Oakland Puzzle Company

^{review by Kaleb}

Oakland Puzzle Company is a local, Oakland-based puzzle manufacturing company who believe in ethical and sustainable business practices. They have done several collaborations with local community staples within the Bay Area, such as Children’s Fairyland, Boxcar Flower Farm, Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, and Oakland Zoo. Local artists bring the Bay Area to life with the jigsaw puzzles produced by Oakland Puzzle Company.

I am not an avid jigsaw puzzler, but I’ve done a few 500 piece puzzles over the course of the last year by Oakland Puzzle Company. The designs I chose to complete helped me feel more connected to the puzzle, as a resident of Oakland.

The first puzzle I did was Long Lost Oakland, which is a bright, cartoon map in collaboration with East Bay Yesterday. The map features animals, plants, transportation, and buildings that once existed in Oakland, but do not any longer. Some of the featured history include the Piedmont Baths, Fruit Vale Orchards, and the Berkeley Kangaroo Rat. This was a really fun introduction to Oakland Puzzle Company puzzles, and made me want to do more.

I followed this one up by doing the puzzle of my favorite movie theatre, Grand Lake Theatre. This one was a tougher one to finish, with the design having a lot of clouds and sky elements, as well as white building features. I love seeing movies at this historic theatre, so this one was really an easy one for me to pick up and complete.

The last puzzle I completed was their collaboration with Oakland Zoo, which if you haven’t visited this zoo before, is a really amazing thing to experience. Specifically, this puzzle is all about the California Trail at Oakland Zoo. I love almost anything that has to do with animals, and it goes without saying, I loved visiting Oakland Zoo. And because of my ties to the zoo, this was another easy choice to bring home.

In terms of puzzle quality, these puzzles are top tier. Some have unique shapes adding some difficulty, but the art and color on the puzzles are pretty easy to decipher, and there is little-to-no puzzle dust coming off the pieces. These puzzles are great gifts for any puzzler in your life, especially if they love the Bay Area. Oakland Puzzle Company also has designs that are not specific for the Bay Area, such as their Afrofuturist series by artist Paul Lewin.

Oakland Puzzle Company puzzles are available now from our webstore.