Puzzle Reviews

Tetris DX is a very fun game! You will be addicted to it in no time! There are many different things you can do to change the game settings. For example, you can change the music. You can also change the level you are on yourself, although I wouldn't recommend doing it until after you have become a very good player. There also many game modes you can play in, like 40 Lines, on which you have to get 40 lines without your blocks hitting the top, Marathon, on which you just keep going and going and going until your blocks hit the top, or Ultra, where you see how good you can do, except you only have 3 minutes to do so. The computer also keeps track of your best records and displays them when you are choosing your level. Tetris DX is an absolutely terrific game! I would recommend it to anybody! You'll have a lot of fun playing it. Thank you for reading my review. I hope it helped.

Tetris DX is a very fun game! You will be addicted to it in no time! There are many different things you can do to change the game settings. For example, you can change the music. You can also change the level you are on yourself, although I wouldn't recommend doing it until after you have become a very good player. There also many game modes you can play in, like 40 Lines, on which you have to get 40 lines without your blocks hitting the top, Marathon, on which you just keep going and going and going until your blocks hit the top, or Ultra, where you see how good you can do, except you only have 3 minutes to do so. The computer also keeps track of your best records and displays them when you are choosing your level. Tetris DX is an absolutely terrific game! I would recommend it to anybody! You'll have a lot of fun playing it. Thank you for reading my review. I hope it helped.

I have both this game AND Tetris Worlds for Game Boy Advance, And I love them both as much as the other. Tetris worlds my not have a Battery Back-up, but it more than makes up for that with the extremely fun game variations and the classic tetris Music.
Tetris DX DOES Have a battery, but it's just basic tetris. I'm able to score at least 400,000 points regularly, so every time I top out I have to put up with that annoying rocket launch sequence, wheras with Tetris Worlds, when you top out, you can start the next game right away without having to put up with annoying rocket sequences. the bottom line: went I want to play Classic Tetris, I play Tetris DX. when I want Enhanced graphics and effects and Nostalgic Music, I play Tetris Worlds

We bought this for my 5 year old when she was 2 and she still loves this puzzle. All of her cousins do the puzzle when they come over and now her younger sister loves it too. It has held up well for all the use it has gotten!

We have 4 of these Lights, Camera... Interaction floor puzzles for our son. He started with them in the winter when outdoor activities are limited. He was about 1 year and 9 months then, and very quickly this became a favorite daily ritual. It built eye-hand coordination and dexterity, associative skills, naming skills, and of course self-confidence. After a few days he was able to do them by himself, always following a certain pattern (like starting with the tractor, its tires, then the sheep, etc). Soon he learned to identify edge and corner pieces. By having several puzzles, over time the lessons for puzzling became generalized. After the puzzle is complete, he does a "puzzle dance" to celebrate, stomping on the completed work of art! This is a wonderful indoor activity, assuming one has enough floor space or a very firm carpet to spread it out. Also makes a great gift. Melissa & Doug, who make the puzzles, should be thanked and congratulated on an affordable, durable starter puzzle.

My daughter (now 28 months) has loved this puzzle for over 1 year! She first loved seeing the excellent barn/farm animal picture come together like magic when she was young. Then she enjoyed putting the pieces we gave her in the spots we'd show her. Now she knows to look at the picture on the box for help, separate all the edge and middle pieces and can put it together pretty much on her own. (Although she loves an audience when putting puzzles together!) We now own six large floor puzzles, although this one is still the favorite. The alphabet train puzzle is a close second and is great for helping my daughter learn the alphabet visually in order. We sing the alphabet song from the beginning each time so she can figure out which letter piece comes next. These puzzles are really fun and are excellent quality. Also, this barn picture comes in a large knob wooden version as well, which my 8 month old son is beginning to enjoy! I highly recommend these puzzles for any child just under a year old and up to probably age 5 or 6. (The neighbor's kids play with them just as happily and they are 5 and 7.) I'm sure my daughter's love of puzzles began with this barn puzzle.

