The Hardest, Most Difficult, & Challenging Jigsaw Puzzles You Can Buy

I always get this question a lot — what is the hardest jigsaw puzzle you have ever done? It’s always a tough question since I haven’t completed many SUPER difficult puzzles. Here is my list of some of the most challenging puzzles you can buy today!

What makes a puzzle difficult?

A jigsaw puzzle can be difficult based on a series of factors; the number of pieces, the size of the puzzle pieces, the puzzle cut itself, the colors within the puzzle, and the design & quality of the puzzle image. The less unique of a puzzle cut, the more difficult that puzzle will be — random cuts are the most unique and not as difficult in my opinion compared to ribbon cut puzzles. I recommend researching any puzzle purchase and reviewing the piece count and the puzzle cut.

But first, let’s start with some puzzle history.

Vintage hard & difficult puzzles from 1960s-90s

Vintage Challenging Puzzles

The idea of challenging puzzles started with Springbok Puzzles in the 1960s with their releases of various solid-color puzzles — Little Red Riding Hood’s Hood, Snow White without the Seven Dwarfs, Close-up of the Three Bears, and Little Boy Blue Coming Home. You can get a preview of these on the Springbok Fever archive.

Many companies such as Springbok, Bits and Pieces/American Publishing Company, started having contests and awarded prizes or a certificate once you sent in proof that you completed the puzzle. They knew how challenging and hard these puzzles would be so they created contests as an incentive to buy & complete the puzzles.

There were many other difficult puzzles released throughout the 1970s through the 1990s. Red solid-color puzzles seemed to be really common! Other challenging puzzles included holographic/reflective, challenging textures such as colorful puzzle pieces, and repetitive patterns (World’s Most Difficult Jigsaw Puzzles). A majority of all these puzzles were around 500 pieces with some being smaller piece counts.

List of Challenging & Difficult Puzzles:

• Little Red Riding Hood’s Hood, Springbok, 500 pieces (1964)
• Snow White without the Seven Dwarfs, Springbok, 500 pieces (1964)
• Close-up of the Three Bears, Springbok, 500 pieces (1964)
• Little Boy Blue Coming Home, Springbok, 500 pieces (1965)
• Design Your Own, Gameophiles, 500 pieces (1971)
• Enchantment Magic Mirror, Springbok, 500 pieces (1972)
• Red Menace, Gameophiles, 500 pieces (1974)
• The Puzzler, Springbok, 500 pieces (1975)
• Red Menace, Bits and Pieces/American Publishing Company, 500 pieces (1977)
• Yellow Peril, Bits and Pieces/American Publishing Company, 500 pieces (1977)
• Green Gruesome, Bits and Pieces/American Publishing Company, 500 pieces (1978)
• Flat Banana, Springbok, 500 pieces (1979)
• Wet Paint, Synergistic, 350 pieces (1970s)
• Prismagic — Silver, Springbok, 500 pieces (1983)
• The Puzzler, Springbok, 500 pieces (1983)
• Prismagic — Gold, Springbok, 500 pieces (1985)
• The Fustrator, Eaton, 500 pieces (1984)
• Spilt Milk, Synergistic, 350 pieces (1980s)
• Chocolate Spilt Milk, Synergistic, 350 pieces (1980s)
• Purple Passion, Bits and Pieces, 500 pieces (1991)
• Red Alert!, Bits and Pieces, 500 pieces (1992)
• Think/Krypt, Ravensburger, 700 pieces (1990s)

Some puzzles are rarer than others (such as Little Boy Blue) — they can sometimes be found on eBay, Facebook marketplace, thrift stores, and yard sales/estate sales. Always keep your eyes peeled and set saved searches for alerts to your inbox when something pops up.

Next up, let’s review some modern hard, difficult, and challenging puzzles!

