Perplexus: 100 Barriers Inside a Sphere

Quick answer: Perplexus is a three-dimensional ball-in-a-maze puzzle sealed inside a clear plastic sphere. You tilt and rotate the whole sphere to walk a steel ball along narrow tracks past 100 numbered barriers. It launched as Superplexus from Hasbro in 2001 and returned as Perplexus from PlaSmart without the electronics.

Best for: people who want a puzzle they can fail at loudly, and families who want one object that genuinely works for a child and an adult.

Almost every puzzle on this site is solved by thinking. This one is solved by your hands, and it is the best argument we know for that whole category.

What Is Perplexus?

A transparent sphere with an elaborate track structure built inside it. A small steel ball sits on the track. You rotate the sphere in every axis to move the ball forward, past barriers numbered 1 to 100, without letting it fall off.

When it falls, and it will, you go back to the last numbered start point rather than the beginning. That design decision is what makes it playable rather than punishing.

It belongs to the dexterity family rather than to assembly or interlocking puzzles, and it is the most ambitious thing in that family by a wide margin.

Who Invented Perplexus?

Three people, over roughly twenty years.

Michael McGinnis began drawing three-dimensional labyrinths in the late 1970s. They stayed drawings for two decades. In 1999 he showed the drawings and some rough prototypes to Brian Clemens and Dan Klitsner, and after about a year of joint prototyping the three of them had something that played properly.

Hasbro launched it as Superplexus in 2001, with an electronic timer and sound effects. PlaSmart later reissued it as Perplexus with the electronics removed, which is the version most people now own and, by general agreement, the better one.

Why Is It Hard If There Are No Wrong Turns?

This is the part people get wrong about it, and it is the most interesting thing about the design.

Perplexus is not a maze. There are no dead ends and no branching decisions. The track is a single linear path from barrier 1 to barrier 100. You always know where to go.

The difficulty is entirely physical. Narrow rails, gaps you must drop the ball across, sections where the track runs upside down relative to your hand, and transitions that require rotating the whole sphere while the ball is in motion. Knowing the route gives you almost nothing, because the problem was never route-finding.

That is a genuinely unusual design. Most puzzles hide information from you. This one shows you everything and bets you cannot execute it.

How Hard Is It Really?

Brian Pletcher, who reviewed it on his puzzle blog, is clear that the difficulty is not evenly spread, and his account matches the object.

He calls it an awesome puzzle that blows them out of the water compared with standard dexterity puzzles, and recommends it for kids of all ages (3+) as well as adults. On the structure he notes the three starting points, numbered 1, 2 and 3, which drop you at barrier 1, barrier 28 or barrier 59.

On the curve he is blunt: the first third of the course is actually fairly easy, with high walls guiding the ball, but after the 2nd starting point, it gets quite a bit more difficult and will challenge even the most dexterous puzzler.

He also names the thing that makes it unusual in a collection: unlike most of the puzzles that I have where the goal is to either take it apart or put it together, this is a dexterity puzzle where the goal is to navigate a ball through an obstacle course.

How Do You Get Better at It?

Move the sphere, not the ball. Beginners chase the ball with jerky corrections. The ball responds to gravity, so the real skill is presenting the track at the angle you want and letting the ball arrive.

Use both hands and rotate continuously. Trying to hold the sphere in one orientation and tilt it is how people fail at the inverted sections. The sphere is meant to keep turning.

Work from the start points. Grinding barrier 1 to 100 in one run is the slow way to learn. Start at 28, then 59, learn the hard sections in isolation, and only then attempt the full run.

Slow down at the gaps. Almost every fall happens at a transition rather than along a rail. Stopping the ball before a gap and setting up deliberately beats carrying speed into it.

What Do We Make That Is Like It?

Nothing, honestly. Perplexus is a sealed moulded-plastic dexterity object and we make 3D-printed puzzles you take apart and put together. Those are different hobbies that happen to share a shelf.

The closest thing in spirit we carry is Spiral Cone, which is also about what your hands do rather than what you work out, and is explained here. If what appealed was the maze itself rather than the dexterity, that is maze puzzles, where the route is the problem.

The range we do make is in mechanical puzzles.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Perplexus?

A three-dimensional ball-in-a-maze puzzle sealed inside a clear plastic sphere. You rotate the whole sphere to move a steel ball along narrow internal tracks past 100 numbered barriers without it falling off.

Who invented Perplexus?

Michael McGinnis, Brian Clemens and Dan Klitsner. McGinnis drew three-dimensional labyrinths from the late 1970s and showed his drawings and prototypes to the other two in 1999; a year of joint work produced the finished design.

How many barriers does Perplexus have?

100. There are also three starting points, which begin you at barrier 1, barrier 28 or barrier 59 so you can practise the later sections without replaying the start.

Is Perplexus a maze?

Not really. The track is a single linear path with no dead ends and no branching, so you always know where to go. The difficulty is physical execution rather than route-finding, which is unusual for a puzzle.

What is the difference between Perplexus and Superplexus?

The same puzzle under two names. Hasbro launched it as Superplexus in 2001 with an electronic timer and sound effects; PlaSmart reissued it as Perplexus without the electronics.

Is Perplexus suitable for children?

Yes, and unusually so for a puzzle this hard. Brian Pletcher recommends it from age three upward as well as for adults, because the early third is gentle and the start points let a child play a section that suits them.