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Those with a very long memory may recollect a song by the Searchers entitled “Sweets for my Sweet”.  I was reminded of this popular song from over 50 ears ago when taking a look at this next offering from Denda Games.  This was due mainly to the product’s subtitle.  Based on the popular Jigsaw concept, Denda Games had based its Jigsaws on images categorised as cute animals, tasty treats, romantic scenes and many others that could provide the player with a warm glow and come together to form the “Sweet Times” category.

Along with the usual collection of adjustments to areas such as volume levels and viewing the game in full screen mode, you can select from a choice of European languages in which to create jigsaw images.  Initially the program offers a reduced number of sample images for use with its Jigsaw puzzle creating action but later more images will be added to the pool.  The original batch of images will be divided into two groups under the headings of “There is gold on the ground” and “Together across the world”.  (Your guess as to why these particular headings were selected is probably as good as mine). 

The images in the two groups will be displayed as stamps depicted in either portrait or landscape orientation within a scrollable interface.  Once an image, whether in portrait or landscape orientation, has been selected then you are offered a choice of adjustable settings.  An image can be broken up into 48, 80 or 120 pieces, the choice is yours.  Further options allow you to turn on or off a rotation feature whereby pieces may need to be turned through 90 degrees in order to fit correctly; opt to work in either relaxed or timed mode; and allow the puzzle to include random spare pieces that will not be required as part of the scene.

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The chosen image will then be broken up into pieces after being transported to a full screen work area.  The pieces will be laid out in the form of an outline square shape ready for you to begin work.  The work area will contain four markers to assist in the creation of the image.  These markers indicate the four corners of the image you are about to create and provide a starting point for the jigsaw correction. 

Running across the top of the work area is a row of icons providing access to various tools and features.  There are icons to zoom in/out of the puzzle, shuffle the pieces and show a preview of the completed image.  You can also restart a puzzle, activate an auto-solve feature plus change the colour of the background work area.  Further tools allow you to automatically remove all inner pieces and then restore them once the edges pieces are in place; have the assistance of a ghost image on which to build the image and implement a Hint feature.

Using drag and drop you can move pieces into position on the work area.   As mentioned there is a rotation option available in this game.  When turned on this rotation feature will mean that certain pieces may need to be turned through 90 degrees with a right mouse click.  The game will respond with an appropriate sound effect whenever a piece is correctly positioned in place within the puzzle.

The work area does tend to be larger than the space required for displaying the complete puzzle.  As a result it is quite easy to misplace a piece or two as you are working on the puzzle.  Some pieces might find themselves stored on parts of the work area that is not currently visible on screen.  This can occur when you mistakenly click the work area rather than a chosen piece.  The work area will be moved leaving the pieces in an off-screen location.  Moving the work area around can help to find these missing pieces so they can be used.

The completion of each jigsaw brings a reward of coins.  These coins can be used to unlock addition stores of images to supplement the initial supply.  Coins can also be used to pay for some of the features available from the work area.

Overall Jigsaw Pieces – Sweet Times proved to be an appealing offering for those who enjoy working with jigsaws.  I downloaded my copy of the product from Gamehouse.com where it is priced at $9.99.  The game requires a 1.2 GHz processor with 2048MB of RAM and 472MB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.

Jigsaw Pieces - Sweet Times | GameHouse