4D Cityscape USA History Time Puzzle

The puzzle was very enjoyable. I'd never done a puzzle like this before. The puzzle is done in 3 stages. 1st, you do the base puzzle which is like any other puzzle I'd ever done. (720 pieces). The base puzzle shows San Francisco when most of it was undeveloped, but street names were defined. 2nd, you do the elevated top layer flexible foam piece modern puzzle that lays over the historical foundation. 3rd, you do plastic building pieces. But you don't just put them into precut holes. You put them in the order they were built in a specific order. And as you do, you get to see how the highrise architecture sprung up to the 2019 building skyline. It was visually educational and surprising to see the locations of what buildings came up next as I layed it out. I found myself intentionally pausing for a while to take in the view of the city with each new building I added. When I was done, I found myself already planning to chose and look for other cities that I could do for the same historical perspective all while doing puzzles that I love. The puzzle pieces were all high quality. Foam pieces were good. But they don't stay flat that well once you start inserting the plastic buildings. But wasn't too bad. Also. the plastic buildings were pre-molded and left on the plastic tree mold trees that one get's when you build plastic models. So when you seperate the buildings from the mold brackets, I had to get out my Exacto knife to trim the plastic burs. Not doing so would result in the burrs ripping through the paper top portion of the flexible foam pieces. So I did that for every building piece. That was a pain. But there was just no choice. The puzzle was really worth it.

My 9 year old received this for X-mas and it was a big hit for the entire family. It ended up taking more parent involvement than expected, but that added to the appeal/bonding time/history lessons. The puzzle portion was a challenge to put together (lots of similar color/shaped pieces), the 3-D foam pieces of the states & mountains were OK for layers 2-5, and the landmark pieces were fun to determine what they were and what state they belonged to. All in all, it took a SOLID three days to assemble, the longest time being the 1st layer/jigsaw portion. As a parent, I absolutely loved the history of the US, learning about the expansion territories, major roads & mountains, and monuments, and the kids loved the "cool" factor of the 4-D assembly. They also give you double sided tape to keep the layers together, but we opted not to use them. And note, you will need very strong scissors or package cutters for the landmark pieces.

One of if not THE best puzzle I've ever bought! It's just the "right" level of difficulty. We've been working cooperatively on puzzles at the office. Colleagues were surprised and impressed that it's multi-dimensional. It's entertaining, challenging, educational. It's well-crafted and attractive. It's fascinating to see how the city in Boston in particular established land where there once was sea. It holds up fairly well to the currently rapidly-developing landscape. It's a great mid-afternoon reset in the workday that stimulates refreshed creative problem-solving back at the desk. It's an ideal souvenir and keepsake. There are several other cities available (including others in which we have offices or that I've visited) and I'm thinking of getting some for myself or gifts.

This puzzle was not what I was expecting. The puzzle is made of 3 layers. The bottom layer is made of cardboard, like a typical puzzle. The middle layer is made of foam (about 1/4" thick) with the picture on top. The top layer consists of plastic 3D buildings, which fit into openings in the foam layer. Being 4D, I thought that the puzzle would show the change in the city over time. I thought that the bottom, cardboard layer would show the city in the 1800s, then the foam puzzle with the 3D buildings would show the city in the modern day, so that as you built one layer over top of the other, you could compare how it changed. It does not do that. Both the cardboard and foam layers show the same scene. I was disappointed by this. This puzzle was a gift to my 11 year old daughter. Our family worked together on it, and put it together in 3 days. The bottom, cardboard layer is very challenging. The pieces are all the same shape, so they can fit where they do not belong. You have to be very careful to be certain that you are placing them in their correct positions, by referring to a map that is included in the box. Since you have to refer to the map constantly, we made photocopies so that each person who was working on the puzzle would have their own reference copy. Once the cardboard layer was completed, it was much easier to build the foam layer. You do not have to build the buildings on this layer (as you'll be inserting the 3D buildings) and large areas around the buildings are made up of a few large pieces. You also do not have to build the rivers. You build it right over the same picture on the cardboard layer, so you don't have to keep referring to the reference map. Our 8 year old found it possible to help with this layer, although she had been frustrated by the cardboard layer. The two layers stick together with a few pieces of double sided tape (included). Putting in the 3D buildings was quick and fun. Also, the streets in the finished puzzle are supposed to be glow-in-the-dark, but they didn't glow. I think the puzzle was well made and sturdy. The girls enjoyed putting it together. But the 4D aspect was over-hyped. ETA: I went to the manufacturer's website to find out how the 4D aspect is supposed to work. Their website says "You refer to the Time Poster to locate & place each building on the map according to the year it was built." In this way, you can see how the skyline evolved over time.

birthday present for my grandson he's delighted with it

my grandson loves it!

高層ビルは、まったくありません。 ですが、ニュースや映画でよく見られる建物ばかりで感無量です。 シリーズ一番のアカデミックな街と言ってよいでしょう。 似たような建物や道路のピースが多く、意外に作りにくかったです。

Macht einen guten Eindruck, ist ein Geschenk , deshalb noch nicht gepuzzelt

シカゴと言えば、その昔ニューヨークにも勝る摩天楼を形成した街です。 とはいえ日本人にとっては、ちょっとマイナーな街ではないでしょうか。 これを作ることで、ずいぶんと迫力のある街であることが実感できました。 ただ、シカゴスパイアは建設中止になったような・・・ あと、海の部分が広くて厄介です。青色ピースばかりで非常に分かりづらいです。