Hey Puzzle Bomb fam!
We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years, and that your 2026 is off to a great start! With the start of the year, we want to do something we've never done before: a yearly stakeholder report.
Why Are We Giving You This Information?
Conventional wisdom is that this information is none of your business and to be kept close to the vest. However, I disagree, and love bringing you all in on the inner workings and numbers of Puzzle Bomb!
To give credit where credit is due, I got this idea from one of my favorite board game publishers, Stonemaier Games, who has been doing this for years. I've always appreciated the extremely transparent way Jamey, the owner, has run his company, where I feel like I'm a part of what he's doing, and love seeing him succeed! If you've never played any of his games, you should. I *love* Wingspan in particular!
Like him, I'd like to define a stakeholder as anyone who impacts Puzzle Bomb and the success of Puzzle Bomb. This includes customers, manufacturers, our various contractors, etc. As stakeholders, we publish this out of respect and appreciation for you! We also publish this for those out there that might have amazing business ideas, and have been hesitant to act on them, to show you that anyone can do this!
Also, while this will largely focus on nuts and bolts, and some financials, they're not the ultimate measure of success. For us, the true success is doing something we love, and extending that love to you all. We hope our puzzles are bringing moments of joy, peace, and connection; a reflection of what we've received ourselves - not just for moments, but ongoingly and abundantly - from Jesus.
Ok, let's get to it!
2025 Revenue
It's important to state for those of you unfamiliar with financial jargon, revenue is not the money we pocketed (otherwise known as profit). Revenue is the total amount of money that came in before any expenses were paid. Ultimately, a company wants to be profitable, which fortunately we are, but rising revenues are always great to see!
Here's that revenue snapshot, which shows we doubled our 2024 revenue! Not a bad year!
2025 Expenses
Now, I mentioned revenue is not profit; not even remotely close! While over $400,000 sounds like a lot of money, and it is, you'd be surprised at how quickly it evaporates. Here are the top expenses we incurred in 2025:
Shipping - Obviously, if you operate an online shop, you've got to ship product. We also manufacture overseas, so there's the freight cost of getting our puzzles to the US. Thirdly, we utilize a fulfillment center which is hugely advantageous for lightning fast shipping, and covering our warehousing needs. Added up, this totaled to just north of $100,000.
Marketing - In 2025, I started contracting Heath Media to manage my ad spend, focusing on Facebook and Instagram for the time being. With proper optimization in place, we went full throttle on marketing, which is a huge reason for the revenue leap in 2025. Between contracting fees and ad spend, marketing costs also topped $100,000, just a wee bit behind shipping costs.
Puzzle Production - Then there's the issue of having to physically produce puzzles. The costs of developing, sampling, and production totaled about $85,000.
There's also a myriad of other costs, such as website maintenance and development, mailing list costs, paid consulting, barcoding fees, travel, etc, but the three mentioned buckets are far and away the biggest expenses.
Product Lines
In 2025, we had three product lines for sale: Bumfuzzled, Party in the Back, and Toomuchery. I'm going to cover these by units sold rather than revenue, as it's hard to suss out the revenue due to the packages I offered via crowdfunding this past year.
Bumfuzzled (6,722 Units Sold) - Our flagship product is far and away our top product by units sold. The aesthetic appeal, price point, and just plain uniqueness of the product really make them the star of the show!
Party in the Back (518 Units Sold) - Party in the Back is really the puzzle line I'm most proud of, and in my opinion, is one of the top puzzling experiences out there, period. It might seem like a small number of units sold, but keep in mind these are $159 puzzles; not something anyone is going to buy on a whim! However, we've seen once y'all try one, you tend to come back for more!
Toomuchery (1,024 Units Sold) - Despite the decent number of units sold, this experiment was really a flop for us, despite them being really nice puzzles with fun illustration. All of these units were sold on an ultra-clearance of $25 per puzzle (if you're into wooden puzzles, you know you can't get high-quality puzzles for that price), and we still unbelievably have them in stock, even at that insane price point. At the clearance price, we're barely making money on them, but we'd love to see them in folks' hands rather than tossing them!
This Years' Top Seller
Our new Legendary Bumfuzzled category saw us bring back some all-time greats from the Bumfuzzled series. I don't know what I hit on with Bumfuzzled #8: Epochal Interlinks, but it just keeps selling like hotcakes (speaking of which, do hotcakes actually sell well?). Even as a reprint, it managed to outsell everything else this year!
Puzzle Bomb Cares
One new thing we launched in 2025 was Puzzle Bomb Cares, which is your opportunity to utilize Puzzle Bomb to bring a spark of joy to someone you know is going through a difficult time. We send them a free puzzle with a note that someone sees them, loves them, and cares enough to act on it, and we also pray as a family over these requests as a family every Wednesday evening at our dinner table.
While I thought we might be getting in over our heads with the number of free puzzles this might require us to send, only 12 folks have submitted a request this year, which was shockingly low to me. I thought we'd be doing at least that many per month vs. the approximately two per month we've seen since its launch in June. A few reasons I can think of:
Communication - Perhaps we aren't communicating it enough.
Our Western difficulty in receiving/asking for help - It's no secret that it's hard for us to reach out for help, especially when it's at someone else's expense. It's funny... I could give my kids the most extravagant gift, and they'd never say, "Oh dad, are you sure? You really shouldn't have!" But then, something happens by the time we reach adulthood, and we have the hardest time asking/accepting.
This observation really brought Matthew 18:3 alive to me: "Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."
