If you are a 90s kid like me, you will probably relate to my excitement here. I basically grew up assembling 1000-piece jigsaws and stepping on a mine-field of LEGOs. Now, I take to NYT Strands to satiate this puzzle-hunger in me. So, the very concept of a spatial puzzle was beyond thrilling to me. Puzzling Places (Download, free) is the first such puzzle game that I have tried out, and I can’t thank the Vision Pro enough for it.
I just completed my 20th day with the Apple Vision Pro, and well, it has been quite an experience. While exploring every nook and cranny of the headset, I came across this free game in the App Store. Initially, I dismissed it as just another game. Fast forward to last night, boredom nudged me to finally give it a try, and I’m hooked now.
Once you get past the 745MB download and start the game, it takes mere seconds to get into it. The interface is rather simple and you get three free puzzles to solve and get started. These three puzzles include:
- Cozy Cabin (Unknown, Czechia) – 25 Pieces
- Prayer Hall (Samarkand, Uzbekistan) – 100 Pieces
- Mont-Saint-Michel (Normandy, France) – 200 Pieces
You will need to start from Cozy Cabin and unlock the other two in that exact order.
At first, I couldn’t figure out how to go about solving the puzzles, especially since the only preview of what they were supposed to look like was in the app’s starting screen thumbnails. Instead, you get a small piece of unsolved puzzle, around which you will have to connect the other pieces.
The game UI is squeaky clean, and dragging-dropping the pieces from the side panel is the ultimate satisfaction. To back those actions up, there are some pleasant sound effects to make the experience even more fulfilling.
What’s more, is that each of those puzzles also emit distinct theme sounds now and then to take the immersion to the next level. I fell in love with the Hogwarts-like Mont-Saint-Michel puzzle specifically, where the beautiful church bell sounds chimed my mind into a state of utter relaxation.
Then comes the level of detail in the puzzle. As you bring the puzzle closer, you can see people chilling in the amphitheater, cars parked in the parking space, and even two people walking on the beach. I did a lot of squinting to spot as many details as I could, and it’s breathtaking, to say the least.
On top of that, being a 200-piece puzzle, I took my sweet time with it and played it continuously for over an hour. I didn’t even mind the Vision Pro’s weighty body sitting on my face for that long, which is honestly a big compliment. The puzzle made me want to visit the location for real. Oh yes, Mont-Saint-Michel exists and you should definitely do a Google search on it!
I also had a fun time solving the Prayer Hall puzzle, which has a lot of intricacies hidden in plain sight. Was slightly difficult to solve, which is good, for I could spend some more time with it. As you zoom in, you can see the architecture of the prayer hall and beautifully lit interiors, and it’s magnificent.
Cozy Cabin was more like a demo puzzle, and it ended all too quickly. Nevertheless, the snowy puzzle was fun to solve too. And, once you complete a puzzle, there are these pretty fireworks everywhere, and that’s so cool!
Here’s how all three of these puzzles look upon completion:
The problem is that Puzzling Places has me addicted to spatial puzzles now, and while it has a Puzzle Pack #1 DLC that gives you three additional puzzles, it costs $5.99. If you ask me, I’ll probably end up buying it. It’s just that good and to me, worth it as well. At this point, I have solved the three free puzzles almost four times, and I keep asking for more.
It also had me head over to the App Store in search of similar Vision Pro apps. Sadly, all the good stuff requires you to pay for the Apple Arcade subscription. As for the free games, there’s nothing like Puzzling Places. There’s one called Loona (Download, free) which was fun too, but the free version lets you play just a single 5-minute puzzle. Boring.
You do get games like Spatial Chess and Sudoku, but nothing beats the feeling of playing Puzzling Places. It’s a very zen game, and I find myself sneaking into quick sessions in the middle of work to stay sane. An easy 9/10 for me, and I’d highly recommend playing it on your Vision Pro!
Sagnik Das Gupta
