Over 100 reviews cover online jigsaw puzzles and freeware and shareware jigsaw puzzles. (Freeware are programs that are publicly available free. Shareware are programs that are available free but a fee is required to register them and sometimes to enable all functionality.) Jigsaws available for purchase are included if a free demo version is available from the internet. If you're in a hurry to do a jigsaw puzzle without reading the reviews, go directly to Dotty's Online Jigsaws
I've attempted to make this a complete list of online, freeware, shareware and demo jigsaw puzzles, except jigsaw puzzles from pornographic sites are not included. I do not know of any extensive collection of reviews on the internet. Please
if you know of other jigsaw puzzle sites to be reviewed. I also welcome corrections from web site providers or visitors. Thanks.
Most of the online jigsaw puzzles require program downloads to temporary storage and most downloads of programs and pictures take a while. Be patient it's worth the wait.
Virtual jigsaw puzzles fall into three main categories.
Conventional jigsaw style with joining, usually with tabs on the pieces and sometimes with rotation
Frame style where pieces are placed in the correct position of the frame, but usually not joined. Sometimes rotation is included. Pieces are often rectangular with no tabs.
Mosaic style where pieces are swapped in a frame, but never joined. Rotation is usually not included. Pieces are usually rectangular with no tabs.
I have not included any slide puzzles (one position in a frame is empty and the puzzle is solved by sliding pieces).
Most of these jigsaw puzzles use the mouse to drag pieces or to click and swap pieces. Puzzles with pieces rotated are much more difficult than those without. Some puzzles provide drawers, boxes or trays for sorting pieces. If provided these can be shrunk to provide more working space and resized by pulling on the edges. The shapes of puzzle pieces vary greatly between programs and can add to the interest and difficulty of the puzzle.
Reviews are listed alphabetically. Use the alphabetical links at the top and bottom of this page for reviews or select one of the highlighted reviews listed at the right. Highlighted reviews contain more detail, include a poll with results and are included in the Jigsaw Comparison Chart. (The poll results display in a new window but other poll results use the same window.) The results page also includes visitor comments. Add your vote and/or comments to the poll.
