I have always been a fan of marble mazes. My cousins had one when I was a child and I would always play it when I spent time at their house. It was wooden with a dark brown base and a light brown top. There were handles on the side to tilt the playing board in 4 directions but I always preferred to hold it and tilt it myself. There was a determined path shown you needed to use and I may be exaggerating but I think I am 0 for 1,274 in solving it. Perfect if my goal was NOT solving it. The problem with the maze was there was only 1 path and I couldn’t do it.
And now I want to try again. I should be better at this by now, right ? When I did some browsing online to shop for one I noticed that there seems to be a large number of plastic gravity versions - those are not for me. I want a wooden game just like I played as a kid. If I had a soapbox to stand on (I do not) I would mention how much better wooden games are to plastic games no matter what type of game it is. This makes a perfect STEM gift. Ages are typically quoted as 6 and up.
Here are the 3 best options I found:
STERLING Games Large Wooden Labyrinth 13.5" x 13"
Available on AMZN and at Walmart. Appears to be the best selling (or possibly most advertised) wooden marble maze in the market.
Hey! Play! Wooden Labyrinth Maze Game 11" x 9.25"
Available at Walmart. A smaller and less expensive version of the wooden tilt marble maze.
Leikes Wooden Labyrinth Game Marble Maze 12.8” x 9.1”
An interesting variation of the marble maze for young children (oddly enough the suggestion is ages 9 and up…but the picture shows a young child?). The maze is covered with plastic so the ball cannot fall out of the maze. Also, while you can go down a dead end, there is no “fail” where you need to start over !
Before you click and buy anything, I would also suggest checking ebay as there are always wooden marble games for sale there.