Perplexus Puzzle Ball 3D Maze

The concept is simplicity itself - you need to steer a small steel ball from start to finish through a maze. There must have been thousands of children's games built upon this concept over the years.

The new twist is the fact that the Perplexus maze is in 3 dimensions contained within a perspex sphere. You will need to twist and turn your Perplexus globe in order to move the ball from one obstacle to the next. The obstacles even include swinging arms and booms!

It will, depending upon age and ability, take the user quite some time to "solve" this puzzle - but unlike modern toys and games - such as XBox or PS3 games for example - you aren't finished once you solve the puzzle. You will probably want to go back through it again and see if you can do it faster (and faster and faster). You may find that, in some families, a certain competitive element will develop. Family members can compete against each other - either to see who can get the furthest through or who can complete the puzzle in the shortest time.

There are 4 different versions of the Perplexus 3D maze to choose from. The first is the Perplexus Rookie. This has 75 different obstacle to overcome and is suitable for kids in the age range of 6 to 8 years.

Next is the Perplexus Original (or just the plain old Perplexus if you prefer). This has 100 different challenges from start to finish and is suitable for children between 6 and 14 years of age.

The Perplexus Epic has 125 barriers to completion and is good for kids in the age range of 6 to 12.

Finally, the Perplexus Twist (pictured) has fewer obstacles - a mere 30 - but another dimension is added since the problem requires the player to rotate the two halves of the sphere, changing the relative position of some of the tracks and obstacles, before the puzzle can be solved. It's suitable for children from 7 years upwards.

• Keep your kids (and maybe yourself) entertained for hours at a time.
• Great value for money - you can often find the various Perplexus models on Amazon for less than $20.
• No batteries, no set up time and no mess to clean up afterwards.
• Different levels of difficulty mean that Perplexus is suitable for a wide range of different ages. 6 years right up to adult is a pretty reasonable estimate.
• Entertaining and educational.
• Improves spatial awareness and helps to improve hand-eye co-ordination.
• Improves dexterity.
• No loose parts means that kids can carry this with them wherever they go - to the mall, visiting friends and relatives etc.
• Loads of fun!

SPOILER ALERT: The video below shows how to solve the 100 obstacles of Perplexus original. Watch it only if you're stuck!