Ravensburger Exit Puzzle Review Witch’s Kitchen
Witches Kitchen looks pretty much as I'd imagine a witch's room to look like. With the black kettle cauldron bubbling away over the fire, the black cat, potions, skulls, scrolls and many other magical and creepy looking items.
The Ravensburger Exit Puzzles, often referred to as Escape Puzzles, are a range of mystery jigsaws based on an escape room concept. The Witches Kitchen appealed to me because I love Halloween jigsaw puzzles.
Despite these Ravensburger escape puzzles being a popular range, I didn't actually know what this was when I bought it. I bought the jigsaw because I loved the image and planned to display it, not realising that what you see isn't exactly what you get.
Title: The Witches Kitchen
Publisher: Ravensburger
Release date: 2018
Artist: n/a
Cutting style: Grid
Number of puzzle pieces: 759
Finished size approx: 70 x 50 cm / 27 x 20 inches
Ravensburger exit or escape jigsaw puzzles are all 759 pieces, just to be different from any other line. Perhaps rather disappointingly for me, despite having fewer pieces, they still work out to be the same finished size as the 1000 piece Ravensburger puzzles. My preference is for smaller pieces rather than larger ones and I already feel Ravensburger puzzle pieces are larger than I prefer.
I made a big mistake with buying The Witches Kitchen because I did what I always do which was to buy a jigsaw based on the image. I had planned to glue the finished design and hang it up for Halloween since it appears to be a perfect Halloween design.
➡️ Done this jigsaw or planning to do it? Come and try my FREE Witches Kitchen Search and Find Game.
➡️ Finished the jigsaw but now stuck? COMPLETE Solutions to the Witches Kitchen HERE
What I hadn't realised was that the picture you see on the front of the box is not exactly the same as the picture that is revealed once the jigsaw is made. The changes are not huge but one of the changes was a massive disappointment for me and I wouldn't have bought the puzzle had I known this to start with.
Also, because this is a jigsaw and a game, you end up with a load of numbers, words and other things printed all over the finished puzzle which make up eight little mysteries for you to solve. That's great if you love these sorts of puzzle games, but obviously it's not so great if you wanted to display the puzzle as an actual picture to hang on your wall.
I do think it needs to be made clear on the box (it doesn't tell you, I checked) that the picture on the front is not actually what you end up getting. It does tell you that on the leaflet that's inside the box- it might be more useful to have that information on the outside for potential buyers!
Plus it would help to show a dummy example of how the numbers may look splashed all over the finished design, just to give people an idea of what they are really buying into.
Despite making an error in getting this, I do like solving puzzles in general such as number and word games so was happy to give this a go. Instead of hanging the finished design, it will be taken apart and sold on to get an actual Halloween jigsaw as I initially wanted.
You can see the blue puzzle dust all over my hand. It was the worst example of puzzle dust I've seen, all over my board, my hands and my tablecloth.
As I expected with Ravensburger, the quality was pretty good apart from one particular issue. The pieces are cut well, they're very thick, there's no peeling even of the backing which you can often get with other brands. I love how Ravensburger pieces almost feel like they're padded. The individual pieces certainly do feel like a premium quality.
The dust though, oh my word, the puzzle dust. Puzzle dust isn't something that normally bothers me but this is by far the very worst example I've ever had of it. It was horrendous. The blue dust went all over my puzzle Jaques of London jigsaw puzzle board sorting trays, the tablecloth and my hands. Don't believe me? Check out the photo coming up next below.
And what was up with all the weird offcuts (shown below) that had to be picked out from the main pieces as they have absolutely nothing to do with the jigsaw? There were loads. I've never had to pick out any puzzle offcuts before. That aspect made it feel like it wasn't a premium puzzle brand for me and the Exit jigsaws are not cheap.
When I first started doing jigsaw puzzles, I thought Ravensburger was the absolute best quality. While the individual puzzle pieces are generally great quality, there have been a few quality issues recently that I've picked up on. I hope they get resolved.
Images sometimes feel a little blurred and not nearly as sharp as they should be and that has been the case with the last load of Ravensburgers I've done, including this one. The puzzle dust with this particular puzzle was too much. And the cut is sometimes on the loose side where pieces will easily separate if you move sections around. Very loose in one instance.
Another example of the puzzle dust (see I was not exaggerating!) and the weird jigsaw offcuts that you have to pick out and throw away.
It's hard to add tips on completion without adding any major spoilers into my review. And if you've never done this jigsaw, you don't want spoilers ruining your fun.
What I can say is that there are some mostly subtle changes between the design on the box and the finished design. So you can use the box design as a rough guide but be aware that some things may have changed.
I started off by doing the edges around the outside as I normally do. The edge on this jigsaw was pretty hard, most edge pieces were the same and could pretty much fit anywhere. This made some parts of the edge really hard to complete - in fact I had made an error with the edge that got resolved later on with the jigsaw.
