Anyone who loves puzzles will love the Gear Ball, especially if you enjoyed Rubik’s Cube as a kid. It’s similar in that you have to get all the same color pieces on the same side, but it’s easier to solve. The fact that it has a roundish shape and moves on gears means that it can move in many more ways than the Rubik’s Cube. It’s addictive! Even when you solve it, you can’t wait to try again. There’s no set way to solve it either, so each time can be a unique experience. (Plus, the colored pieces aren’t stickers, so you can’t peel them and put them back on in the solution pattern!)
You do have to be careful with it, though. The construction is pretty sturdy, but if you are too rough with it the pieces can get loose and/or the gears will get out of alignment. If that happens then the whole puzzle will freeze up and I’m not sure if it can be fixed. I’d probably keep buying them over and over again no matter how many times I break them, because I love this type of puzzle.
For puzzle lovers, you might like to know that this is Oskar van Deventer design, and is embossed with “Meffert’s” or “Oskar” in the center of each side.