We first learned about this puzzle when our son's speech therapist brought it over one day. He loved it so much we had to rush out to buy it! He started playing with it at 18 months and is now almost three and still loves it. During this time, he has played with it in so many different ways. First, he enjoyed playing peekaboo with it. Then, he progressed to knocking on the door and asking if anyone was home. He also finds it hysterical when you put the pieces in the wrong places. It's been a great tool for us to encourage his language development, not to mention that it's lots of fun too.

My 16-month old received this toy as a gift and he loves it! It keeps his attention, and he comes back to it every day. A few of the pieces are small, so we must watch him closely while he plays with it.

My son is 18 months old and he loves this toy. He puts the pieces on the fridge. He spents a lot of time with this toy.

This is quite inexpensive for all you get. I love that this is a combination of upper and lower case letters.

This puzzle can be made the traditional way or it can be used as a moveable alphabet. A moveable alphabet is a name for little letters that kids can manipulate on their own. Moveable alphabets are used in Montessori schools and other schools. After buying an expensive moveable alphabet of only lowercase letters (that is all that is available from that other manufacturer) I realized I could have bought multiple sets of this puzzle and use them in the same way. A moveable alphabet is used in freeform activities with your child to teach letter recognition. It is a tactile exercise as the child is holding the letter and moving it, rather than it being a little mark of ink on a page. You or the child can also form words with the letters and sound them out and read them as a way to supplement teaching reading. (Multiple puzzles would be needed so that there are more than one letter each.) My children hold up the letters and ask me which it is and we play games like that, that either they or I invent.

This puzzle is very durable as are all the other wood puzzles from this company.

The only downside is that organization is key if you want to not lose any of the pieces. This is too large for the puzzle holder that this company sells. Also beware the L's and I's are quite small and definately are choking hazard sized..so if you have little ones, take care to keep this out of their reach.

I think this is an inexpensive learning tool that every child should own. Please buy this for your child or give it as a gift to other children.

The puzzle doesn't have fancy graphics or bells and whistles to entertain. Games could be made up by the parent working alongside the child to make this interesting.

In this puzzle and in reality, there are strong similarities in
a, p, q, b, and d. This puzzle gives great opportunities for fine tuning similarities differences skills. Since you only have one of each letter, trace or print the following. p p q p then b d b b and so forth. Let children practice noticing the differences and similarities. Learning Abilities Books is a cool website with free information about similarities and differences training. That's where I got this idea. You might want to buy more than one of this cool puzzle.

My son was around 21 months when he knew his capital letters really well. At about two, I bought this puzzle, so he could learn the lowercase as well. Much to my surprise, he not only learned the lowercase letters quickly after playing the puzzle, but he quickly learned how to say all the pictures below the pieces, and says those words when he is doing another alphabet puzzle I have which has no pictures on it. He'll go to put the A in the non-picture puzzle, and say airplane or apple, which comes from the 'picture beneath' puzzle, like the one shown here. Obviously, he is learning language and letters all in one with this puzzle, or he wouldnt be associating the letters with words that start with that letter without seeing those pictures on the puzzle. I guess its a great memory aide, as well, for him to remember the pictures from the other puzzle that were associated with the letter. Great puzzle, and it IS his favorite, no doubt. The others he has enjoyed are the Alphabet Train and Number Train as well, made by the same company, and have the pictures below and on the puzzle piece. Well worth the price I paid for the hours we have played with them over the last month.

Add us to the host of folks who love this puzzle toy. I generally consult Amazon ratings before purchasing new items and any item that has this many positive ratings always catches my attention. And it lives up to the promise. My almost 7 year-old son is ADHD and I was AMAZED at the way this toy captured his attention. I expected him to become quickly frustrated and give up. But after a few successes, he was hooked. I coached him a little bit at first (and then I was hooked too!) and before I knew it, he was solving puzzles by himself and doing a better job than me! He did the first 20 in one sitting. I was amazed as I watched him begin understanding which cars had to be where in order for him to get the red car out, then he started working out his plan to get there. You have to think ahead to be successful and he was doing it!