I would advise working from the bottom edge and not worrying too much about assembling all the edges before you dive into the main jigsaw. Just be aware of this.
It felt hard to get started but I focused on picking out areas of bright colours since most of the design is in dull greys, browns and green. So I picked out colours that were bright and put those parts together first because that was the easiest method for me.
There are words that can be assembled and text is normally an easier part to solve with a jigsaw puzzle, even if the text doesn't make sense because it's magical.
There are lots of objects that can be picked out and put together like things made in a gold colour such as metal objects, brass, glass, books and other pieces.
I just kept assembling items and placing them roughly where I thought they should be, Eventually all the objects were in place and I was left with mostly floor and walls to finish. Little by little it got done. This wasn't a great design to do at night because of all the dark colours.
When you've finished this jigsaw, you'll see that there are a number of differences to spot between the picture on the box and the jigsaw. You also have the eight mini mysteries put together by Ravensburger for this escape room design.
➡️ COMPLETE Solutions to the Witches Kitchen HERE
Part of the reason why I love putting jigsaws together is because I appreciate the artwork as much as the process of piecing the puzzle together. Witches Kitchen is a highly detailed design and has a lot of things for you to notice.
➡️ FREE Witches Kitchen Puzzle: Search and Find Game
Because there are so many areas in this Exit puzzle design for you to spot, I've also devised my own search and find game on a separate page for you. Come challenge yourself once you've completed your jigsaw and see how many items you can find without reading the answers.
It was a different experience than I expected because I originally bought the jigsaw based on the design for hanging only to realise that this wasn't going to be ideal.
Had I known from the start what to really expect, I wouldn't have bought this jigsaw. I mean I like number and word games but not when they are printed all over my jigsaws.
Had Witch's Kitchen been exactly the design shown on the front of the box, I'd have loved it. I don't see why they couldn't do this and have a separate printed poster with all the puzzles on to open only when you've finished the jigsaw. That way people who want the exact image would be happy and people who love the escape room aspect would also be happy.
The eight puzzles that lead to the final answer were quite good if you enjoy a variety of number and word puzzles. If you get stuck, look in the middle of the design and see how you can decipher the text first. I have my complete solutions page here for it as well as my free search and find game.
I quite enjoyed Witch's Kitchen Exit Puzzle as something different to have a go at in the jigsaw world, but I'm not sure I'll be getting another one. For me, it's got to be all about the picture and I'm not keen on all the numbers and letters splashed all over the final design.
Related Content You Should Also Love:
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The Ravensburger Exit Puzzles, often referred to as Escape Puzzles, are a range of mystery jigsaws based on an escape room concept. The Witches Kitchen appealed to me because I love Halloween jigsaw puzzles.
Despite these Ravensburger escape puzzles being a popular range, I didn't actually know what this was when I bought it. I bought the jigsaw because I loved the image and planned to display it, not realising that what you see isn't exactly what you get.
Ravensburger Exit Puzzle Review Witch’s Kitchen Jigsaw Escape Room
Title: The Witches Kitchen
Publisher: Ravensburger
Release date: 2018
Artist: n/a
Cutting style: Grid
Number of puzzle pieces: 759
Finished size approx: 70 x 50 cm / 27 x 20 inches
Ravensburger exit or escape jigsaw puzzles are all 759 pieces, just to be different from any other line. Perhaps rather disappointingly for me, despite having fewer pieces, they still work out to be the same finished size as the 1000 piece Ravensburger puzzles. My preference is for smaller pieces rather than larger ones and I already feel Ravensburger puzzle pieces are larger than I prefer.
I made a big mistake with buying The Witches Kitchen because I did what I always do which was to buy a jigsaw based on the image. I had planned to glue the finished design and hang it up for Halloween since it appears to be a perfect Halloween design.
➡️ Done this jigsaw or planning to do it? Come and try my FREE Witches Kitchen Search and Find Game.
➡️ Finished the jigsaw but now stuck? COMPLETE Solutions to the Witches Kitchen HERE
What I hadn't realised was that the picture you see on the front of the box is not exactly the same as the picture that is revealed once the jigsaw is made. The changes are not huge but one of the changes was a massive disappointment for me and I wouldn't have bought the puzzle had I known this to start with.
Also, because this is a jigsaw and a game, you end up with a load of numbers, words and other things printed all over the finished puzzle which make up eight little mysteries for you to solve. That's great if you love these sorts of puzzle games, but obviously it's not so great if you wanted to display the puzzle as an actual picture to hang on your wall.
I do think it needs to be made clear on the box (it doesn't tell you, I checked) that the picture on the front is not actually what you end up getting. It does tell you that on the leaflet that's inside the box- it might be more useful to have that information on the outside for potential buyers!
Plus it would help to show a dummy example of how the numbers may look splashed all over the finished design, just to give people an idea of what they are really buying into.
Despite making an error in getting this, I do like solving puzzles in general such as number and word games so was happy to give this a go. Instead of hanging the finished design, it will be taken apart and sold on to get an actual Halloween jigsaw as I initially wanted.
