When the cold and dull outdoors makes it hard to spend time outside, indoor activities are much more appealing. One activity that I’ve really enjoyed this winter has been jigsaw puzzles. These are a great way to stay occupied, but some are more fun than others. Here is my review of how fun I find different types of jigsaw puzzles.

Landscape: 5/10

While it can be fun to build a landscape puzzle, they often have large sections with very similar colors, forcing you to rely mostly on shape. This landscape of a small city in Greece was hard to put together. The large areas of tan stone and blue sky were relatively boring, while the blue domes and building details were interesting.

Nature: 6/10

Despite their similarities to landscapes, puzzles depicting nature or living things are generally more interesting than other landscapes because life and nature usually have more variation and patterns. I have many fond memories of working on this dolphin puzzle as a child, and it’s a fun one to revisit. Other examples of nature puzzles include forests, animals or rivers.

Seasonal: 7/10

Bring some extra holiday cheer with a seasonal puzzle. Most of them are for Christmas, but I’m sure they make others. They’re fun when you’re in the season or want to be, but not any other times. I enjoyed this puzzle around Christmas and I will ignore it in every other part of the year.

Assorted objects: 8/10

I really enjoy these puzzles with many multicolored variations of similar objects. For example, this bottle puzzle was really fun to put together. Each object had its own color, shape and highlights, which made them interesting to assemble.

Lots of text: 2/10

Puzzles with large amounts of text are often very boring and lack color. When I was building this puzzle, I found myself focusing on the birds and ignoring the text. Words just aren’t as interesting to put together.

Small puzzle: 3/10

Although small puzzles, with 500 pieces or less, definitely have their time and place, it is not for long-term winter entertainment. I completed this penguin puzzle in less than 15 minutes, and then I was bored. If you only have a short amount of time to complete them, these puzzles are perfect. However, I’m not usually in this situation.

Large puzzle: 9/10

Puzzles with 1,000 or more pieces are often some of the best. With many interesting sections and opportunities for uniquely shaped pieces, the best puzzles never have a dull moment. I worked on the rainbow succulent puzzle for over a month and loved every part of it. If you ever need a calming activity that you can always pause or come back to, try a large puzzle. It will rarely let you down.