Our first game was Round the Bend (AKA Labyrinth). My version of this popular solitaire dexterity game was produced in 1970 by Vic-Toy (a division of Invicta Plastics Ltd) and made in England. It's made of solid plastic and has two sliding arms that adjust the angle of the board to move the metal ball around the track. There are numerous holes in the board and one has to be very careful or the ball will disappear into one of these holes. Depending on the hole and direction from which your ball fell determines what score you achieve. If you can follow the track all the way around the board you can get to the final hole and score the maximum 50 points.
Maddie playing the game while Georgia looks onIt's a fun dexterity game and with practice you can increase your skill. We took it in turns, having three goes each, before passing it on to the next player. After about 45 minutes we decided to stop. I achieved the highest score of 31 out of a possible 50.
Our next game was Shaky Pisa Tower (AKA Tipsy Tower). This is one I picked up a year or so ago from a dollar store and I thought it looked interesting. We hadn't played it before so I decided to bring it out this morning.
In this game players place pieces onto a tower with a convex base. The shape of the base causes the tower to lean back and forth when a piece is placed on to one of the levels. Players roll a die with coloured faces and then must place a piece on to the level of that colour matching the colour rolled. If a player makes the pieces fall off then they must add them to their own pieces. First person to place all their pieces wins.
The tipsy tower of Shaky Pisa TowerWe weren't that impressed with this game. There are more enjoyable dexterity games using a similar balancing mechanic available so I may eventually get rid of this game. For the time being this game is being relegated to the kid's gaming cupboard.
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