‘Life-changing’ jigsaw has $2 million prize… and it’s no scam

MSCHF, a New York-based art collective, has launched a 500-piece-jigsaw called ‘The 2 Million Dollar Puzzle’. And for two lucky solvers, that’s exactly what the winning amount will be this summer.

Taking part is simple: order the trippy, QR code-themed puzzle. Assemble it, and scan the resulting QR code to get a website link. Open the site, and enter the code that comes on a card in the box. You’ll then know if you’ve won $1, $100, $1000, $10,000 or the million-dollar prize.

Two solvers will win a million dollars each (hence the name), while everyone else will earn at least $1. The puzzle itself costs $30 per box, and its 500 pieces can take several hours to put together–making it a potentially infuriating investment. But MSCHF, the edgy collective behind the puzzle, has always been about making a statement.

‘The 2 Million Dollar Puzzle’ has kept a psychedelic QR code as the solution. (Photo: MSCHF)

In 2018, they released their first artwork, The Persistence of Chaos: a Windows XP laptop loaded with viruses, worms and malware that had cost billions of dollars to the global economy. It sold for a cool $1.3 million. They gained notoriety again in 2021, for launching 666 pairs of ‘Satan Shoes’, that contained a drop of human blood in their soles.

In between these major launches, MSCHF managed to come up with many other curiosities that kept them on the pulse of virality: a dog collar that turns barks into spoken swear words, a mobile game where you can’t take your finger off the screen, and a mashup perfume of Axe Body Spray and Chanel No. 5.

But back to their newest release: ‘The 2 Million Dollar Puzzle’ is available for orders only inside the US, until May 23. If you’ve got friends there who you haven’t talked to in ages, this news could be the perfect (and possibly, life-changing) icebreaker.