Family Board Game Review: Gravity Maze

Gravity Maze is a single player logic game designed for ages 8 to adult by Thinkfun.  This game challenges the player to set up towers as indicated on a challenge card.  The player then adds towers to the game grid.  The objective is to create a maze so a ball can travel from the Start Position to the Target Tower.

Game Contents

• Game Grid
• 60 challenge cards (with solutions on the back)
  • (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert)
• Instruction Manual
• 9 Building Towers
• Target Tower
• 3 Marbles (only one needed per game, the rest are extra)

The components of the game are good quality, solid plastic.  They are designed with clear exterior framework and brightly colored interior elements that can direct the ball in a range of directions.  Each size is a different color, and the pieces are color coded on the Challenge Cards.

Gameplay

The player selects a challenge card.  There are 4 levels of play: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert. The 60 cards are numbered and get progressively harder as they move within each level of play.

The player selects a card and looks at the location and colors of the pieces displayed on the picture.  They set the Game Grid up to match the picture on the card. There are black dots on each of the tower pieces and those dots correspond to the picture on the cards to ensure you are orienting the piece correctly in the set up.  The interior of the tower has different sections which will allow the marble to either pass straight through, or the square in divided in half in a range of directions.  Next, at the bottom of the card, the additional pieces to complete the challenge are listed.  The piece that is the starting place for marble is noted with a white dot on the card, and the target tower is represented by a red box with a target on it. As the challenge level increases you need to be more and more creative with the placement of the towers, including putting them upside down.

Once the player has placed all the pieces where they believe they will allow the marble to travel to the target, they place the marble in the top of the starting town and see the path it actually takes. If the marble does not go into the target tower, the player simply revisits their setup to make the needed adjustments until they are successful.  If they are stuck, a solution is provided on the back of the card.  Once the marble has traveled into the target tower, the player can then select another card and complete an additional challenge or conclude their game.

Family Game Assessment

Gravity Maze is a wonderful game for children to develop their logical reasoning and problem solving skills. Gravity Maze is recommended for ages 8 and up, and has the potential to be frustrating for players in the younger range as they advance in the challenge levels.  While this is designed as a single player game, teamwork and collaboration could be incorporated into working though the problem solving this game demands.  Younger players especially could benefit from adult coaching to strengthen their perseverance.  Knowing the solution is on the reverse of the card, it may be tempting for them  to look to the solution right away.  In contrast, with older players, they may want to work through the challenge independently.  Then, they can share their results, and another player could solve the next card.  For a simple single player game, there are a range of options to incorporate other members of the family.

Conclusion

Gravity Maze won the Toy of the Year Award in 2015, and it is clear why.  Gravity Maze is a wonderful STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology, Math) game to develop a range of skills including: logical reasoning, problem solving, and guess and check.  Additionally, this game has the possibility to enable the player to experience a productive struggle as they work through the challenge cards. Being able to persevere through a productive struggle can make them more comfortable having to work through unsuccessful attempts to find a solution academically. If you or your family enjoy logic and reasoning games, this is a great addition to your collection.

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