Buddy has had a pretty rough time in the original Kick the Buddy mobile game. Players can punch him, throw all kinds of crazy weapons at him, and see just how much punishment this little ragdoll can handle. Somehow, he keeps flashing that ridiculous grin. Now Buddy is back in Kick the Buddy Jigsaw, a puzzle game published by New Kids Games and available to play for free on Woko Games. This time, you’ll be putting together pictures of the familiar character from Playgendary’s mobile game. Looking at some of the scenes, though, it seems Buddy still can’t catch a break!
The game has 12 pictures of Buddy in all sorts of ridiculous situations. The first one shows him tied to a red-and-white target, surrounded by ropes, knives, and explosives. Another has him wearing a blue outfit with a white star while knives fly around him. There are also pictures with robots, monsters, and other strange objects. Buddy looks surprisingly happy through all of it. That huge smile never seems to go away, even when he’s tied up next to a bunch of explosives. I can’t tell whether he’s enjoying himself or just trying to convince everyone that he’s fine!
Each picture in Kick the Buddy Jigsaw is divided into smaller pieces that you need to put back together. Choose an image, select your difficulty, and the pieces will be scattered across a brown wooden background. You can drag them around with your mouse, looking for matching shapes and colors. Some are easy to recognize, especially the bright blue sections of Buddy’s outfit or the white star on his chest. Others are a little harder to place. A short piece of rope or a tiny patch of red from the target doesn’t give you much to work with, so you may have to try a few different spots.
There are 3 difficulty settings for every picture: Easy with 25 pieces, Medium with 49 pieces, and Hard with 100 pieces. Easy is a good place to start since the larger pieces make Buddy’s face, sneakers, and other details easy to spot. Medium takes a little more attention, while Hard can keep you busy for quite a while. Break the same picture into 100 pieces, and suddenly those red-and-white circles don’t look so easy to figure out. I think 49 pieces is a nice balance for a casual session. There’s enough to keep you thinking without covering the entire screen in tiny bits of Buddy.
I usually prefer starting with the corners and edges. Once the outside of the picture is in place, it’s easier to work on the smaller details. For the image of Buddy tied to the target, the red-and-white rings are useful reference points. His round face and blue outfit are fairly easy to recognize too. The overlapping ropes are another story. Several pieces look almost the same, and finding the right one can take a few attempts. Sometimes a single piece is all you need to figure out where the others belong. It’s a nice feeling when a section you’ve been staring at finally comes together.
You begin with the first picture and unlock more as you complete the puzzles. The ones you haven’t reached yet are marked with padlock icons on the selection screen. You can still see previews of the upcoming images, including Buddy standing in front of targets, surrounded by dangerous objects, or getting caught up in some pretty bizarre scenes. If you remember playing the original Kick the Buddy on your phone, you might recognize a few of these situations. It’s also a chance to notice small details in the artwork, from the stitching on Buddy’s body to the objects scattered around him.
What I enjoy about jigsaw games is being able to work at my own pace. Sometimes 25 pieces are plenty when I just want something simple to pass the time. On other days, a 100-piece picture sounds more interesting, especially when it has lots of ropes, knives, and similar colors to sort through. There’s a certain satisfaction in finding the last missing piece after you’ve been searching for it. And with more pictures waiting to be unlocked, you always have another one to try.
Poor Buddy has survived just about everything in his mobile game, and now he’s been broken into dozens of puzzle pieces. The guy really needs a vacation! If you’re a fan of the original character or just enjoy casual jigsaw puzzles, give Kick the Buddy Jigsaw a try on Woko Games. Work your way through all 12 pictures and see how well you handle the different difficulty settings. At least Buddy won’t have to deal with another punch this time. He just needs you to put him back together!
