Customer Reviews

ThinkFun Amaze

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm afraid that the previous reviewer misses the point about the maze. It is designed to allow the user to shift the walls as they progress through the maze; it is not intended to be a static maze as if on paper.

There are 16 starting configurations listed on the back of the product, and they increase in difficulty as they progress. Early settings require either no or very limited manipulation of the walls to complete. As you go on to more advanced settings, however, you encounter ever-more-complicated mazes that require you to plan ahead to determine whether moving a given wall will help you or hurt you in the long run.

This is a great toy to teach strategic thinking, and is suitable for a variety of ages (some of the more advanced maze configurations are quite challenging).

I ordered this as a last minute Xmas gift. When I received it, I took it out of the package & was quite disappointed, it seemed far too difficult for my children to use, let alone have an interest in. & I was also surprised to see that it wasn't electronic. BUT I decided to give it as a gift to my 5 year old, maze-loving son.
When he opened the package he was elated! Both he & his 8 year old sister absolutely love it. They take it everywhere; it is perfect for in the car or in restaurants for easy, mind-building entertainment. My original concern about it not being easy for little kids to use, is totally gone. & my kids don't care that it isn't electronic, they don't even notice.
It has 4 sliders that control the little 'gates' on the maze. When the sliders are switched, it totally changes the maze. The patterns are printed on the back to follow. The simplest maze is fairly easy but the tougher ones are quite difficult for an adult. You use the included 'pen' to follow the indented maze to the end.
It is a simple, amazingly designed item that I would recommend to anyone!

I bought this game for my 4 year old son. He really enjoyed playing it since we got it. The maze has 16 different levels from the easiest to the hardest. He has solved the first 10 levels by now. He does need some help from adults from time to time. But he got very excited every time he solved a new level. This toy is very durable too. Overall it's a very fun game for both kids and adults.

Bought this for my nine-year-old but after reading some reviews was a little afraid it would be too easy for him. It's not. It's not too easy for me either. There are 16 different mazes and they are progressively harder. I was surprised at how sturdy this set is and was pleased that the maze combinations are printed on the back, so you don't have to keep the little instruction booklet (you know it's going to get lost!) You do need it if you want to know what the solutions to each puzzle are, but then that's cheating if you look ahead anyway! Overall, I think this simple little game will bring hours of fun. Highly recommended - especially for long car trips.

The ability to shift the maze around as you go sounded "too good to be true" for my 7 year old son, who LOVES mazes. But he soon found out that shifting things doesn't just let you get past one spot, but changes other spots and can block what was open just a second ago.

Makes for a far more challenging maze than just a static picture on a page.

Wish it were larger and a little more complex, but for the price, was a good deal that he enjoys.

Please be aware that there is no little ball to move around this maze. Even though you see a stylus in the picture, the stylus is only for tracing through the maze. Also, my son (a self-proclaimed maze expert) and my husband (no slouch himself) found a problem with the lowest trap line. When you move the lowest trap line, all the mazes are effectively impossible. When I saw the stylus I thought there would be some cute little magnetic ball to push around the maze but no, no ball. And we believe the maze may be defective. Too bad.

Showed him how to use it (after I figured it out) and he sat down in the kitchen and was still and occupied for quite a while. It was rated for 8+ years but he is having fun with it and will grow into it. The only negative is moving the "pegs" to change the challenge. When I finally figured out we could just move one of the red bars, we were good. Until that, changing the challenge setting was frustrating.

This is a sturdy item. My only disappointment was that I felt it was more suitable for a younger age, 3 or 4 years. My kindergartner and 1st grader quickly became bored with it, despite the ability to change the track of the maze. I think a younger child would have more fun with it more challenging and find it absorbing and entertaining.

You are supposed to be able to do 16 different mazes by arranging 4 switches in specific positions. However, we're finding that some of them are just impossible to finish, leaving my son frustrated at times. I think this is a great concept for anyone who loves mazes, however, it's much harder than it seems.

Not really what I thought it would be. You just slide levers back and forth. You aren't suppose to lift your stylus up, which isn't reliable. Making it to the end of the maze is challenging, but this maze is just too repetitive and too easy to cheat on and too easy to accidently lift your stylus and then have to start over.