Hi Puzzlers! For 22 of our Ecru puzzles, we first sold them as mystery puzzles, where we didn't even show you the picture and there was no picture on the box, but we did give a couple adjectives and piece count.
For example, our newest one is Mystery Puzzle #17 (they don't come out quite in order) that we tell you is a charming ode to fairytales, and we've revealed this example piece:
About 4 months ago, we also changed our wood box puzzles (roughly those with more than 250 pieces), to not have the image on-the-box, and instead we are hiding the box-sticker inside the box.
So now we are wondering, does that satisfy people who liked the Mystery Puzzles? Should we keep making the Mystery Puzzles?
We'd love your feedback on this topic in general - you can post your comments below (they go to a human moderator, but should show up here in a day or so).
I prefer to know the image on the puzzle before I buy it. With that said though, I never look at the picture while assembling so that I have the ‘mystery’ feel to it. For me, if I don’t enjoy the image, the assembly process isn’t as rewarding. When I open a puzzle to work, I never look at the picture beyond a casual glance to make sure I have the right one and then I put the box away.
Please keep the Mystery Puzzles! People who want to see the image first have to wait only a few months before the puzzle is released normally. In the meantime, they have tons of other puzzles with images that they can purchase and enjoy. Mystery Puzzles are one of the reasons that Artifact/Ecru is my favorite puzzle company!
I never look at the picture while I am solving a puzzle but I would never buy a mystery puzzle. Of primary importance to me is ending up with something I like to look at and have around for a few days before moving on to the next one. I wouldn’t work a puzzle if I am indifferent to the image and certainly would avoid anything with an image I actively dislike.
You have a large catalog and so do your business competitors but the plain fact is that for me only a tiny percentage of all those puzzles (maybe 2% at most?) have images which prompt me to acquire them. These wooden puzzles are expensive for my budget and since the probability of being uninterested in the result is in the neighborhood of 98% I will ration my spending on things I am certain I will like. While the things I get are not complete mysteries, not seeing the image from the time I place the order until it’s finished on my table is satisfying enough for me.
The Mystery puzzles are my absolute favorite. If I know what the image will be from your website, it is not a true mystery, and it doesn’t scratch the same itch. Please keep them!
I have not bought a mystery puzzle, and I think you should continue making them. It is such a cool idea. I would love to do one myself, but for financial reasons I would not be willing to justify it. For now, I will just have to live vicariously through those that can.
I would greatly love the option of giving a mystery puzzle. The receiver would get the joys of doing a mystery puzzle and I would know it is something they may like. Just like the wooden boxes, except for the smaller boxes. Instead of leaving the label off, maybe you could put a 4″×6″ removable label on top of the box label. I suppose you could sell your mystery puzzles like this. Then switching from mystery to non-mystery would only be a website update.