{"id":9964,"date":"2013-06-20T19:27:53","date_gmt":"2013-06-20T19:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=9964"},"modified":"2013-06-20T19:33:14","modified_gmt":"2013-06-20T19:33:14","slug":"toy-review-perplexus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/20\/toy-review-perplexus\/","title":{"rendered":"Toy Review: Perplexus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Perplexus<\/a>I recently had the chance to sample a somewhat new puzzle toy. \u00a0I had such a good time I thought I\u2019d chime in here at GamerDad because it\u2019s exactly the sort of thing a parent might want to foist off on their children (if they can convince themselves to put it down.) \u00a0Patch Products recently shipped me two of their Perplexus line of puzzle games. \u00a0They are all a 3D rolling marble puzzle contained in a clear plastic ball. \u00a0Tilt the ball around to get the marble through the maze without it falling off. \u00a0It makes for a nice little pastime that takes both some dexterity and a bit of thought.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There are currently four puzzles in the Perplexus line: Rookie, Original, Extra-crispy (just kidding), Epic, and Twist. \u00a0I was sent a copy of the Rookie and Twist versions. \u00a0To attempt the puzzle, one rolls the small steel marble around the plastic sphere until it is maneuvered onto the starting platform. \u00a0One then proceeds to carefully tilt and rotate the sphere to get the marble to roll along the 3D maze of pathways. \u00a0To help with the job, the paths are numbered, as sometimes when you need to go around a corner or drop through a small hole it isn\u2019t clear where the next path is located.<\/p>\n

\"Perplexus<\/a><\/p>\n

This brings things to the puzzle aspect. \u00a0While the entire goal is focused on one\u2019s skill at slowly tilting and maneuvering that little ball, I found it a pleasant diversion when I would occasionally become stuck at a section, unsure which direction I needed to go. \u00a0Rather than become frustrated, I found the experience to form a little challenge (aka \u201cpuzzle\u201d) which was rewarding when \u201csolved\u201d. \u00a0With time, I\u2019m sure this puzzle aspect would wear off (once I \u201cknew\u201d the route) but it did add to my enjoyment of the toy. \u00a0I do not know what the more \u201cadvanced\u201d ones hold, but I suspect it would have a similar level of \u201cpuzzle\u201d element and even more reliance on one\u2019s tilting technique.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As a beginner, I found the Rookie version to be a nice diversion without much frustration. \u00a0I was able to solve it after a half-dozen serious attempts (one spot in particular foiled me a couple times while I figured out the route – about 70 different paths long…) \u00a0As 3D paths, the routes are reused by being paths on both sides. \u00a0It was a fun experience as much later in the puzzle, I would be rolling along a stair step or other tricky place and think \u201chey, I remember this place\u201d as a sort of fond remembrance. \u00a0I would suspect that it will remain interesting for a dozen or more tries, but I\u2019ll probably be wanting something more advanced if I kept with it.<\/p>\n

\"Perplexus<\/a><\/p>\n

In contrast, the special \u201cTwist\u201d model is quite challenging. \u00a0This model is actually two separate hemispheres. \u00a0The 3D maze on each side \u201crotates\u201d so not only do you need to maneuver the maze, but every time you hop back and forth between the two sides, you have to line up the correct path by \u201ctwisting\u201d it into the correct place. \u00a0This upps the difficulty significantly from the simpler \u201crookie\u201d version. \u00a0While I haven\u2019t dedicated the same amount of time to this version, I have yet to finish it. \u00a0In this case, the numbered paths were extremely important as it is not always clear just which transition is the next in the sequence by appearance alone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I call them puzzles, and there is a small puzzle aspect, but in truth they are simply more advanced versions of the old \u201cball through a tilting maze\u201d type activities. \u00a0Bringing the activity into 3D with Perplexus\u2019s bright colors makes for a pretty decent experience for a wide range of abilities and ages. \u00a0The Rookie is definitely a good fit for the younger set, although I\u2019d wager one would want something more advanced for teenagers or above.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kid Factor:<\/strong> \u00a0I gave the Rookie version to my eldest (just shy of 1st grade) son and he did enjoy playing with it, but is not quite able to solve it yet. \u00a0It did work pretty well as a car toy. \u00a0On fairly pothole free roads, it makes a fine diversion. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t so good for my youngest (still preschool) as he mostly wanted to treat the toy as a fancy ball – not recommended I assume. \u00a0My advice: pick one up for a nice, quiet road trip diversion!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently had the chance to sample a somewhat new puzzle toy. \u00a0I had such a good time I thought I\u2019d chime in here at GamerDad because it\u2019s exactly the sort of thing a parent might want to foist off on their children (if they can convince themselves to put it down.) \u00a0Patch Products recently […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-unplugged-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9964"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9972,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9964\/revisions\/9972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}