Here’s an adorable puzzle for all the video game lovers out there. Mom and I had a great time assembling it with the help of my oldest son (who LOVES video games). Another new puzzle company to try too, which I always love. Who knew there were so many different companies out there producing jigsaw puzzles? I sure didn’t!

So, USAopoly, not bad! The pieces were thinner than premium puzzles but extremely sturdy, they fit together well and there was a nice variety of piece shapes. The image reproduction was very good with bright colors and no fuzziness, and there was no image lift on any of the pieces. Pretty darn good all the way around if you ask me.

We worked this puzzle from the bottom up, which is not how we usually do it but the layers of the image just made it so easy. It was a quick assembly with 3 people working on it, and we all enjoyed ourselves very much. My son, who doesn’t usually get involved with my puzzling just had to sit down and work on this one – he just can’t walk past Super Mario Bros. and not stop and see what’s going on. 🙂 When we were finished he wanted to take the puzzle to do again at home and have me glue when he’s assembled it all by himself.

This puzzle reminded my mother and me of playing Super Mario Bros. when I was pregnant with my daughter (over a quarter of a century ago 😮 ). Mom and I would sit and play it together a lot. When my daughter was born and very colicky, she was soothed by the music of the game. She heard it so often when she was in my belly that it was familiar and calming for her! I no longer had much time to sit and play Super Mario Bros., but I could turn the game on and let the background music play to keep her relaxed. This puzzle reminded me of that time so long ago.

All in all an excellent thrift store purchase and a good quality, entertaining puzzle – for 3 generations of my family!