RavensburgerEscape: Desolated City 368 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle for Adults - 17279 - an Escape Room Experience in Puzzle Form

I have completed a few escape puzzles recently but picked this one because I liked the picture. Large pieces fit together nicely and colors were vibrant.

Had fun putting the puzzle together. Not as easy as some to figure out the clues.

Puzzle was generally easy. The challenge was in finding the clues and solving the mystery. We lived it.

All edge pieces are identically cut, many with similar/identical gradient. Directions on how to begin solving the "escape" after completing puzzle are completely lacking. Hint: you pull the pieces from the edge that match the numbers or tiles you solve and try to make a new image from them. Translation to English made little sense. Who are the evil toys we are escaping from? Why are we trying to "escape" after we've already escaped to the outside? How do numbers written on random, interchangeable edge pieces exist in the player's world, and how does combining them into a half-coherent image solve the "escape"? Miserable puzzle solving experience, and incoherent directions.

I think the art and puzzles are cleverly constructed, but the experience was so unpleasant that I can't recommend this puzzle in its current form. If the creator is reading this, here are some things I would address if another edition is made:1. There is a mistranslation on the English instructions - I don't know what "evil toys" is supposed to mean but it is not a part of this story.2. There are dozens of rectangular pieces in the bag, which the instructions tell you to discard. Okay, why give us the remains of the scraps? Why do no other Ravensburger puzzles contain these? It's very confusing when this is supposed to be an escape room puzzle and we don't know what to trust.3. The only hint in terms of how to proceed to 'escape the room' was only helpful if you had solved the first 5 puzzles, which it will not tell you what they are. You must use the QR code to tell you what the escape room puzzles are. So this is not a standalone game. That part worked well, but why not include this in the instructions. It makes for less of an escape room experience and feels like an afterthought.4. The solution to the escape room narrative (the final challenge) is obvious from the box art. Nothing new is revealed, making the other 5 escape room puzzles feel hollow.

Parfait

Puzzle pieces were broken not happy with this.