It's absolutely necessary to receive; we're not made to go it alone. I needed to come to a point of realizing I had no chance on my own, and that Jesus needed to be my Lord and Savior, source and supply. In the same way, sometimes we just plain need someone to come alongside us! And, like Jesus, whose joy it is to provide for us and walk with us, it's our joy to do what we can to help in times of need!
Need - I doubt this one is true, but perhaps it's an initiative there's little need of. However, as I said, I highly doubt it, as I can think of a few folks in my own life right now that could use a pick-me-up. Speaking of which, I should probably go do that...
Goals/Initiatives for 2026
With a wonderful 2025 under our belts (really all thanks to you!) we've got a couple of big goals/initiatives for 2026.
Bumfuzzled Subscription Model - I discussed this in a previous blog, and will have more details in a blog post next week!
To be honest, this is a bit of a scary pivot for me, as crowdfunding our new Bumfuzzleds has historically served us well, but we think this is a more sustainable model that gives us predictable monthly revenue, rather than the big, unpredictable spikes that crowdfunding brings. It's tough to make plans when one crowdfunding campaign goes gangbusters, and the next one struggles. A subscription model provides us the stability we need to make wise and confident financial decisions.
It also drastically reduces the friction in our fans getting our newest releases. Let's face it, while it worked, pledging to a campaign, then waiting, then having to catch the email about pledge manager, filling it out and paying again for shipping, and then waiting a bit more for the puzzles, is a bit of a pain. We're so grateful for those of you who were willing to follow us on that journey, but this will be monumentally simpler!
Corporate Gifting/Employee Appreciation - This is a bit behind-the-scenes, but we think it's a big opportunity for us. Every year, companies give gifts to their employees partners; often a box of chocolates or some sort of tschotcke, which generally are either consumed or relegated to a junk drawer.
We'd love to step in and provide something unique and enjoyable. For us, selling 500 to 1,000+ units of a custom puzzle for a business/corporation would be a big win, as they're puzzles we produce without risk, knowing they'd immediately be sold. For businesses, they get to offer something totally unique and unexpected. Everyone wins!
By the way, if you're reading this, and happen to work for such a company, we'd love to connect!
Wrapping It Up
I hope you enjoyed this little look at our operations and our 2025! As I started with, we really value you all, and consider you a part of our extended family rather than merely customers or partners.
Now, let's see what 2026 brings!
Love and blessings,
Chad and the Krizan family, aka Puzzle Bomb
8 comments
I also am a fan of Stonemaier Games.
I had a thought about corporate gifts. Such gifts are usually not merely gifted but also presented with much fanfare. In those public situations, the packaging is almost more important than the content. Have you designed a gorgeous, durable, presentation-worthy sleeve that matches the quality and delight of your puzzles themselves?
I appreciate and admire your transparency! One hardly ever sees this in a small business company. Regarding the puzzle cares idea, I usually read (or at least glance through-I admit I rarely read any of my emails in full because I just get so many and don’t have time), and I had no idea you offer this. Maybe it has been mentioned at the end of emails and I don’t get to that part? Or maybe I just missed reading the one where you first mentioned it, and then it hasn’t been mentioned much since then?
One other reason that you didn’t mention of why people aren’t taking advantage of this service is that your puzzles are complex and can be confusing (speaking from personal experience). They take some time and thought to figure out, and someone who is going through a difficult time might not be able to focus on doing a puzzle, or have the time or energy to do so. ? Just a thought I had about it.
I agree with the sentiments and am also a huge fan of Party in the Back. It boggles my mind how gifted you are, not just as an artist but also a puzzle engineer and design architect. However as amazing as those things are, what really is the most notable is your commitment to Jesus, your family and to the community you have cultivated over the last 4 years. We all can learn quite a bit by observing how you go about your business! Keep fighting the good fight and keep giving the reason for the hope that is within you. Much gratitude and appreciation to you all!
I am in awe of your commitment to your faith through this nearly completely secular product. I am, myself, of little defined faith, not quite atheist but near to it… but I am moved by your compassion, care and concern. I can feel your conviction and how it pours through you, out of these gorgeous wooden puzzles and lights the hearts of non-believers and believers alike.
I have shared many of your puzzles with groups of 20 or even 30 acquaintances of many various creeds and faiths, ages, etc. Some have picked up the sleeve and read the little bio and how it mentions your faith and sort of thought less about the product because of it. As a person that doesn’t feel particularly religious- I felt this way at first, too. But I do feel like your ability to create a truly unique and captivating experience is exactly what you were called to do, and that really is a gift. Thank you. I follow along all of your blog posts and your sincerity and depth of understanding your potential as a Christian is sort of amazing. You and your family are an inspiration. Keep up the good work. It is GOOD WORK.
I absolutely LOVE your Party in the Back puzzles!! They are some of the most fun puzzles I’ve ever done. Keep ’em coming!!
Thank you for including us all as stakeholders, what a nice concept. I enjoy hearing what the process is like on your end. I also like seeing what you think is selling best. I guess Toomuchery was just a little more of a young girl image, which isn’t bad, but it just might not have hit the adult population as easily. I got a set on sale and I thought you did a great job of it. I’m most shocked that the Party in the Back doesn’t sell better… I’m in awe of your puzzle design skills on so many levels. Keep up the good work, I’ll look forward to signing up to your subscription service. :D
That was interesting; thanks for the look into your business. And yes to a subscription model! I’ve committed to buying all your Bumfuzzled puzzles and that would make it a lot easier.