Disney fans looking for a fun puzzle challenge that becomes a beautiful display piece will love AreYouGame’s impressive assortment of 3D Crystal Puzzles. Puzzlers can assemble their favorite Disney movie characters with these slightly tricky builds that make a great addition to any Disney collection
(Please note this article contains affiliate links. Your purchase will support Laughing Place by providing us a small commission, but will not affect your pricing or user experience. Thank you.)
A few weeks ago puzzle and game themed company AreYouGame reached out to Laughing Place and offered us some samples of their crystalline 3D Puzzles. I’m obsessed with jigsaw puzzles and upon hearing of the offer, I couldn’t say no. I expressed interest in three designs and they kindly sent them all to me. Each came packed in a colorful, sturdy box that showed they are BePuzzled branded. The box featured images of the product inside as well as some other 3D puzzles. Inside each box was 2-5 bags of the puzzle pieces; a fold out advertisement showcasing other crystalline designs, and a small sheet of instructions. A digital copy of instructions is also available online.
The instruction sheets gave a few important tips like which piece was the left or right side ear, foot, or arm as well as the number order for assembling the pieces. Nearly all pieces had a small number assigned to it except for the aforementioned body parts. I found the puzzles to offer enough of a challenge with the instructions, but I could see where some super sleuths might want to assemble the entire figure through trial and error.
Of the three puzzles I had, two were considered Level 1 and one was Level 3. All the puzzles are recommended for ages 12 and up. Since this was the first time I’ve ever built one of these dimensional puzzles, I decided to start with Level 1.
Dumbo
I chose the Dumbo puzzle first because it seemed like it was the most simplistic of the trio and now that I’ve done them all, I think my assessment was correct. The puzzle is transparent grey and looks really lovely when complete. However this particular puzzle doesn’t have a base. I decided to time myself on the actual build time, but left out the sorting of the pieces. For Dumbo I put all 40 pieces in order that I’d use them. This proved to be a challenge but made a huge difference (I assume) in building. I struggled a few times with pieces that needed to be inverted (upside down) but ultimately enjoyed the level of difficulty. His hat proved to be rather tricky for me, but I eventually figured it out. All in all it took me 13 minutes and 8 seconds to finish Dumbo. A satisfying time and one I could easily beat with my next puzzle.
Stitch
Dumbo proved easy enough, so Stitch should be a breeze…ha! Not so much. I followed my same untimed sorting pattern, organizing by step which still took rather long, but I believed would help with overall assembly. The Stitch figure is a pretty teal green and features the alien giving an innocent look. I started my timer and immediately ran into trouble with his hands and feet. After about 4 minutes of struggle, I got anxious and stopped my timer (cheating I know). Once I got past the troublesome appendages, I restarted the stopwatch. A total of 15 long minutes, 25 seconds and 43 pieces later, I had a beautiful Stitch to display and was satisfied with the end result.
Maleficent
With two level one puzzles under my belt, I was ready for the Level 3 challenge, Maleficent. This gorgeous deep purple figure has extra details like a staff and cape to really capture her foreboding essence. For Mal I changed up my routine and organized the pieces by number in rows of ten. The sorting process was much faster and I figured I’d have no problem selecting which piece I needed next. I was right, assembly was a breeze. I did struggle with positioning her arms and attaching the cape, but this was not nearly as frustrating and my four minute debacle with Stitch’s feet! Unlike the rigid quality of the base pieces, the cape was soft and flexible plastic that reminded me of fruit leather. Total build time for the 74 piece Maleficent came in at 26 minutes and 34 seconds.
As someone who has built and rebuilt dozens of jigsaw puzzles, I was pleasantly surprised at how challenging these 3D puzzles were. I also really love that once you’re done, you have a nice display piece that doesn’t require guling for framing to hold it together. I think that the age recommendation of 12+ is right for solo builders, but feel that younger puzzle lovers working with an older sibling or friend will find these to be fun too.
All three characters that I sampled are available now along with other Disney figures such as Ursula, Genie, Buzz Lightyear, Marie, Nemo, Mickey and Minnie, Cinderella’s Castle and many more. The 3D puzzles sell for $16.99-$25.99.