Jigsaw puzzle - patience game with fun factor for young and old

The jigsaw puzzle was invented in England in 1766 by the engraver and map dealer John Spilsbury (1739-1769). He stuck a map of Great Britain onto a wooden board and cut it up along the border lines of the various counties. The player then had to complete the map again. He sold his game as a "teaching aid to facilitate geography lessons". However, the pieces were not yet interlocked. These so-called interlocking puzzles only came into being in the second half of the 19th century.

At the beginning of the 20th century, mass production of the previously hand-made puzzles began. This made it possible to offer the previously expensive games more cheaply and thus increase their popularity.

Up to the present day, hardly anything has changed in the principle of production. A motif printed on cardboard is cut into many small pieces with a punch. The handmade punches are individual, so that the puzzle pieces look different. The most important progress was made by the producers in the production of the pieces through increasingly precise cutting. This is because the more precisely the pieces are punched, the less likely it is that pieces will be connected incorrectly.

There are puzzles with four pieces for children or giant puzzles with well over 10,000 pieces for advanced players. The degree of difficulty depends not only on the number of pieces, but also on the colour characteristics of the motif, such as large areas with small colour gradations or completely monochrome motifs. There are also puzzles where puzzle pieces are added that are not visible on the motif on the box, so that you have to find out where they belong.