Perplexus
Perplexus (formerly known as Superplexus) 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 100 steps along narrow plastic tracks. Additionally, 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.
In 2009, Busy Life, LLC became the licensed manufacturer of the Perplexus line of toys. It is exclusively distributed by PlaSmart Inc., a Canadian corporation. In 2009 the toy was available online eg. on ThinkGeek, ToysGamesPuzzles.com, Amazon.com or Educational Kids Play [1][2].
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[edit] History
Perplexus was co-invented by teacher and sculptor Michael McGinnis and toy inventors Brian Clemens and Dan Klitsner of San Francisco-based KID Group—known for the invention of the games Bop It, HyperDash, and other titles. McGinnis first sketched ideas for three-dimensional labyrinths in the late 1970s but it was several years before showing the sketches and rough prototypes to Dan and Brian in 1999. After a year of collaboration and many prototypes later, they perfected the play so that it was easy enough for a young child to start, yet challenging for any age due to its many levels. A version with an electronic timer named SuPerplexus was launched in 2001, but with limited availability. There are currently three kinds of Perplexus—Rookie, Original, and Epic. [1]
