Ball Labyrinth is an oversized version of ‘Marble Labyrinth’ which is known by a number of other names as well as few commercial versions.
- Climbing Path
- Ball Maze Game
- Pirate Marbles Walking Fun Maze
- … and probably quite a few others. We’ve got a German version by Bartl called “Die Irrfahrt des Odysseus: der nervenkitzel für kleine und grosse Seefahrer.” Although there’s certainly no water involved.
The premise is always through dexterity to navigate a ball, that is balanced on a beam or within a small hoop, from the bottom of a flat almost vertical surface to a target at the top, without the ball falling through one of the many holes/traps on the way. With the beam or hoop suspended from the top of the board at both ends and movement upwards, downwards and sideways controlled by pulling on the appropriate cords.
Board game/tabletop game sized versions tend to use a marble which you control it’s movement up the board while it’s balanced either on a piece of wood which you pull up at either end using string/cords, or with the marble balanced inside a hoop suspended from the top of the board by the cords.
This version is for two people to play and is relatively easy to set up. But it needs some preparation. You need a very large sheet of cardboard (or a thin sheet of wood). Put holes into this randomly around and big enough for a small ball/tennis ball to fall through to create the course. Mark a hole or two at the top as the targets. It’s important that the cardboard sheet or wood stays flat and does not curve.
Players work together, each controlling one end of a pool noodle to manoeuvre a ball up the course. An example of this is available here: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/18GwD6X3Jg
Alternatively thread some cord tied to either end of the noodle through some holes at the top of the board and control the noodles movement with these.
