Based on sepia colours, the same 300 pieces in this puzzle can be re-arranged to make an unlimited number of different images - either download from the Ji Ga Zo library, or using your own photos. Just take any digital image (faces work best - human or animal) and let the included software 'translate' it into a Ji Go Zo icon map. After that, putting the "puzzle" together is more like doing a mosaic than a traditional jigsaw puzzle. The puzzle is built on a 20 x 15 grid and each puzzle piece fits together with any other piece. All you do is refer to the icon map then look for the piece with the matching symbol and put it where the map indicates it belongs. As a variation, the game suggests building a surprise image - and seeing how long it takes before you can figure out what your picture is. Unique and intriguing enough to keep kids wanting to make another one.
This is an ingenious way to make a puzzle, the pieces can be reused forever! I liked the color coded map and pieces and the board that you make the puzzle in has numbers like on a real map so we can put any piece we want and not have to go line by line. The pieces where protected in the box by a cardboard backing that was a good idea all the pieces where intact. I found it really cool to see the puzzle when I was done, I finished it in 1 night, the closer you got to the puzzle the harder it is to make out the face, but the further out I was it became easier to see, it's almost like on my camera, the close up of pixels are hard to see but zoom out and it's fine. - Genevieve (F10)
I was very easy to set up on our MAC, in the space of a few minutes I had printed up a photo of our dog to make the first puzzle. You get to see the finished product before you pr, the first tries I did not zoom in enough on the face and it was quite blurry, but the closer you zoom the better the result. Kinda of like the pictures on the box they don't show landscape for a reason. I liked that you can choose to print the map with the colored icons without the picture in the corner, the kids want the next puzzle that way because it will be a surprise at the end. Really fun idea,usually when you are done a puzzle there is nothing to do with it, this one has no limitations. - Marie-Lise Hache
Ji Ga Zo is revolutionizing the puzzle category! This awesome puzzle has 300 pieces that you arrange to create any face — even your own! Start out with any digital image and upload it using the Ji Ga Zo software. The software figures out the placement of each piece and builds a unique icon map. Then, it’s up to you to arrange the pieces according to the icon map and watch your own special image come together! These 300 pieces are specially created with unique colors and shading that let them interlock to create almost any face image you upload. The possibilities are virtually endless and the “face-making” fun goes on and on! CD-ROM includes icon maps for Mona Lisa, a collie dog, a kitten, a panda bear and MR MONOPOLY.