Roger von Oech's Star Ball

My 15-year-old son is thrilled with this challenging Star Ball, He also has the X-Ball and the Y-ball which are not nearly as challenging. The Star Ball has two different types of pieces (unlike the pieces of the X-Ball and Y-Ball which are all identical). The main challenge is that, unlike the X-Ball and Y-Ball, this can't be put together just any which way. Instead, the polarities of the magnets have to match up properly - i.e., the tips marked with a dot have to match up with tips that don't have a dot; otherwise they will repel each other. It is a challenge to get all the pieces lined up properly to assemble the ball. He loves it! The only disappointment is that this ball does not come with a book like the X-Ball and Y-Ball did. Instead, only a short pamphlet is included.

I bought this and one of each of the others (star ball, y ball, ball of whacks, Couple of things to note:The whack, X and Y ball are very easy to do and good for younger kids. The star ball is much more difficult, as its has 2 shapes AND multiple polarity pieces. I would avoid giving the star ball to anyone younger than 10.These were very popular gifts in the households I gave them to. Even the adults kept playing with them.

I think all these magnetic things are great. Lots of different ways to put them together and you can combine them with the other magnetic puzzles. This one is slightly more challenging than Ball of Whacks because there are more polarity points that have to fit together. All in all, it's neat and we like to fit the original Ball of Whacks inside it.

Unlike the "ball of whacks" and "X-ball" and "Y-ball" which only have 1 type of piece, the "Star-ball" appears to have two kinds of pieces - "star" pieces with five arms and "tri" pieces with three arms However, close inspection reveals a dot (or no dot) to indicate polarity on the end of each arm. [An arm with a "dot" attaches to an arm with no dot.] There are at least three kinds of star pieces and two kinds of tri pieces, depending on the arrangement of dots. Thus there are many assembly possibilities.I look forward to understanding it. Recommend getting the simpler puzzle first.

Autistic son went nuts over this thing.....I got it by request, as he already had the Ball of Wacks and couldn't let it alone! Can't say what a "typical" child would do with it (or adult!) but my puzzle-loving, gotta-have-something-in-my-hand kid really loved it.

Just when you think it's just another globe you get two pieces and need to actualy juggle them at the end.SoIn one sense it pleased many of my students who were too sure of themselves and were once again challenged,and it disappointed some for violating what appeared to be the basic rule of such balls by requiring two different pieces and not falling together easilly.

This is an awesome toy. We also have the x ball. Great toys for my boys who are 9, 11, and 14. Fun for road trips as well!

It's not quite as fun as the other puzzles.