Count: 2 (2026)
Completed Size: 22in x 22in
Total pieces: 300
I follow a lot of artists, including pikarar@ on Instagram. When she posted about this puzzle, I was excited to get my hands on it. Not only can I support a small business and an artist I like, I also get to try out a non-traditional puzzle. Each piece is shaped like a little creature and they’re all incredibly cute. I didn’t want to pay for shipping, so I made the trek down to her San Jose Japantown storefront to pick one up in-person.
The puzzle pieces come sealed in a lavender paper envelope, which was cute; but not practical as it easily tears. The box includes four border/frame pieces, but they don’t really stay together. There are noticeable gaps between them, which was the first sign that something was off. I went back to her Instagram post afterward and noticed the border doesn’t seem to lie flat in her photos either.
As I kept putting pieces together, I noticed more quality issues: the pieces aren’t always cut cleanly, some have extra white space around them, and others have parts of one creature attached to another create in the same piece. On top of all that, the pieces didn’t fit together particularly well, so it took a lot longer to finish as I had to keep redoing some sections. I didn’t want to rate this puzzle poorly because I love the idea of every puzzle piece being its own little character, but the puzzling experience was too frustrating.