All of the puzzles will be linked below from Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. These purchases help me produce more content and giveaways for my followers! #CommissionsEarned

Modern solid-color puzzles

Modern Solid-Color Puzzles

Some of the most modern & popular solid-color puzzles are the Ravensburger Krypt series. The Ravensburger Krypt puzzles are very challenging — there is no image, just one color. The puzzle cut pattern is unique and unusual and set in a spiral design. The first few editions were released in the 1990s with many new releases that have come out in the past 5–6 years.

The newest Ravensburger Krypt puzzle to be released is the Neon Green puzzle — which is still making its way to coming out in the United States & other countries. Ravensburger has also created custom color Krypt puzzles — you can order your favorite color now!

Some other popular solid-color puzzles are Blue Kazoo — they have a series of red, white, and black puzzles in 250 and 1000 pieces. Recently, Bits and Pieces created a reinvention of their Purple Passion puzzle from the 90s and you get a certificate upon completion!

Simone Giertz, a Swedish inventor, product designer, and YouTuber invented a white puzzle with one piece missing! There was also another white solid-color puzzle release with The Beatles: White Album puzzle. It seems like red and white solid-color puzzles are still the most common today!

List of Modern Solid-Color Puzzles

• Neon Green Krypt, Ravensburger, 736 pieces (2023)
• Purple Passion, Bits and Pieces, 500 pieces (2023)
• Personalized Krypt, Ravensburger, 631 pieces (2023)
• Metalic Mint Krypt, Ravensburger, 736 pieces (2022)
• Incomplete White Puzzle, Yetch, 499/500 pieces (2022)
• Pink Krypt, Ravensburger, 654 pieces (2021)
• Impossible: Red Puzzle, Blue Kazoo, 250 & 1000 pieces (2021)
• Impossible: Black Puzzle, Blue Kazoo, 250 & 1000 pieces (2021)
• Impossible: White Puzzle, Blue Kazoo, 250 & 1000 pieces (2021)
• Ketchup Puzzle, Heinz, 570 pieces (2020)*
• Black Krypt, Ravensburger, 736 pieces (2019)
• Gold Krypt, Ravensburger, 631 pieces (2017)
• Silver Krypt, Ravensburger, 654 pieces (2012)
• The Beatles: White Album Puzzle, USAopoly, 500 pieces (2008)

*Beware of how difficult the Ketchup puzzle is! As seen in Karen Puzzles review, it’s cheaply made and almost every single piece fits together. I recommend reviewing her channel since she has lots of reviews of a lot of the difficult puzzles in this list.

Clear and iridescent puzzles

Clear & Iridescent Puzzles

Most recently, there has been an abundance of clear, iridescent, and holographic puzzles. Gemturt is a newer puzzle company, offering wooden and acrylic impossible puzzles. They have a variety of impossible puzzles that are “not suitable for a family game night” and you cannot solve them in one night. In their Amazon listings, it also says, “It will take you weeks or even months to solve the puzzle.”

Another brand — The Clearly Impossible Puzzles — has released several 100% clear puzzles since 2020. There is one that even looks like broken glass. Their clear puzzles come in a variety of piece counts for a wide range of difficulty.

List of Clear Puzzles

• The Clearly Impossible Puzzle Crystal Edition (2024)
• Impossible Poison, Gemturt, 222 pieces (2023)
• Impossible Dragon Egg, Gemturt, 180 pieces (2023)
• Impossible Holographic, Gemturt, 300 pieces (2023)
• Impossible Hexwave, Gemturt, 180 pieces (2023)
• Impossible Fresh Air, Gemturt, 240 pieces (2022)
• Impossible Summer, Gemturt, 240 pieces (2022)
• Impossible Magma, Gemturt, 240 pieces (2022)
• Impossible Ocean, Gemturt, 240 pieces (2022)
• Impossible Unicorn, Gemturt, 100 pieces (2022)
• Impossible Unicorn, Gemturt, 180 pieces (2022)
• The Clearly Impossible Puzzle, 1000, 500, 250, 100 pieces (2021)
• Broken Glass Puzzle, 161 pieces (2020)

If you attempt a clear puzzle, make sure to pick a simple background such as a white poster board so it’s easier to assemble with fewer distractions — which your kitchen counter or coffee table may have.

