Dejig Tin Toy

"With this software, we hope to introduce children to the Tin Toys of the fifties." That is the message you receive when you start up Dejig Tin Toy, a virtual Jigsaw Puzzle Collection for the Sega Saturn. As you may have guessed, each of the puzzles, 20 in all, showcases a classic tin toy from the past. Everything from a classic robot to a man riding a motorcycle.

Each puzzle ranges from 72 to 108 pieces. That may not seem too large considering the more advanced jigsaw puzzles that are out there, but it is a lot of pieces to deal with in the virtual realm. In fact, much of the challenge in putting these puzzles together will result from technical issues. There is just no practical way to handle a virtual jigsaw puzzle, especially on a home console. I must say, however, Dejig Tin Toy does a bang up job trying. The screen is split up into five areas. One area, the largest, is where you will construct the puzzle. The other four areas, which are much smaller, act as pools to hold the unused pieces. You can sort through the pieces in each pool individually with the L and R triggers and you can remove the piece you want by clicking and dragging. You can even remove all of the pieces and resort them by hand into each of the pools. In other words, you can put all of the edges in one pool, and separate all of the pieces into similar groups. Personally, I go through all of the pools, removing all of the edge pieces and work my way from there.

Once you get a few pieces out, what do you do with them? You start putting the puzzle together, genius! All the rules of jigsaw puzzles come in handy here. Start with the edges and work your way inward. Press the A button to grab a piece, and then you can rotate the pieces with the L and R Triggers and move it around with the dpad. When ready, you place it with a second press A button. A clicking sound will play when you correctly place a piece. To see what the finished product will look like, simply press the X button at any time. For the 108 piece puzzles, you will need to scroll about the play area as it is not big enough. To scroll you simply hold the C button and press the dpad in the direction you want to scroll. For those lucky enough to own it, the game supports the Shuttle Mouse which gives you much smoother control. That's about all there is to the basic gameplay. The game drops some puzzle pieces in your lap, and you put them together.

I would've liked to see a cooperative two, or more, player mode since Jigsaw Puzzles are generally family occasions. You are timed (just for fun, there is no limit), so I suppose you could always have a competition to see who is the fastest builder. I just think it would've been a little more fun if you could put the puzzle together with someone else.

Something that I thought was very cool were the rewards you get. Whenever you complete a puzzle, you unlock a short video of that puzzle's subject. For instance, when you complete the Air Force Jet Tin Toy Puzzle, you unlock a short clip of the actual toy being "played with." It is quite interesting to see some of these classic toys in action. Makes you think of simpler times when toys weren't near as complex.

The music is relaxing and very laid back. To prevent repetition, the developers implemented a wonderful effect. The music changes ever so slightly as you complete the puzzle. For example, once you reach a certain number of pieces, new instruments will be added to the tune. While the music can still get a little tedious, this effect prevents you from wanting to pull your hair out from boredom.

Jigsaw Puzzles being a strictly visual medium, there is no language barrier to speak of. Apart from the control config menu, all menus are in English.

Not exactly a game, Dejig Tin Toy does what it sets out to do, and it does it well. Not only is it a compilation of 20 jigsaw puzzles, it also serves to show you what toys were like in previous generations. The live action movies of the toys were a nice touch and give you some motivation to complete all of the puzzles. It is far from perfect, but if you fancy a jigsaw puzzle now and then, Dejig Tin Toy would be an excellent purchase. This is fun for gamers, and non-gamers alike. If you don't like jigsaw puzzles, you will obviously find no enjoyment here. But, I didn't really have to tell you that, now did I?

©2004 Ed Finnegan

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