Pheasantly Pleasing Review

Comment

Comment by Marc on May 23, 2009 at 2:57pm

I had Pheasantly Pleasing delivered to the office and quickly put together the head, then marveling (perhaps more like anguishing) over the remain 70 pieces (or so) that all look so similar. I really began in earnest last night working on it and after a couple of hours of false starts think that I figured out the trick to this puzzle -- but then ran into another roadblock of not finding pieces for two more areas. For me, this one is beautiful and very difficult -- it's my first 3 sword. (I have done Fan Flair (a 4 sword), and am finding PP as difficult as FF. More progress to follow...

Comment by Erik on August 6, 2008 at 7:55pm

Let's not let this all go to your head Dee :)

Comment by Erik on August 6, 2008 at 5:42pm

So I don't think you should worry, I think this comes back to how do the ratings get calibrated. If this was a 5 (I mean 4 :) rated puzzle some of the difficulty wouldn't have surprised me. But as a 3, I think some people may get too frustrated--or not.

One difference, the pieces in Flutterby are more regular and have less detail to distract. So it was easier to recognize they are all so similar you need to really work at trying lots of combinations.

Pheasantly's pieces look more distinct at first, but they are more intricate and have more headfakes. So it was definitely way harder.

The other more subtle point is that the catalog image for Flutterby at least gives you a heads up about the issue I left in white/upside down above plus there is SOME symmetry, the one for Pheasantly doesn't.

Bottom line, it's not just about June/me, see what others say.

Comment by Jennifer on August 6, 2008 at 5:30pm

Really? Harder than Flutterby? That's interesting. I hope others on the site who work the puzzle will chime in and give some feedback. It is so helpful. So the pieces were harder to work with? Is that a bad thing? Should I be concerned?

Comment by Erik on August 6, 2008 at 2:52pm

Well see we don't have to get the calls from irate pirates (or customers) :)

I still think this was way harder than Flutterby which I own. It isn't about piece count, the puzzle pieces were harder to manage/get grips on.

Comment by Jennifer on August 6, 2008 at 2:26pm

Hellloooo all you puzzlers out there. A 4? How could I give it a 4? Flutterby and Bubbles are rated 4 swords and they have 135 and 120 pieces. Pheasantly Pleasing only has 85 pieces. If I gave it a 4, I would be getting calls right and left asking how I could rate it as high as those two when it has 35-50 fewer pieces. And remember, those are not just regular puzzle pieces. Every piece is a Teaser piece in these puzzles (except the base the peacock is standing on) so the difficulty level greatly increases/decreases with the number of pieces.

The prototype design started out with 66 pieces. It took my husband (an Excellent puzzler) 70 minutes. It took 2 of our other Testers 128 minutes and 152 minutes. These Testers are all excellent puzzlers so we know that the average Joe Puzzler will have a longer time. We knew we wanted it to be really tough so Dee added a bunch more tail feathers and we called it good. Yes, we could have made the peacock tail even larger and rated it 4 bolts but then the price would rise substantially and not everyone is up for that much of that type of puzzling. As Erik mentions, these are repeating type image puzzles and some folks find them tedious as opposed to challenging.

It's really tough to rate puzzles because everyone's skill level is so different. Some puzzlers call and say they did Ladybug in 6 hours and feel like they've done a stroke of business when others do it in 45 minutes. What do you say to those people? What one person thinks is a good time isn't necessarily what the next person agress with. I would much rather get feedback saying a puzzles is harder than its rating than someone saying it is too easy:)

I would love to add another Flutterby type puzzle to our closet. Any suggested subject matter? I would want it to be composed of several different items like the butterflies, flowers and stems that Flutterby is made of. Send your ideas now and maybe you'll see your suggestion come to fruition! Thanks for the great comments. It's fun to hear how you are thinking. Though Erik, I'm not sure I would have caught on to your funky swizzy tricks without Cindy's help!! Keep us on our toes!

Comment by Erik on August 5, 2008 at 3:25pm

Thx for link June. And if you read Dee's post carefully there are some hints. (Turning June's item into a link: http://www.stavepuzzlenuts.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1230529%3ABlogPost%3A17418

And yes it is pretty unique for Stave

Comment by June Herold on August 5, 2008 at 3:22pm

Hi Erik. The videos you're putting into your reviews are hysterical. I wrote a review of this 85 piece Dee Rogers teaser and then accidentally deleted it. Now I don't have to rewrite it because you've done a great job. PuzzleNuts will remember this relatively new design from the contest we ran to name it! Here's my two cents: I agree with you on the rating. Not much more to say about that. However, I loved this puzzle. When smaller puzzles require more time and visual brain power, the satisfaction level increases for me. This one took me about 3 hours spread over three days. Then, I left it assembled for two weeks and on a table I pass in the house regularly. I liked looking at it.