like something that has been tossed on a wall. Yes I would recommend this puzzle to anyone over the age of 12. Younger than that may have a bit of a time with it.

I'm a puzzle person. This one is beyond hard. Took 4 hours to assemble the edge pieces. I read another reviewer that said he considered 1 piece an hour a very good speed. After working on it for 4+ weeks, I agree. Many pieces will fit more than one location, especially in the first 7 or so rounds of the spiral. You can discern a little texture to the top of the puzzle, and I used this to help figure out those spiral pieces. After 4 or so weeks, I have the spiral filled to about 8-10 rounds, all the edge, and the corner areas to about 3x3. They do include a picture of the finished puzzle that will help show the design of the pieces, but the form and direction of the interlocking tabs is distorted! I assume that's by design... I'm trying to find a method to do this one without resorting to 1) trying every single piece in every location or 2) using the 'cheat sheet'. I've used the cheat sheet a little and even then, you are stuck trying a lot of pieces. Sorting the pieces into groups by piece design AND size helps a good bit. The spiral get larger as it goes outward. I am thinking of using a caliper and measuring the pieces to avoid having to try them all. First layers of the spiral are sort of easy and fun. You can pick out pieces and clearly see a curve to them. When you hit layer 8 or so, they lose a LOT of the curve, face inward, get smaller, and are impossible to find! Edit: Have now finished it. Worked on it initially for about 4 weeks or so, then shelved it (carefully, so I would not lose progress). Restarted work on it yesterday. ~8 hours later we were done. Nice to have it finished. The puzzle glue is drying now.

The reviews of this puzzle are varied in terms of difficulty. Myself, I was able to complete the puzzle over a 4 day span in about 20 hours without opening the cheat sheet or looking at the picture on the back. This was much faster than I was expecting based on the reviews. Regardless, the build is very enjoyable. Read on to gauge how long it will take you to complete. Though, these will almost come as spoilers to the solution... First, the color is irrelevant. I'm not a fan of solid color puzzles as they seem a gimmick for the sake of being difficult. This puzzle, however, the shapes are absolutely the picture in themselves; no color is needed. I'm reminded of the iconic Death Star or a crater on the Moon, if you're groping for a visual of what this looks like. Second, the designers provide very easy to follow hints based on the shapes of the pieces: * The center of the puzzle is a swirl, gaining in width each row from the center * There are oddly angled pieces that connect the swirl to the normal shaped pieces * The corners are 4x4 units with 1x2 pieces attached and forming part of the puzzle edge. The corners are symmetric * There are 1.25x and 1.5x width pieces, also indicated by the edge pieces * Finally, the middle of the sides of the puzzle each contain a 1.75x width piece with two tabs or slots. There are only 12 pieces to put together here, 6 on either side, and these will get you to the edge of the swirl Third, the edge pieces guide the builder as to which type of piece to use. The top and bottom of the swirl begin on the edges. The 1.25x and 1.5x edge pieces also guide you from the edge to the swirl. When you understand how these pieces come together all you need to do is sort the pieces appropriately. Only about 10-20% of the puzzle will fit in each section of the puzzle: corners, swirl edge, the inner half of the swirl, and the outer half of the swirl. This keeps the build pace somewhere between "too easy" and "brute force". Really, a very good balance between the two. I would compare this in difficulty to other Ravensburger puzzles in the 1000 or 1500 piece range. But far more enjoyable and satisfying when completed. This is just a very well designed puzzle. If Ravensburger made another version with a different shape I would definitely puchase it!

I will never do a blank puzzle again. Well, probably not. If you have to do a solid color puzzle to complete your bucket list, this is a fun one. I love the Krypt format, although I'm not sure if the difficulty came from the shape or from the lack of picture at times. The puzzle measures 50cm by 70cm when completed, and a 20" x 28" frame will work for it if you want to preserve it. The shape is what makes the Krypt puzzle line fun. In the middle is a massive spiral, spiraling from smaller pieces to larger, barely curved pieces. Bordering these pieces are irregular, typically triangle-shaped pieces that provide the interface between the pieces making up the spiral and the quadrilateral pieces that make up the outer parts of the puzzle. To complete this puzzle, you have to rely on the obvious factors: shape, size, number of prongs/slots. A guide showing the puzzle piece types in a completed puzzle diagram is provided in a sealed envelope with the puzzle, but it is left up to the purchaser whether or not to open it. Some people like taking their pictures of the completed puzzle with the sealed envelope to prove they did not need it. The biggest downside to this puzzle I think is that the majority of the satisfaction only comes when you complete major blocks, like all of the border, all of a block-filled corner, or larger portions of the spiral. You don't get the same satisfaction you do from completing part of a picture. However, it provides more satisfaction throughout than a larger piece-count solid color puzzle. Overall, I found it was a lot of fun to just stop at the table and work on it for an hour here and there. I will definitely do another Krypt puzzle...but I think this time one with a picture. Maybe the Krypt puzzle with the Riemann fractal.

Very enjoyable to do, certainly makes you work for it

Updated info: Got this finished, I didn't do it, but my now ex-friends did. We had to check the picture on the box to navigate and find where each piece goes. That worked. However, the picture is cropped a bit so it doesn't help 100% Now, a really important bit of information is... after completing the puzzle, I found a small piece of folded paper inside. Which, turned out to be a map of the entire puzzle. So, if you buy this, make sure to get that out of the box and use it. I threw the map in the trash before anyone else found out that I forgot to give it to them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Old Review: Quality of the pieces are quite nice. Seems like it has a layer of fabric like material on the top side, plus it is slightly shiny. Overall it has a decent look and texture. Unfortunately a few pieces seem to have splinting layers on some corners already, but nothing too major. Correct pieces slide in and fit very nicely, on the construction side of things I think this puzzle is top notch. It really is all plain white and it does looks like a daunting task. However, the layout is not random and the pieces are organized by certain shapes and size distributions. If you refer to the map on the bottom of the box, it gives plenty clues so that you don't have to go through the trial-and-error of trying all possible combinations of pieces to fit them together. I bought this so that I can put it together with lots of other people. We have just started and it is so far so good. Buying this have certainly fulfilled both the sadistic and masochistic needs at the same time. The frustrations and stress I've inflicted upon myself and others brings great satisfaction. One downside I can think for myself is that, when I put together puzzles, I want something I would frame and display afterwards. However, being very plain, I'm not sure if I'd want to put this on display once it is completed. Anyhow, great puzzles and great purchase.

Buena calidad, impresión uniforme. Muy recomendable

Very nice puzzle!!! Love it!!!

Wer mag es schwer beim Puzzeln? Der ist bei dieser Art echt richtig! Ich habe ewig gesessen und mir auch die anderen Farben davon geholt. Echt herausfordernd und abendfüllend :)