Hold on to your "Marbles"

When I first saw "Monroe's Marbles," the first game by designer Donald Monroe, I had no idea what it was. The apparatus consists of four divergent transparent tubes connected by an opaque ring at the top, which together holds seven red, blue, green and yellow marbles. When I found out that the object of the puzzle is to separate each color into a different tube, I thought that solving it would be both exceedingly difficult and horribly unwieldy. It turned out to be neither.

Monroe's Marbles

Photo: Photograph courtesy of Nu-nventions.com.

Photograph courtesy of Nu-nventions.com.

The concept is simple and elegant. The goal and mechanics are easy, but the strategy is more in depth. The columns are slanted enough to control the marble's accurately without becoming unwieldy. The ability to win by making a pattern instead of just separating the colors adds another challenge, and makes the game playable long after discovering one way to solve it.

The game is a spin-off of the Rubik's concept, but is significantly easier than the infuriating cube; I solved it the first time in fewer than 15 minutes. The problem is that the columns are too long, providing too much space to pile to the marbles. This leeway significantly lowers the level of challenge. Monroe said that the target audience for the puzzle is high school and college students, but it is probably more appropriate for pre-teens and young teenagers.

Another difficulty of the puzzle is randomizing it after it has been solved, and the rattling of the marbles is quite noisy (plastic beads would probably have been quieter). Small children would likely not have the patience for manipulating the marbles, which does require some finesse. But otherwise, "Monroe's Marbles" is a well-designed and conceptually solid toy, even if it is a bit easier than advertised.

Age recommendation:
7 and up (Manufacturer)
9-15 (Silver Chips Online)

For more information regarding "Monroe's Marbles" visit http://www.nu-nventions.com, where the game can be purchased for $14.95.