Modern tricky puzzles

Modern Tricky Puzzles

The puzzles in this category are considered tricky and difficult because they have one single pattern/color across the whole puzzle, or there are solid color sections that are difficult to solve. The most typical themes you’ll see in this range are nature puzzles and space puzzles.

Earlier in 2023, Springbok announced a revival of an older puzzle — The Puzzler! I can’t wait to try this one since I haven’t been able to find an original copy from the 80s.

Blue Kazoo has a wide range of really tricky puzzles — from paintings to space and planets — there are a lot of options for difficult puzzles!

List of Modern Tricky Puzzles

• The Puzzler, Springbok, 500 pieces (2023)
• Liability, Blue Kazoo, 1000 pieces (2023)
• Mercury, Blue Kazoo, 1000 pieces (2023)
• Starfield, Blue Kazoo, 1000 pieces (2021)
• Flamingo Sunset, BetterCo., 1000 pieces (2020)
• Tempus 6, Hilarie Mais, PlayGroup, 1000 pieces (2020)
• Karan Singh, PlayGroup, 1000 pieces (2020)
• Eleven, Gemma Smith, PlayGroup, 1000 pieces (2020)
• Disco Queen, Piecework, 500 pieces (2019)
• Life of the Party, Piecework, 1000 pieces (2019)
• The Lines, Bgraamiens, 1000 pieces
• Forest in Black and White, Bgraamiens, 1000 pieces

I recently completed Trippy Cats by Blue Kazoo — the main illustration was pretty easy to solve but the outer light blue of the puzzle was very difficult to solve. The trick here is to sort by piece shape and just test the relevant puzzle pieces. Check out my reel here for an example with Trippy Cats!

Gradient puzzles

Gradient Puzzles

Gradient puzzles can be relaxing and challenging at the same time! These are the puzzles that will test your color theory skills. Some gradient puzzles have fewer colors than others — making it an even more challenging puzzle.

There are lots of gradient puzzles out on the market today but here is a list of some of my favorites! The more difficult puzzles in this list are — the Areaware puzzles (fewer colors & lots of similar piece shapes), Grateful House puzzles (tiny pieces), and some of the PlayGroup puzzles. The PlayGoup puzzles feature a few challenging puzzles — the vibrating colors and the changing colors. These puzzles can be tricky but surprisingly intuitive — and very rewarding when you complete them!

List of Gradient Puzzles

• Gradient Cube, Grateful House, 1000 pieces (2023)
• Impossible Holographic, Gemturt, 300 pieces (2023)
• Krypt Gradient, Ravensburger, 631 pieces (2021)
• Gradient, Cloudberries, 1000 & 2000 pieces (2021)
• Purple/Teal Gradient, Areaware, 1000 pieces (2021)
• Pink/Yellow Gradient, Areaware, 1000 pieces (2021)
• Gradient Puzzle, Blue Kazoo, 1000 pieces (2020)
• 540 Colours Sphere, PlayGroup, 540 pieces (2019)
• 5000 Colours, PlayGroup, 5000 pieces (2019)
• 1000 Colours Wheel, PlayGroup, 1000 pieces (2018)
• 1000 Changing Colours, PlayGroup, 1000 pieces (2017)
• 1000 Halftone Colours, PlayGroup, 1000 pieces (2017)
• 1000 Vibrating Colours, PlayGroup, 1000 pieces (2017)
• 1000 Colours, PlayGroup, 1000 pieces (2014)

If you want to get a preview of some of these puzzles — I highly recommend checking out Karen Puzzles YouTube channel. She has reviews on a number of all these puzzles featured here!

Let me know in the comments below if you tried any of these puzzles! What are some really challenging puzzles you’ve completed?