His persistence and concentration surprised me, so if your child is having any problems sitting and concentrating on a task, don't be afraid of this toy! But, alas, as with many ADHD kids, he's also been tested as gifted, so he's already run through the first 3 levels and is now nearly done with the expert level - solving puzzles that I can't do! I have to wait until he goes to bed to even get a chance to play! There's 40 cards in the first pack. The beginning levels are pretty easy to remember the solutions, but as you go higher in difficulty, you could probably do the puzzles more than once and still be challenged. But do be prepared to buy the 2, 3, and 4 Gift Pack (a great deal for $12 on Amazon)

I LOVE the fact that you store the cards right in the bottom of the tray. However,I wish that they would put a more permanent kind of cover on the tray. Also, you cannot replace the cover when you are in the middle of a puzzle, the cars have to be in the tray in a certain way in order for the cover to fit properly. But those are extremely minor drawbacks considering the hours of entertainment my son and I have gotten.

Ever stuck in gridlock? Think you know the easiest way out? Then you are ready to take the challenge of Binary Arts' Rush Hour Game. Beware escaping gridlock is not as easy at it seems.

The directions are simple; setup the game board using the forty game cards, arranged from beginners' skill level to the expert. Move the cars and trucks out of the way and get you red car off the board.

The game is made to have you thinking, and planning strategy is a key to winning. I found myself playing for hours and the more I played the more fun I had. Also since storage is easy this game travels well.

For those rainy days, those family night outings or when friends drop over, you can't go wrong with this game. About the only thing Binary Arts needs now is a thinking game involving aircraft.

Many of the reviews posted so far say, in one way or another, "I bought this for a kid, but I love it, too." I'm not ashamed to say that I'm neither a parent nor a teacher and that I bought this for myself. (I did buy another set for my sister's kids when I saw how great it was.) I've always liked Binary Arts products, and this did not disappoint. What I especially like, and why I think it's valuable educationally, is that it forces you to identify the root causes of the problem and to map out intermediate goals on your way to a solution. If you like this kind of thinking, you'll enjoy this game.

As others have noted, the packaging is not great because it makes it a little too easy to lose pieces. That accounts for my 4 stars for "durability."

My three year old loves this puzzle and it has helped her learn her letters. We even play games with it - kind of like "I spy" for the next letter. The peices are large and easy for her to assemble. Well worth the investment.

This has got to be one of the best puzzles or tools to teach the alphabet. My little one just received this for his birthday and has put it together all by himself already (he's 3)! It teaches great motor dexterity as well as the alphabet and 26 animals. He loves to make all their sounds as he goes along. It stretches clear across the kitchen floor and it's a bunch of fun for the cat too! My son is getting a big jump on the alphabet with this puzzle and it's just a great investment. Here's a little hint though. Don't wait until the last minute to get it for Christmas. I tried last year and it was sold out for 2 months! Get it now and don't be disappointed!

I bought this puzzle for my 2 yr old daughter for Christmas and she loves it. She doesn't know her letters yet, but she can find all 'passengers' on the train and we say the letter for the piece that she is looking for. Now, she is starting to know what letters we are looking for. This is a step up from the alphabet song and leading into letter recognition. The pieces are thick and durable. She stands on them and there is no wear and tear. This is a great toy for any preschooler! Wonderful 'hands-on' toy!

This toy is fantastic! I've seen both my kids play with it for hours. It is a great game for independent play, however my own 3 year-old greatly benefits from the help of his 5 year-old sister! I don't think many 3 year-olds are mature enough to enjoy playing it without help from a sibling/adult. After several sessions to help them train their brain how to think, a 3 year-old could happily play alone.

