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Ravensburger – Space Observatory Escape Puzzle [Review]

 

David Spira
1–2 minutes

Ravensburger – Space Observatory is included in our recommendation guide for Tabletop Escape Games – Jigsaw Puzzles. For more of the best escape room style jigsaw puzzles, check out the recommendation guide.

The Death Star

Location:  at home

Team size: We recommend 1-4

Duration: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Price: $25

Publisher: Ravensburger

REA Reaction

Space Observatory offered a slightly more challenging jigsaw than the other Ravensburger Escape Puzzles, but concluded with a softer series of “escape room” puzzles.

If you’re more of a jigsaw puzzler, Space Observatory is the smart place to start. It worked well from beginning to end. Its meta-puzzle was a little easier to grasp than those in the other Escape Puzzles.

Whether you’re new with the series, already a fan of these, Space Observatory put on a strong show for the Ravensburger’s Escape Puzzle series.

Series Overview

This review only covers details specific to this individual Ravensburger Escape Puzzle.

For a detailed explanation of the concept and mechanics, and a general analysis of the entire product line, check out our Ravensburger Escape Puzzle Overview.

Portion of an assembled jigsaw puzzle featuring a beautiful telescope in a warm book-filled study.
Space Observatory

Story

While exploring an observatory, we’d happened upon a letter from a professor warning us of an impending cataclysm. The professor had build a device capable of saving the world, but couldn’t activate it. It was up to us to save the world.

Portion of an assembled jigsaw puzzle featuring a map of the planets.

Analysis

➕ When it all came together, the jigsaw puzzle’s art was delightful.

❓ While we were assembling the jigsaw puzzle, a whole lot of it felt really similar… especially the many shelved books. Whether this is wonderful or annoying really comes down to personal preference.

➕ One of the “escape room” puzzles featured a really clever twist that was a bit confounding for more experienced puzzlers.

Portion of an assembled jigsaw puzzle featuring a microscope and a quill pen.

❓ The concluding meta-puzzle was considerably easier than those in the other 3 Escape Puzzles. This would be great if Space Observatory was your first Escape Puzzle… and may be less interesting if it was your fourth.

Buy Now

Buy your copy of Ravensburger’s Space Observatory Escape Puzzle, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Ravensburger provided a sample for review.

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12 responses to “Ravensburger – Space Observatory Escape Puzzle [Review]”

  1. Sherry Rice Avatar
    Sherry Rice

    Complete waste of time and money.

    Reply
    1. David Spira Avatar
      David Spira

      Care to share a few thoughts on what you disliked?

      Reply
  2. Bob Avatar
    Bob

    I like this puzzle but it is extremly hard to put together. I can’t wait until I can do the escape part.

    Reply
    1. Larry B. Avatar
      Larry B.

      Waste of time. Completed the “Submarine” Escape puzzle.
      I would like to “hear” the explanation of the “escape” from the designers of this puzzle.
      Worst lack of photo image of puzzle and resolving solution.
      I have completed many jigsaws of this Company, and the representation of the actual puzzle is bad.
      I’m not happy with this “Escape” style, and am discouraged to continue.

      Reply
      1. David Spira Avatar
        David Spira

        There were a couple of puzzles in the Submarine that we felt were broken, reviewed here: https://roomescapeartist.com/2019/04/11/submarine-escape-puzzle-review/

        Overall, our biggest issue with the Escape Puzzles have been that the hint system feels insufficient. When people get derailed or lost, the hints that they have are clearly not strong enough to help out a substantial amount of solvers.

  3. Andi Bukowski Avatar
    Andi Bukowski

    I was confused by the solution to the mysteries. I even looked at the hints by scanning the QR code and got the answers. Still couldn’t figure out how they can up with these solutions even with the walk through. It was my first attempt and I did it solo. Can you offer any guidance so I can enjoy the riddle solving more? Loved the challenge of putting the puzzle together.

    Reply
    1. David Spira Avatar
      David Spira

      Hi Andi, unfortunately we don’t have this puzzle in our possession anymore, so we don’t have any of the individual puzzles in front of us.

      We had a chance to speak to a representative of Ravensburger a few weeks ago and they asked for feedback. We requested that they really beef up their hint website to help people better find their footing in these puzzles.

      I’m sorry that I don’t have anything more tangible for you. Once we review a product, we tend to give it away.

      Reply
  4. Melissa Avatar
    Melissa

    I just started this puzzle and I am very confused. The bottom right corner piece is the wrong direction from the box image. It makes zero sense. I understand the edges are challenging, but when a printed piece does not align at all with the printed image I’m not sure if I should even continue assembly….

    Reply
    1. David Spira Avatar
      David Spira

      I’m not sure what you’re seeing, but I strongly recommend not focusing on the edge until the end with these puzzles.

      Also do note that the image on the box and the image of the puzzle are notably different.

      Good luck.

      Reply
  5. CJ Avatar
    CJ

    We bought this used, and unfortunately the ‘story’ was not in the box. (The envelope is). Could anyone please tell us the whole background story? Thank you!

    Reply
    1. David Spira Avatar
      David Spira

      If you’re missing components, you can reach out to Ravensburger directly via this form. https://www.ravensburger.us/en-US/service/replacement-parts

      Reply
  6. K B Avatar
    K B

    This was my second one. The first was the Witch’s Kitchen.

    The wife and I finished the puzzle last night. She did the vast majority of putting it together with me finishing off the last 20% or so. Took me a couple or three hours this afternoon to find and decode all six solutions. Was easy to see where they were headed after the fist solve but the fun is in sorting the problems so no worries there. One was very clever and the multi-step aspect was very much appreciated.

    Looking forward to doing more.

    Reply

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