“…you’ll find fiendish pleasure in building a diabolical maze to baffle your adversary.“
Released in 1970 by Parker Brothers, the Mind Maze game was a head-to-head race for players to be the first to find their way out of an opponent’s maze.
GAMEPLAY
With the vertical dual-sided game board set between them, two players each assembled a maze on the left half of their side of the board. This was accomplished by clicking white plastic barriers in at various points within the grid of pegs that comprised each maze board. Mazes were built to have at least one clear path from the bottom starting position of the maze to the destination at the top of the board. Once the mazes were constructed, each player placed a steel ball in the groove at the bottom of the board and closed the clear plastic door to the playing surface.
Players could not see the barriers their opponent had placed; they saw only a grid of dots that indicated where the pegs were attached. Each player had to run the maze “blind” using a magnet on the back side of the maze to guide their steel ball from bottom to top. The goal was to move the steel ball up and through a hole through which they could retrieve their steel ball. Success depended on remembering previously failed paths, or on plain luck. If the ball did hit a barrier, it would fall to the bottom of the board and the player would then attempt another path.
The level of difficulty in the game was determined by the players. Mazes could be constructed with many clear paths between the two points. In the case of more experienced — or villainous — players, complex mazes could be crafted that increased the challenge and prolonged gameplay.
The first player to manoeuvre their steel ball upwards through their opponent’s maze and through the retrieval hole won the game.
IN THE BOX
A complete game included a plastic vertical game board, two stands that served as the base to support the game board, two magnets, two steel balls, and white plastic barriers. An instruction booklet was also included.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
Mind Maze is a nice addition to a board game collection because it’s easily adaptable to suit young or inexperienced players. The many components included with the game can make it challenging to find a complete original game. Acquiring additional copies of the game makes compiling a complete game from multiple copies easier.
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