Puzzle Quality Notes
You can see the blue puzzle dust all over my hand. It was the worst example of puzzle dust I've seen, all over my board, my hands and my tablecloth.
As I expected with Ravensburger, the quality was pretty good apart from one particular issue. The pieces are cut well, they're very thick, there's no peeling even of the backing which you can often get with other brands. I love how Ravensburger pieces almost feel like they're padded. The individual pieces certainly do feel like a premium quality.
The dust though, oh my word, the puzzle dust. Puzzle dust isn't something that normally bothers me but this is by far the very worst example I've ever had of it. It was horrendous. The blue dust went all over my puzzle Jaques of London jigsaw puzzle board sorting trays, the tablecloth and my hands. Don't believe me? Check out the photo coming up next below.
And what was up with all the weird offcuts (shown below) that had to be picked out from the main pieces as they have absolutely nothing to do with the jigsaw? There were loads. I've never had to pick out any puzzle offcuts before. That aspect made it feel like it wasn't a premium puzzle brand for me and the Exit jigsaws are not cheap.
When I first started doing jigsaw puzzles, I thought Ravensburger was the absolute best quality. While the individual puzzle pieces are generally great quality, there have been a few quality issues recently that I've picked up on. I hope they get resolved.
Images sometimes feel a little blurred and not nearly as sharp as they should be and that has been the case with the last load of Ravensburgers I've done, including this one. The puzzle dust with this particular puzzle was too much. And the cut is sometimes on the loose side where pieces will easily separate if you move sections around. Very loose in one instance.
Jigsaw Puzzle Construction Order and Tips
Another example of the puzzle dust (see I was not exaggerating!) and the weird jigsaw offcuts that you have to pick out and throw away.
It's hard to add tips on completion without adding any major spoilers into my review. And if you've never done this jigsaw, you don't want spoilers ruining your fun.
What I can say is that there are some mostly subtle changes between the design on the box and the finished design. So you can use the box design as a rough guide but be aware that some things may have changed.
I started off by doing the edges around the outside as I normally do. The edge on this jigsaw was pretty hard, most edge pieces were the same and could pretty much fit anywhere. This made some parts of the edge really hard to complete - in fact I had made an error with the edge that got resolved later on with the jigsaw.
I would advise working from the bottom edge and not worrying too much about assembling all the edges before you dive into the main jigsaw. Just be aware of this.
It felt hard to get started but I focused on picking out areas of bright colours since most of the design is in dull greys, browns and green. So I picked out colours that were bright and put those parts together first because that was the easiest method for me.
There are words that can be assembled and text is normally an easier part to solve with a jigsaw puzzle, even if the text doesn't make sense because it's magical.
There are lots of objects that can be picked out and put together like things made in a gold colour such as metal objects, brass, glass, books and other pieces.
I just kept assembling items and placing them roughly where I thought they should be, Eventually all the objects were in place and I was left with mostly floor and walls to finish. Little by little it got done. This wasn't a great design to do at night because of all the dark colours.
What to Look for on Completing This Jigsaw Puzzle
When you've finished this jigsaw, you'll see that there are a number of differences to spot between the picture on the box and the jigsaw. You also have the eight mini mysteries put together by Ravensburger for this escape room design.
➡️ COMPLETE Solutions to the Witches Kitchen HERE
Part of the reason why I love putting jigsaws together is because I appreciate the artwork as much as the process of piecing the puzzle together. Witches Kitchen is a highly detailed design and has a lot of things for you to notice.
➡️ FREE Witches Kitchen Puzzle: Search and Find Game
Because there are so many areas in this Exit puzzle design for you to spot, I've also devised my own search and find game on a separate page for you. Come challenge yourself once you've completed your jigsaw and see how many items you can find without reading the answers.
Overall Experience With The Witches Kitchen
It was a different experience than I expected because I originally bought the jigsaw based on the design for hanging only to realise that this wasn't going to be ideal.
Had I known from the start what to really expect, I wouldn't have bought this jigsaw. I mean I like number and word games but not when they are printed all over my jigsaws.
Had Witch's Kitchen been exactly the design shown on the front of the box, I'd have loved it. I don't see why they couldn't do this and have a separate printed poster with all the puzzles on to open only when you've finished the jigsaw. That way people who want the exact image would be happy and people who love the escape room aspect would also be happy.
The eight puzzles that lead to the final answer were quite good if you enjoy a variety of number and word puzzles. If you get stuck, look in the middle of the design and see how you can decipher the text first. I have my complete solutions page here for it as well as my free search and find game.
I quite enjoyed Witch's Kitchen Exit Puzzle as something different to have a go at in the jigsaw world, but I'm not sure I'll be getting another one. For me, it's got to be all about the picture and I'm not keen on all the numbers and letters splashed all over the final design.
Related Content You Should Also Love:
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Thank you! 😊
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