Why I Got Fed Up and Built My Own Puzzle Table

A Design Story for Everyday Puzzlers

Where It All Began

I’ve always loved puzzles. There’s something calming about sorting scattered pieces into quiet order. Like many puzzlers, I started at the dining table — nudging aside coffee mugs and balancing boards on surfaces that were never quite right. It worked, but something was missing: a space just for puzzling, a space that said, “This moment matters.”

The Problem with Old Puzzle Tables

One day, a friend gifted me a wooden puzzle table. Finally — a dedicated space! But within days, frustration set in. The table was heavy, hard to move, and the sharp edge even cut my hand. I tried others, but they were all the same: big, bulky, and overly complicated.

Why did something so joyful feel so frustrating? Why were these tools fighting the very focus they were meant to support?

A Different Way to Design

I realized the best puzzle table might not exist yet. So I decided to build one. Not because I was an expert, but because I believed something simple, useful, and beautiful should exist. I didn’t want “more features”. I wanted better ones. Features that made sense and felt natural — because in design, as in puzzling, simple is powerful.

This led me to plastic — not as a compromise, but as a canvas. It allowed smooth curves, soft edges, and reduced weight without losing strength. No splinters. No strain. Just quiet, reliable support — effortless to use and strong enough to last.

Listening to Puzzlers

Prototype after prototype, I listened to other puzzlers: women balancing work, family, and rare moments of quiet. They echoed what I felt: “I need something that fits into my life — not gets in the way.”

Where PLAYBODA Was Born

That’s how PLAYBODA was born — not just as a product, but as a perspective: that good design is quiet, thoughtful, and never showy. That beauty and function must coexist. That lightness — in form and feeling — is a strength, not a shortcut.

Puzzling is more than a hobby. It’s a ritual. A refuge. A little piece of calm. And now, finally, it has a space that honors that.