Disclosure: The Animal Crossing Spring Time Premium Puzzle was purchased for review by VGBlogger.com.
USAopoly’s Animal Crossing Spring Time puzzle is a delightful breath of fresh air in a jigsaw market where the majority of the collectible offerings are themed after the AAA franchise brands like Mario, Zelda, and Fallout. I love those games as much as the next guy or gal, but it’s still always nice to see other series get some jigsaw love every now and then.
The puzzle is bursting with the vibrant spring colors of blooming roses and dandelions, cascading cherry blossoms, lush green grass, and bright blue skies, set to a seasonal picnic scene attended by the charming cast of anthropomorphic villagers. The print quality is impeccable so that every last color and detail looks delectably crisp and vivacious. It’s impossible to look at the finished puzzle without having a massive grin stretch across your face. I also appreciate that there isn’t a logo or any branding mucking up the image. There is copyright text in the bottom left corner, but thankfully the lettering only stretches over two pieces so it mostly fades from vision unless you specifically lock in on it.
Animal Crossing fans will recognize Axel the elephant, Bunnie the rabbit, Penelope the mouse, Tammy the cub, Antonio the anteater, Blanca the cat, and Zipper T. Bunny alongside male and female human villagers. Fan favorites Tom Nook and Isabelle are missing in action–unless they’re really well hidden far in the background, waiting to be found like a game of Where’s Waldo (though I’ve looked really hard and can’t spot them). The packaging logo doesn’t specify a particular installment from which the image was sourced, but from what I’ve been able to find online the picture appears to be based on a piece of promo art for New Leaf. Not that it matters since aesthetically the Animal Crossing series is pretty much universal across all the games.
At 550 pieces and 18″ x 24″, the puzzle is a standard size that’s welcoming to jigsaw solvers of all ages and skill levels. Having all of the different characters, flora, and scene props, each with their own outfits, patterns, and color profiles, means that there aren’t any large sections of solid color pieces to get hung up on. The puzzle’s also been cut into a wide range of shapes and sizes, including some that are contoured in distinct and exaggerated styles that help to convey Animal Crossing‘s whimsical charm.
In my box, I did encounter a few connecting pairs that had little hanging nubs where the pieces weren’t cleanly cut all the way through. These pieces wouldn’t fit flush together until I manually smoothed out the rough edges, which caused an extra step but ultimately wasn’t a huge deal at all. By and large the quality of the imaging and materials is top shelf.
Overall everything about this Animal Crossing Spring Time puzzle is a pure joy. Not only does it nail the seasonal theme, but it also captures all of the cheer and whimsy and cutesy personality that fans of the series have grown to adore over the past 15 years. After this I’m very much hoping USAopoly revisits Animal Crossing for future puzzle themes.
Buy From: GameStop or ThinkGeek.
Disclosure: Puzzle purchased by reviewer.
Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