If done in order, the 30 puzzles in Mighty Mind progress in difficulty from using two semi-circles to make a circle, to using all 32 pieces to make a shape similar to a train with cow-catcher! The first 20 puzzles provide color clues in the picture to assist a child in selecting the needed shapes, but the last 10 are without clues and are the most challenging.

I'm at amazon checking the price vs. the manufacturer's website (1smartkid). The price here is a few cents more and is very likely for the PLASTIC shape pieces. The toy was originally made from very nice, colored WOODEN pieces and still is, but for about three dollars more. I'd recommend splurging for it - I don't know how well the plastic pieces would take being stepped on. The pieces do tend to fall to the floor - either by accident or in frustration! We are missing three shape pieces and I found the manufacturer's website while searching for replacement pieces, which can be had for about half the price of a new game. Instead of buying replacement pieces, I decided to upgrade to the wooden Super Mind set instead (exact same 32 shapes).

I just bought two dozen of these games at a fifteen percent case-discount from the manufacturer! I went to their site looking for replacement pieces for the wooden Mr. Mighty Mind (old name)and decided to buy birthday gifts for my two kids' friends in advance since my own children really enjoy this game. I bought a dozen of the Mighty Minds for the 3 year-olds for when they turn 4, and a dozen Super Minds for the 5 year-olds for when they turn 6. My daughter just turned 5 and is getting bored with Mr. Mighty Mind and I'm sure her age group will enjoy the more challenging Super Minds more. Mighty Mind is great for a 5 year old if they haven't done it before - but after hours and hours with it the more challenging Super Mind will be more fun.

TIP: I like to find an age-appropriate, gender-neutral gift for my kids to give as gifts, buy it in bulk (often at a discount!)and spend an hour wrapping them all in advance. I also had a roll of personalized stickers made for each of my kids that say "Happy Birthday from (Name)" and I put the stickers on after wrapping. SO MUCH CHEAPER than buying individual cards! Then, the day of a bday party, we grab a wrapped gift from the hall closet and go!

Mighty Mind and/or Super Mind are both great gifts for this purpose, because even if the child already has one, another set makes if more fun to play with a friend instead of all alone!

Unfortunately it's very difficult to get this game here in germany, but I played it with the kids in the "kindergarten" und if i ever saw it i'd buy it.

My daughter just got this for Christmas. She is 4 1/2 and loves it. It gives instant confidence and is good for an active child who doesn't like to wait a long time. She got oodles of toys for Christmas and she keeps coming back to this one, so I ordered the Supermind upgrade. For those of you who are missing pieces, maybe you can order them from the manufacturer. They were very courteous and helpful AND they answered the phone immediately! I'm going to buy more to give as gifts too.

This is a great toy! My son loved dinosaurs and puzzles, so this was the perfect toy. He would do them again and again. He was only 3 years old when he received it for his birthday and only recently stopped playing with it(he is turning 6 next month).

These are just great. Four 12-piece puzzles made out of very durable materials (see Pros below). The sturdy wooden box has four compartments under a sliding lid. Each of the four puzzles are theme related. These four are Triceratpos, Stegasaurus, Pteranodon, and Allosaurus.

Pros:
Easy but not too-easy puzzles.
Pieces fit well together.
Nice pictures.
Sturdy container.
Each puzzle has a different shape printed on the back to make sorting the puzzles easier.
Super durable. I did not realize just how durable they were until I found a piece in my dishwasher. Even after being washed the picture was fine and the wood in perfect condition.

Cons:
It may take a few moments to figure out how to fit an entire puzzle's pieces in a single compartment.
Lid does not lock closed.

My kids love these and you will too.

The company gets kudos for stamping different symbols on the back of puzzles to help adults sort the four puzzles apart. This toy is fantastic and will likely be done over and over again with plenty of wonder each time. Only complaint is that pieces sometimes stick together and eager hands may apply too much pressure. We know they will eventually break, but the price is tremendous given the amount of attention the puzzles have commanded.

