Perplexus is a 3-D ball-in-a-maze puzzle or labyrinth game enclosed in a transparent plastic sphere. By twisting and turning the sphere, players attempt to maneuver a small steel ball through an intricate maze composed of a number of steps (varying in each puzzle) along narrow plastic tracks. The number of steps ranges from 30 in the Perplexus Twist to 225 in the Perplexus 3x3 Rubik's cube Hybrid. Some of the steps involve dropping the ball into a cup or through a small rim to take advantage of its three-dimensional nature. There are obstacles of varying difficulty that must be navigated in order to reach the end. Perplexus LLC is the manufacturer and a wholly owned subsidiary of Spin Master Ltd (since 2017).

History

Perplexus was co-invented by teacher and magician Michael McGinnis and toy inventors Brian Clemens and Dan Klitsner of San Francisco-based KID Group—known for the invention of the games

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, HyperDash, and other titles. McGinnis first sketched ideas for three-dimensional labyrinths in the late 1970s. Years later, he showed sketches and rough prototypes to Clemens and Klitsner (1999). After a year of collaboration and many prototypes, they perfected the toy's gameplay so that it was easy enough for a young child to start, yet challenging for any age due to its many levels.

Versions

There are currently twenty-six versions of Perplexus: Original (re branded as Beast in 2019), Rookie (re branded as Rebel also in 2019), Epic, Twist, World's Smallest Twist, World's Coolest Micro Plex Teeter, World's Coolest Micro Plex Spiral, World's Coolest Micro Plex Cascading Cups, Warp, World's Smallest Original, Twisted, Q-Bot, Star Wars Death Star, Mini Spiral, Mini Cascading Cups, Harry Potter Prophecy (a recolour of the Rookie/Rebel design), Light Speed, Drakko, Go! Spiral, Go! Stairs, Go! Harry Potter, Sidewinder, Revolution Runner (has a motor with 4 settings and a button to start/stop the turning depending on which setting), Rubik's Perplexus Hybrid (modeled after the 2x2 Rubik's cube), and Rubik's Perplexus Fusion (modeled after the 3x3 Rubik's cube but only rotates on one axis), the newest Perplexus release is Portal, The Perplexus balls can also be colored differently, such as in the Yellow Rookie.

Superplexus

In 2001, a version of the Perplexus Ball, called Superplexus, was launched with limited availability. This version has an electronic timer.

References

External links

Michael McGinnis's page about the development of Superplexus

An article in SFGate about SuperPlexus

A video interview with Michael McGinnis about the development of Superplexus

Spin Master, the makers of Perplexus
Games of physical skill Puzzles 2000s toys Products introduced in 2000 Physical activity and dexterity toys {{puzzle-game-stub

History

Versions

Superplexus

See also

References

External links