On my daughter's 5th birthday she got many toys and games, but one that seems to have really grabbed her attention (and mine too!) is Screwball Scramble which is made by Tomy. It's fun and quick, and can either be played just on your own or with friends! The game is described as 'a scramble of a crazy maze race against time' and the aim is to transfer a small silver ball from the start to the finish of a highly intricate maze!

The maze is made out of plastic and has a series of different obstacles to get the ball over, across and through. These require lots of skill of varying dexterity. In order to manipulate these there are a number of yellow buttons, dials and levers which will make the obstacles move in different ways. There is also an accompanying picture diagram with each of these which makes it easy to remember which one does what! If all of these are performed correctly the ball should eventually find its way home - easy she says!

Having watched my daughters have a go I thought I should try my hand too! The first thing that you have to do is to move the ball along a tilting walkway by pushing a button to make it rock across. There then follow lots of other obstacles that seem to get more and more difficult although I am sure there is a knack to most of these - I just haven't found it yet! I found it quite frustrating when things went wrong and didn't want to be bothered to finish the scramble but luckily my daughters are much more dedicated! They are also just so much better at it than I am! If it's not tricky enough on its own you can also set the timer - but that makes a pretty horrible noise!

I think that there are a number of features with this game that definitely make it worth having. Firstly it is both fun and challenging at the same time. Children seem to particularly love the challenge, and although I found the whole thing very difficult, it does seem to be well within their grasp. It is recommended for ages five and above by the way.

I like the fact that although there are many different aspects to this maze, made up of lots of different bits of coloured plastic; it does all come as one. This means that, unlike other games such as The Mousetrap Game, you do not have to spend ages putting it all up even as part of the game. No, with Screwball Scramble, all you need to do is to get it out of the box, attach the timer, and start playing - as simple as that! It also means that you are very unlikely to lose any bits. The only thing that you need to make sure is safe is the silver ball and you are actually provided with two just in case one does go missing.

The game can just be played on one's own or with many people. Because of the timer you can work out who has the fastest time or if you are on your own try and beat your best time. Either way it can be a lot of fun and something that all the family can join in. Be careful though because you might very easily be shown up by your more dexterous child!


At the moment (March 2010) Screwball Scramble can be bought from Amazon for £9.99. We definitely recommend it!