Are you looking for a fun screen-free activity you can do alone or with your family? Give 3D puzzles a try. Unlike traditional flat puzzles, these 3D ones add another dimension to deal with. You've got to build up as you go. They're sort of a combination of building blocks and puzzles, making them a fun challenge for everyone. As an added bonus, once they're together, you can display the completed puzzle. They will look great on a shelf, and add a fun decorative touch to your home. Since there are so many different types of puzzles available, you're sure to discover one that you'd enjoy. To help you sift through the different options, here are five of the 3D puzzles that we thought were best. ROKR Marble Run 3D Wooden Puzzle Precision Cut Pieces After you put together this wooden 3D puzzle, you can roll marbles along the track like a roller coaster car. Best OverallFind on Amazon With the pieces in this 3D puzzle, you can build a model roller coaster that you can run marbles through. When it’s complete, you turn the crank and the gears will turn, moving the marbles along. It’s such a neat mechanical working model and you feel such a sense of accomplishment watching the marbles go through it. You won’t need any glue to put this puzzle together. You just need a steady hand and a whole lot of patience. It will take several hours to complete, and longer if you have lots of “helpers” working with you. The pieces are made from plywood, so they’re very durable. However, you’ll want to take care as you remove them from the backing just to make sure you don’t accidentally snap in the wrong place. There are a lot of little pieces, so if you aren’t going to assemble it in one sitting, you’ll need a safe place to store the loose part. A large zip style bag works well, as does a box. Pros Pieces are cut precisely so there are no weird edges to deal with or anything It comes with everything you need so you won’t have to track down special tools Beautiful design that looks great when completed Mechanical components that actually work when you’re done Cons Directions are picture based, not text-based. They can be hard to follow if you aren’t used to studying pictures. It takes several hours to build, so this isn’t a quick project. 3D Coloring Puzzle Set Build and ColorYou'll be able to feel your stress melt away as you complete and color these adorable 3D puzzles. Best Coloring SetFind on Amazon This coloring puzzle set is perfect for kids or adults. It’s the perfect way to relax after a hard or stressful day. There are ten different models that you can put together. These will be an assortment of animals, buildings, and insects. The puzzle pieces are pre-punched, so they’re easy to remove. You’ll want to punch them out before you color. Otherwise, you may discover that you accidentally spent time coloring the waste and not the puzzle. You’ll get 48 gel pen markers along with your puzzles. With all of these colors, you’ll be able to use your creativity to make your puzzle look just the way you want. When you’re ready to assemble, you can follow the directions and slide the pieces together. The completed puzzle is fairly small, so you’ll put your fine-motor skills to work. Pros An assortment of 3D puzzles so you have plenty of variety Comes with markers so you won’t have to buy your own for coloring Helps improve patience and fine motor skills as you assemble Get to use your creativity to color them Cons The pieces are tiny, so you’ll want to use them only with older kids. It takes a long time to fully color each one. ROKR 3D Wooden Puzzle Mechanical Treasure Box Set a PasswordYou'll get to pick a secret password to open this mechanical treasure box. But before you can open it, you'll need to put it together. Best Treasure BoxFind on Amazon Everyone loves a treasure box for storing small important things. With this wooden 3D puzzle, you can build your own. The mechanical gears really work, so once you get it assembled, you’ll be able to enter the secret password and open the box. There’s a tray inside for holding your treasure safely. The completed build looks beautiful. Since this 3D puzzle is very complicated, I don’t recommend it for a beginner. You need to wax the gears, cut a dowel down to size, sand any rough edges, and fit the pieces perfectly so it works. Because of all of this, it’s a better fit for someone who has some experience putting together similar projects. Otherwise, you may get overwhelmed, or accidentally break some of the fragile pieces. Pros The wooden treasure box looks great when it’s done and can be proudly displayed in any room You get to set your own password during the build, and can really use it to open your box when you’re done Great project for an experienced 3D puzzler Cons Not a project you’re going to hand to your inexperienced kids to have them do independently The directions for setting the password aren’t very clear, so you really need to go through them carefully Wrebbit 3D – Harry Potter Hogwarts Great Hall The Great Hall in Your HomeThis 3D puzzle is challenging to put together, but once it's done you'll have a beautiful display straight from the world of Harry Potter. Best for Harry Potter FansFind on Amazon Is anyone in your life a Harry Potter fan? This will make the perfect gift for them. It’s a high-quality 3D puzzle. You just wave your magic wand and say the words, and the pieces will begin to fly together… oh wait, never mind. That’d be really, really cool if it did that. But alas, as a muggle, you will have to assemble it by hand. When you’ve finished the build, you’ll have a small model of the Great Hall from Hogwarts that’s almost 20-inches long. It’ll look beautiful displayed in your home, but you’ll have to be careful moving it into position. If you don’t move it slowly and securely, it’ll crumble in your hands and you’ll get to start over. Pros Made from high-quality foam pieces that are sturdy and durable You can buy additional parts of Hogwarts to add to this one (like the astronomy tower) Good size (19.75-inch by 15.25-inch by 18.5-inch) so it’ll look impressive in your home Cons The build itself is fairly challenging since so many pieces are similar, making it a better fit for older teens and adults, not kids. The instructions that come with the box are pretty hard to read and follow. However, this company has great instructional videos and color directions online so use those instead. Ravensburger Children’s World Globe 3D Jigsaw Puzzle Click into PlaceWith an audible click when they snap the right pieces together, your child can experience the fun of building this 3D puzzle of the globe. Sturdiest Pieces Find on Amazon This 3D puzzle is a great option for beginning builders or those in the 7-12 age range. The pieces are numbered on the back and have arrows, so kids can successfully put it together even if they can’t tell the pieces apart by the picture on the front. Another feature that helps kids build this puzzle is that the pieces click when you snap them together. This auditory signal can be very motivating. As your kids build, the globe will begin to take shape. There are colorful animals around the world, indicating where their natural habitats are. It’s a great learning tool to help your kids learn more about geography. Once the globe is built, your kids can display it on the included stand. It will even spin like a regular globe, though you’ll want to do this carefully to avoid breaking it. Pros A good way for kids to learn basic geography through play, even after it’s assembled Well made pieces that are thick and sturdy Designed for kids to build so there are numbers on the back and the pieces are simple to attach Cons The stand that it comes with isn’t very sturdy, so you may decide just to leave it resting in the base instead. Frequently Asked Questions Are 3D puzzles hard to build? Just as 2D puzzles come in a variety of difficulty levels, so do 3D puzzles. You can find some that are fairly simple to put together. Others are very complicated. If you are just getting started, you’ll want to start with a less complicated option. This will help you get a better feel for how the puzzles work and gain experience that you can use to help you with harder puzzles later. Do you need to glue 3D puzzles? You do not need glue to put together most 3D puzzles. However, many people opt to glue them once they’re built. This can be a good idea if you are going to permanently display your puzzle. Just make sure your puzzle is safe to glue. If there are mechanical parts, you may gum them up with glue and then your build would no longer work.