My 3 year old son enjoys his 24 piece grocery store puzzles and was able to spend a good 15-20 minutes assembling them, at first with help from mommy and then by himself. I thought it was time to try a more difficult puzzle- this was a good next step. He and I put this one together- he is not ready for it on his own, but it is not so difficult that he gets frustrated if we work together. As another reviewer pointed out, this is a good puzzle to teach 2 important puzzle skills that 24 piece puzzles don't quite get at: #1: to look at the box as a reference and #2: to start by making the outside border and then filling in the middle. The quality is outstanding- it blows grocery store puzzles out of the water. The colors are beautiful, but lots of similar shades of brown and green which make it slightly more difficult. My son is wanting to know the names of the different dinosaurs now. If you want to sit down and help your toddler with this puzzle at first it is a great one to get! We love this company and their products!!!

We bought this as a gift for our two-year old nephew, and he absolutely loved it! Like many little boys, likes anything dinosaur, and he also enjoys puzzles, so this was perfect. The pieces are very sturdy and can certainly survive some toddler abuse. The puzzle can be used again and again, but the finished work is so attractive that it also makes a cool wall hanging for a kid's bedroom--it looks great in my nephew's room! Highly recommended.

We stepped up to this puzzle after mastering the farm animals puzzle, which had fewer pieces and was relatively easy to assemble without looking to the box for help. The dinosaur puzzle, on the other hand, was great for teaching my almost-4 year-old the ins and outs of puzzle assembly.

We start by looking at a piece and determining what it's a part of. ("This is someone's green neck. Who needs a green neck?") Because the dinosaurs are all shades of browns and greens, we next match the piece to the box, then lay it in the appropriate spot. We're currently working on learning about "corners" and "edges".

The construction is excellent, as with most LCI products. The pieces all fit snugly and unambiguously and are printed on durable, glossy stock...

These are just great. Four 12-piece puzzles made out of very durable materials (see Pros below). The sturdy wooden box has four compartments under a sliding lid. Each of the four puzzles are theme related. These four are Fire Truck, School Bus, Steam Engine, and Jet Airplane.

Pros:
Easy but not too-easy puzzles.
Pieces fit well together.
Nice pictures.
Sturdy container.
Each puzzle has a different shape printed on the back to make sorting the puzzles easier.
Super durable. I did not realize just how durable they were until I found a piece in my dishwasher. Even after being washed the picture was fine and the wood in perfect condition.

Cons:
It may take a few moments to figure out how to fit an entire puzzle's pieces in a single compartment.
Lid does not lock closed.

My kids love these and you will too.

My 2.5 year old son received this toy for christmas. Not even two weeks later, we have already had to fix four of the puzzle pieces. The pictures are coming off the "wood". The wood is more like layers of wood (reminds me somewhat of cardboard), which is probably why they are falling apart so easily. As another reviewer mentioned, it can be difficult to get the pieces apart after the puzzle has been put together, which also can be contributing to the layers of the pieces coming off. Also, it can be difficult to slide the cover back on, unless all of the pieces are laying a certain way in the box. This can be time comsuming for an adult to do, and nearly impossible for a two year with no patience. Overall, I like the theory of the product, but I doubt that it will last much longer unless we stand by with a bottle of glue at all times. I am most upset about the poor quality of the product since I gave several of these as gifts over the holidays. It is embarrassing to give a child a gift that turns out to be junk.

My one dissapointment is that the puzzles are much smaller than they appeared to be in the picuture when I bought this product.

My two-year-old doesn't seem to mind though.

Otherwise, this is a great deal. This is the next logical step for the 2-to-3 year-old who likes peg puzzles, especially the ones where there is a single image divided up into pieces, and especially if you've got a little guy who lives for fire trucks, school buses, airplanes, and choo-choo trains!