This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Alex Koren, a 25-year-old software engineer and burgeoning puzzle designer living in Berkeley, CA. Alex is on the brink of bringing a unique and much desired product to woodie puzzle enthusiasts around the world — an affordable, high quality wooden puzzle with beautiful, theme-based whimsies!

A couple of years ago Alex started puzzling with a group of friends. They completed numerous 500 and 1000 piece cardboard puzzles. Halfway through the build, Alex would inevitably lose interest and not have any desire to complete the rest. “Even though they were all different styles, the shapes were repetitive, and every puzzle felt the same. In addition, I really didn’t like taking them apart, putting them in a box, knowing I would never revisit them again.”

He had heard about whimsy puzzles, and was excited to buy a few to share with his puzzling friends. Then he saw the price tags. All were about $100 or more. “They just didn’t feel accessible and I felt priced out of the experience.” At that point he started to analyze why the wooden whimsy puzzles were so expensive and if there was a way he might be able to make his own. He started doing research on artists with a vibrant and dynamic point of view in their art and who would be open to working with him to collaborate on an image that would make a good puzzle.

As he was researching, he decided to set up some ground rules for how the puzzles should be created. They had to have the following elements:

• On theme, whimsical pieces
• No 90-degree angles (unless part of a whimsy piece)
• High quality wooden pieces that are rewarding to place
• High contrast colors in the art to make the puzzle engaging and complex
• An affordable price point

Soon he found an image of a turtle that called to him. He began designing some of the whimsy pieces he wanted in the puzzle and then worked with a few digital artists to finalize the rest. Alex recalls, “It was amazing to see the idea come to life digitally and once that was done, I had a local laser cutting shop make the first prototype.”

When he brought it home, he immediately sat down to put it together, and was “blown away by how engaging it was to place each piece. Even though it only had just over 200 pieces, it was so challenging to put together.” Soon after, he tried it out with his most avid puzzler friends who also found it to be a “worthy adversary” and refused to leave the table until it was completed — well after midnight, according to Alex.

Based on the feedback from his friends, Alex decided to join a Facebook puzzle group and was shocked to see how quickly and enthusiastically this community responded. “I was responding to new comments every minute or two as people asked where they could get one.”

Spurred on by this extremely positive response, Alex looked to give Kickstarter a try.

Alex was completely funded within 24 hours! “The puzzling community really supported my project and I felt so grateful that people were so willing to be a part of it.” As his Kickstarter campaign continues for another week or two, Alex is thinking about the next couple of designs he would like to make, and is reaching out to the Facebook puzzling community for assistance. “Who better to design the puzzles people will love than the puzzlers themselves?”

Who indeed, Alex? I know I for one cannot wait to get my hands on this first turtle puzzle, and I’ve got my eyes on a couple of others you’ve shared on Facebook too.

I think Alex is onto something here — something unique, something affordable, something fresh cut.

Editor’s Note: If you would like to join Alex in his quest to make gorgeous, affordable wooden puzzles, please check out his Kickstarter page here. Take part soon — the campaign ends on January 31st!