Unreleased Puzzles of WJPC 2024

Oct 07, 2024

This is the second article of Puzzle Talk’s WJPC 2024 report series. In this one we dig deep on the unreleased puzzles of the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship 2024.

This year, the competition had unreleased puzzles in semifinals in addition to finals. This means none could’ve practiced with the puzzles in advance and that made the competition equal. However, according to some participants and discussions in puzzle Facebook-groups, at least the individual semifinal puzzles were accidentally shown in Amazon a week prior the competition. The puzzles were not sold there, but they were shown, so this might be good news for the puzzlers who didn’t have access to the puzzles yet – maybe we’ll see them sold world wide at some point. But, from the competition perspective, the execution wasn't perfect: if you have seen the puzzle in advance it helps in assembling, since you already have built some mental image of it. Despite the issues, we believe using unreleased puzzles in more rounds is a great change and we are hoping to see unreleased puzzles in all rounds next year.

The new WJPC puzzles are mostly illustrations, with beautiful color palettes. There’s similarity and continuity in them, and this is no wonder since the artworks were commissioned from two different agencies and one artist, and you can really see their style in the puzzles.

Pink Light Studio Puzzles

Individual semifinal puzzles and one of the teams final puzzles were commissioned from Pink Light Studio, which represents over 40 female artists and offers design services to businesses. To our understanding, the Ravensburger and Pink Light Studio collaboration is fairly new and we are thrilled about it: these puzzles are amongst the first ones, in addition to the Brunch Crunch -puzzle, which was published earlier this year. All of the three puzzles offered fresh, fun and beautiful modern puzzle art, which nicely accompanied the traditional style used in other competition puzzles. At the moment these puzzles are sold out everywhere else than France, but it seems like they will be available again in the beginning of 2025. Or this is what the UK Ravensburger shop says at least, so if you didn’t manage to buy them in the first place, there’s more of these puzzles coming next year.

The first individual semifinal puzzle, Ocean Whimsy (500 pieces), depicted a adorable underwater world. Artwork was made by Laura Konyndyk, a Canadian illustrator and surface designer, whose artworks are colorful, warm and lively. Based on our research the WJPC puzzle is the first puzzle with Konyndyk’s artwork and we are hoping to see some more in the upcoming years, since this was such a fun one and the image worked well in the form of a puzzle.

The second individual semifinal puzzle, Flowerjungle (500 pieces), consists of a variety of flowers and leaves. Artwork was made by Darlene Seale, an American illustrator and surface designer, who’s colorful artworks focus on different patterns and textures. Seale’s artwork has been seen earlier in Jiggy Puzzles.

The teams final puzzle, Magical Rain Forest (1000 pieces), depicts a jungle with a variety of animals, flowers and plants. Artwork was made by a Swedish artist Caroline Alfreds, who’s artwork includes lots of characters and patterns. Alfred’s artworks have been seen earlier in Ceaco Wild Whimsy collection and Jiggy Puzzles Junior collection.

MGL Licensing Puzzles

Both pairs semifinal puzzles, individual final puzzle and one of the teams final puzzles were commissioned from MGL Licencing, which is an art licensing company representing over 70 artists. Ravensburger has collaborated with MGL Licencing numerous times before as well, since the company represents many artists whose style matches traditional puzzle art. At the moment all of the designs are sold out, everywhere else than France, but it seems like some of them will be available again in the beginning of 2025.

First pairs semifinal puzzle, World Travel Pinboard (500 pieces), is a collage of images from famous tourist landmarks. In the WJPC puzzle box, image credit is given to Lilia Artbeat. According to the MGL database, the original artwork is made by Liliia, who’s artworks have also been used in the Ravensburger Cozy -series, e.g. the Cozy Cabin.

Second pairs semifinal puzzle, Bavarian Romance (500 pieces), depicts a picturesque view of a German town. According to the MGL database, the original artwork is made by David Maclean and it’s called “Romance in Bavaria”. Maclean has had a long career as an artist and his artworks have been seen in Wentworth and Educa puzzles, amongst many others. This is no wonder, since Mclean’s style matches traditional puzzle art and is really popular.

The individual final puzzle, Tiger Family in the Oasis (500 pieces), depicts a family of tigers in an oasis, as the name says. According to the MGL database, the original artwork is made by an Czech artist Jan Patrick Krasny and it’s called “Community of Tigers”. Krasny’s artwork often includes animals or fantasy creatures, such as unicorns. Krasny’s artwork has been seen in Ravensburger puzzles earlier, in addition to many other common puzzle brands.

The other team's final puzzle, Canal Cruise in Venice (1000 pieces), seems to be the most mysterious one. The image portrays a Venice view, with the canal, gondola and other signature landmarks. The box doesn’t have the artist's name and we couldn't find the original artwork from the MGL database, which leaves room for speculation: UK based artist Dominic Davidson has done several similar artworks with Venice Canal views, so this could be his artwork, but we might also be wrong. Davidson is known from his mediterranean sceneries along cottage views and his art has been widely used in puzzles. EDIT: this was actually confirmed to be Davison’s artwork: he had posted about this image on his Instagram in September 2022.

Marie Boiseau: Valladolid

The icing on the cake was the pair's final puzzle, Valladolid (1000 pieces), which illustrated the famous landmarks of the WJPC location, Valladolid. The artwork was made by Marie Boiseau, who’s a popular puzzle artist and known for her colorful and feminine artworks. Boiseau's artwork has been seen in Pieces & Peace, Trevell and Nathan Puzzles and she also designed one of the WJPC 2023 teams final puzzles. Choosing her artwork again for this year’s WJPC puzzle created nice continuity, and the two WJPC puzzles create a nice mini series together. This puzzle sold out immediately on the competition venue as well as Ravensburger’s web shops and there’s currently no information available if this puzzle will be available again.

UPDATE (this info is from the Ravensburger UK shop, since the other shops don’t have info about the WJPC puzzles at the moment available):

Apparently due to the high demand, all of the puzzles will be reproduced for the UK market in the end of this year. However, they are also going to be sold through an EQL Run Fair® launch which was already used in the US WJPC puzzle launch after the competition. So they will use a lottery method and only the winners can buy the puzzles. You can find more info on that and sign up for the launch waiting list in the Ravensburger UK website. Note that the puzzles will not be shipped internationally, so only UK residents can buy them.