How Fast Can You Put Together A Puzzle? Win A Copy Of Jigsaw Mansion 2 And Find Out
Jigsaw Mansion 2 HD ($2.99) by SGN is a sequel to the original Jigsaw Mansion for iPad that puzzle aficionados will absolutely love.
I didn’t play the original game, and I was skeptical of an app based entirely on putting together jigsaw puzzles on my iOS devices, but I was sold after I finished my first puzzle.
The game focuses on a Jigsaw Mansion, which is filled with different paintings that come to life as puzzles. Each puzzle has varying numbers of pieces and patterns, which creates a variety of puzzles to solve at every difficulty level.
Jigsaw Mansion 2’s graphics are visually impressive, featuring art from several talented artists. The controls are equally amazing, and coupled with the snap engine, putting pieces together is a breeze.
Puzzle pieces are dragged from the bottom bar onto the puzzle mat (remove the puzzle mat to give yourself more of a challenge), where they will snap into place when in the correct spot. Even if the piece is rotated in the wrong direction, it will still fit right where it belongs, saving players from a lot of unnecessary frustration. Of course the pieces can still be rotated in 360 degrees with simple touch gestures.
Each puzzle is timed, and there’s a goal to beat to get three gold coins. There are two time intervals to beat, and trust me, finishing those puzzles ahead of the timer is no easy feat. The timer is based on the number of pieces and the difficulty of the puzzle. Sometimes you will have 30 seconds to finish a puzzle with only a few pieces, but other times, you will have eight minutes to finish a much harder one.
There’s an iPhone version and an iPad version, but they’re a bit different. In the iPad version, the screen is bigger, of course, and there’s multitouch support that allows two people to work on a puzzle at the same time, which is great for family gameplay. You also have furniture and additional puzzles that can be added to decorate your mansion, which provides a little bit of extra amusement. The iPhone version is pared down, but features the same puzzle-solving fun.
In both versions, you can use your gold coins to purchase additional puzzles from Annie’s shop. There are currently 19 additional puzzles you can get, and the developers will be adding more.
There’s one more fun feature that I haven’t mentioned, which gives you access to unlimited puzzles. You can use the create feature to make puzzles from your own photos in any difficulty that you want, from easy to hard, with up to 120 pieces. You can even send puzzles to friends using email, Facebook, or Twitter.
I’m not a huge jigsaw puzzle fan, but I’ve put together one or two in my day, and I must say, this app does a great job at replicating the experience. My one complaint would be that it’s occasionally too easy - I’d like to see even more complex puzzles. I’d also love to do away with the timer and play in a zen type of mode, I’m just not cut out for putting together puzzles under pressure!
I had a great time playing Jigsaw Mansion 2. Of course, I preferred the iPad version because it offered more room to work with, but I garnered an equal amount of enjoyment playing the iPhone version when I was out with my phone and had a bit of downtime.
If you’re a puzzle lover or looking for something fun to do with your partner or children, this is a great app to try, and if you get it now, you’ll get a discount!
Of course, if you’re extra lucky you might just win a copy. We’ve got three copies of the iPad version of Jigsaw Mansion to giveaway to our readers. Want to get your hands on one? Just leave a comment below by Sunday, Feb. 5 at 8 p.m. PST and you’re automatically entered to win. Good luck!
