Not all boys love sports…or playing war with their Nerf guns. Some boys are, how should one say, more cerebral; do you know what I mean? Or to put it more bluntly it takes a special geek to master a game that excels in “spatial reasoning and stimulates your cognitive reasoning”. Hell, I still don’t know what cognitive reasoning means! For more info and discount prices click the orange button!
Puzzle Maze Game
Yup the Perplexus games are for boys who like to utilise their considerable brain power and their infinite patience and I salute you! When Tommy was a kid it was all about the Rubik’s cube and try as I might I could never get my head round that. The Perplexus 3D mazes are much more to my liking, but I know deep in my soul that I will never make it to the end of the maze and will probably end up smashing the Perplexus to smithereens in frustration…but that’s just me.
The Perplexus original makes it on to Tommy’s Top 10 toys for boys because I think it will be most appealing, and have a greater shelf life, for boys (aged 8 upwards) but of course anyone who likes puzzles will love this boy or girl, young or old. For the younger child there is the Perplexus Rookie and for the insanely talented there is the Perplexus Epic. Don’t be fooled into thinking the Perplexus Rookie is easy, it isn’t, but it is better for smaller hands and for growing brains (ages 6 – 10). Depending on the child the Perplexus original might be a little frustrating for that age range.
Perplexus Maze Game Review
So enough yakking, what is the Perplexus?
Perplexus is a fiendishly tricky and addictive maze game where you have to guide a small metal ball through increasingly trickier and trickier pathways. Much like Esher’s mind numbing never ending stairways this maze goes up and down and round and round for what begins to feel like eternity. There are 100 different sections of the maze to overcome and they are numbered as you progress allowing you to know both where you’re heading next and where you are overall in this top toy.
The numbers as you go round the maze are a very good feature as it really allows you to chart your progress much as you would playing a video game and advancing through different levels. However Tommy thinks this is far better than a video game, in that it keeps your child, and anyone who plays it, present in the room rather than sucked into a TV screen. What makes this a great toy is that it is both traditional, a handheld game of skill, and also new and innovative, these mazes are so much more advanced than anything in my day.
From an adults perspective I also think there’s something rather beautiful about the intricate and colourful design of this clever toy for boys. The Perplexus comes with its own stand and I don’t feel this is something that needs to be tidied away. Find a side table or shelf in view and show off your Perplexus to visitors, chances are they will soon be hooked too!
