Review: “Star Wars: Feel the Force”, Buffalo Games 8.75/10

Publisher: Buffalo Games (US), published 2017

Size: 1000 pieces 

Title:  “Star Wars: Feel the Force” 

Finished size: 26.75″ x 19.75″

OUR RATING: 8.75/10

Puzzle Warehouse is currently having a special event with Buffalo Games from now until 9/15. Buy 2 and get 1 free. This includes a wide selection of Star Wars puzzles. Click below to see all Buffalo Games puzzles. 

SEE ALL THE STAR WARS PUZZLES ON SALE AT PUZZLE WAREHOUSE RIGHT NOW

In honor of this sale, I thought I’d check out one of the very popular Star Wars puzzles. I chose this collage because it looked like fun. Let’s see how it went!

Box Quality:  (9/10)

The Buffalo Games boxes are very sturdy and have nice packaging design. The box is small at 8″ x 8″, but it comes with a poster inside so you don’t need to depend on the image on the box lid. The front, which you can see above, has the “Star Wars” logo, and the Buffalo Games logo. The name of the puzzle isn’t shown on the front.

Back:

The back of the box shows off the Buffalo Games Star Wars collection (below). Nice! It’s always helpful, years down the road, to be able to see what other puzzles were released at the same time, in case you want to track them down.

Sides:

The sides all have the Star Wars logo prominent and large. The puzzle name is not shown anywhere (a bit strange–do they only name them for the catalog?) There’s also the Buffalo Games logo, the piece count, and a picture of the image on two sides only. Two sides show the Star Wars logo and nothing else. But since all box sides are the same length, you can easily shelve on a side that has the important information.

Inside:

The box is glued shut on the sides (instead of being shrink wrapped) and the glue has to be cut by inserting a knife down the side. Inside the box the pieces are packed loose (not inside a bag) and there’s also a poster. You can see the poster below. It’s good size, at least twice the size of the image on the box, and is useful for reference when piecing the puzzle together. The posters also shows a few other “Star Wars” puzzle designs. The back of the poster is blank white.

Overall, I’ve given the box an 9/10.

The Image:  9/10

I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, though I have seen the recent movie. I liked this image because of a nice variety of color–with the bright blues and reds–and the collage effect of the various faces and ships. The bright band of the light saber in the middle looked interesting to piece together. And I like the girl’s face in the center (actress Daisy Ridley). She gives the puzzle a gothic/fantasy flavor.

The image has nice balance, though I feel it is too dark in places, like above the girl’s head, where there is a ship but it’s not very bright against the black sky. I deducted a bit for those dark spots.

I’ve given the image a 9 score.

(Click on any of the images in this review for a closer look.)

Puzzle Quality: (9/10)

You can see my brand page for Buffalo Games here.  This 2017 puzzle is fully compatible with the puzzles I reviewed for my brand analysis. The quality is very good. The pieces feel sturdy, the box and contents are undamaged and in great condition, and the artwork reproduction is spot on.

The cut is a standard grid-cut puzzle with a wide variety of piece shapes and even a few ‘zig zag’ sided pieces. I never had a question about whether or not a piece actually fit. The tightness of the fit is average–neither particularly tight nor loose. If you try to move small groups of pieces around they will fall apart unless you’re very careful, but the final finish looks fairly seamless. Click on the image below to get an enlargement of the piece shapes.

The finish is not too glossy and I didn’t have any issues with overhead glare working this puzzle at night despite the dark colors. Overall, puzzle quality scores a high 9 out of 10.

Assembly:  (8/10)

My difficulty rating for this puzzle is: Medium Challenging. I did it in four shorter evening sessions. It’s definitely more difficult than your average puzzle because there are quite a few dark areas the brighter blues and reds cover quite a lot of territory.

DAY ONE & TWO:

I started with the border of the puzzle and then the easiest bits. The blue light saber and the area immediately around it are easy because of they’re the brightest blues. Similarly, the red light saber and ‘glow’ around it are the brightest pieces in the box. After putting together as much of those areas as I could find, I looked for flesh tones and did the lightest faces.

DAY THREE & FOUR:

The girl’s hands are another large, light area that’s easy to assemble.

After those biggest and easiest areas, I worked to complete the rest of the faces and the Wookie.

As you can see in the details, there are lots of dark pieces around all the faces, and those were filled in last. However, there is some nice lighter blue around the Wookie that got filled in early on. The occasional “paint slashes” of rust and red were welcome among the dark areas.

All the ships and robots were more difficult because they have more areas of random pattern. As you can see from this close-up, there’s lots of blue everywhere, which makes the puzzle more difficult (but not frustrating).

The transition area below is particularly nice with the whites, reds, and purples.

The space ship at the top center is so dark it almost merges with the dark sky. A bit tricky, but the splash of red helps.

I’ve given assembly an 8 score. Definitely a more challenging puzzle for those who want to work their little gray cells!

Summary:

“Star Wars: Feel the Force” will be a welcome challenge for Star Wars fans. This beautiful collage composition has lots of blues and blacks to keep assembly tricky, but the various faces, machines, and ships provide plenty of interest and detail. I particularly like the central figure (actress Daisy Ridley) and her light saber, which gives the puzzle a gothic fantasy edge. The Buffalo Games quality is very good with grid cut pieces and a nice box that comes with a poster. Recommended for film buffs or those wanting a slightly harder fantasy puzzle.

Where to find:

SEE ALL THE STAR WARS PUZZLES ON SALE AT PUZZLE WAREHOUSE RIGHT NOW

JJ