The Global Puzzle Did you know that the average individual knows where only 18 of the world’s 193 countries are located? Now there’s a new way to learn the world’s geography in a fast and enjoyable manner. The Global Puzzle is jigsaw puzzle map of the world where the pieces are shaped like the actual countries. By working with each piece until you are able to fit it within the bordering countries, you are able to make a mental connection that stays with you. It’s like you are actually building the world from scratch! The Global Puzzle contains all 193 countries and their capitals, all 50 states and their capitals and all 13 territories and provinces of Canada. This 600 piece puzzle measures 18 x 36 when completed.
Customer Review: Cool puzzle, not highest quality pieces
We are really enjoying this puzzle, and learning a lot. The information written on the oceans makes the puzzle more interesting and manageable.
The pieces are necessarily very small to match the size of the countries. The bigger problem is that they curl up just a bit, so the pieces don’t lie flat as you make the puzzle. This is frustrating, and you don’t get that satisfying feeling as you put a piece in, as you have to press it down a few times and it still doesn’t quite flatten down. I’m trying covering the finished puzzle with heavy books, but I suspect it’s just a problem of cheap glue.
Still, I give it four stars since a good world puzzle is very hard to find, and the content is good.
Customer Review: Putting the World Back Together Again
If you’ve ever felt like the world has fallen apart and you’re the only one with the sense to put it back together, this puzzle is a good first stop. It’s a lot of fun, and very educational. It’s hard to learn geography, mostly because of all the memorization entailed. But this puzzle will help you learn where all the countries are and other geographic facts.
The country pieces don’t interlock, so it’s challenging. Most of the country pieces are shaped like their actual borders, but some really tiny and very large countries are not. The small pieces (some are VERY small) are easily lost, so be careful. All countries are featured, and all capitals. The oceans tiles (most of the planet is water) would be really hard to piece together, so they put some basic demographic facts about all the countries in the ocean space–listed alphabetically to aid in assembly. This is a nice touch, but also my main reservation.
My two complaints: there isn’t enough oceanic geography and there isn’t enough topographic data. The puzzle is purely geopolitical (good in its own right), but lacking in mountain ranges, rivers, and water-based features. Sure, the major oceans and seas are named and so are the more basic features like the Gulf of Mexico. But smaller features are not labeled, like Straits, etc. You can see the Nile, but it’s not named. Niether are ANY mountain ranges or topographical features (although, it would not be practical anyway… but it’s still a trade off: better country data for poorer data elsewhere).
Regardless, this is a great product. One just has to realize that it is geopolitically centered. I would really love if the made additional map-puzzles in this line for terrain features. IE pieces shaped like rivers, pennisulas, mountain ranges, etc. And with topographical, rather than political, data. That would be an excellent compannion piece if they would add it to their line.
Buy this for kids failing geography, puzzle-lovers and nerds of all ages.
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