Everyday Jigsaw

We love jigsaw puzzles, but we can't say we'd ever tried playing them on our computer before. It seemed like a good idea--no chances for our cat to abscond with our puzzles pieces--but we weren't sure how well an electronic version would really replicate the experience of completing a puzzle in real life. As it turns out, Everyday Jigsaw replicates that experience just fine.

The program's interface is attractive and easy to navigate. The program comes with seven free puzzles, and we quickly found ourselves sucked in once we started on one. Everyday Jigsaw does a good job of allowing you to manipulate the pieces as you would in real life; you can sort pieces into two separate "pockets," making it easy to separate edges from interior pieces or to group different colors together. You can also select and drag multiple pieces, and right-clicking scatters loose pieces. The only thing that wasn't particularly lifelike was that all of the pieces were already correctly oriented and stayed that way, meaning that you never have to worry about rotating them. We can't say that particularly bothered us.

In addition to the seven games that Everyday Jigsaw comes with, the program also gives you access to a huge treasury of other puzzles that can be downloaded for a fee. There's also a new puzzle made available every day--hence the program's name--and you can get access to these by paying a reasonable monthly subscription fee. For those on a budget, there's a free puzzle made available every Friday. Everyday Jigsaw doesn't offer a whole lot for casual puzzlers who want something for free, but those who are serious about jigsaw puzzles and willing to pay for them will find that it doesn't get much better than Everyday Jigsaw.