Kanoodle has 228 challenges, IQ Puzzler Pro 120, Rush Hour 40. That number decides replay value, and Perplexus contradicts itself four ways on age.
Educational Insights
Why we like it
SmartGames
Why we like it
ThinkFun
Why we like it
ThinkFun
Why we like it
Spin Master
Why we like it| Product | Rank | Brand | Best For | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Educational Insights Kanoodle | 3D Brain ... | #1 | Educational Insights | Best Overall | 9.8 |
| SmartGames IQ Puzzler Pro | Boost Logic a... | #2 | SmartGames | Hardest Challenges | 9.6 |
| ThinkFun Rush Hour Traffic Jam Logic Game... | #3 | ThinkFun | Best for a Different Kind of Thinker | 9.4 |
| ThinkFun Gravity Maze - Falling Marble Lo... | #4 | ThinkFun | Best Physical Puzzle | 9.3 |
| Spin Master Games Perplexus Epic Interact... | #5 | Spin Master | Best Dexterity Pick | 9.1 |
Buyer checklist
The organising figure here is the challenge count, because for a solo puzzle it is the closest thing to a measure of how long the product remains useful, and every publisher states it: 228 for Kanoodle, 120 for IQ Puzzler Pro, 40 for Rush Hour. We also recorded the puzzle type, because these are not interchangeable, shape fitting, sliding block, physical construction and dexterity are four different skills. All ages, piece counts, contents and award claims below are the publishers' own figures, read off the live Amazon.com listings including the detail tables. The Perplexus Epic listing is the worst we have encountered in this series: its bullets say ages 5 and up, its age range description says Adult, its manufacturer recommended age says 8 to 10 years, and its player count field says 2 for a single-player maze ball. We have reported all four rather than choosing one. Sales claims, including nine million Kanoodle games and ThinkFun's fifty million, are as published. We solved none of these ourselves.
Kanoodle on raw count, at 228 challenges against IQ Puzzler Pro's 120 and Rush Hour's 40, but count is not the only axis. A puzzle whose later challenges are genuinely hard lasts longer per challenge than one that pads with easy variants, and IQ Puzzler Pro's advantage is that its 120 challenges span both flat 2D arrangements and raised 3D pyramids, which are different problems rather than harder versions of the same one. The honest ranking for longevity is Kanoodle for most people, IQ Puzzler Pro for anyone who finishes puzzles quickly, and Rush Hour for a child who will not sit still for shape fitting.
Mostly, and the listings are inconsistent about saying so. IQ Puzzler Pro states a player count of 1. Rush Hour states 1 or more, which in practice means one person solves while others watch and argue. Kanoodle is sold as a solo brain teaser. Perplexus's field says 2, which is simply wrong for a sealed maze sphere one person tilts. Gravity Maze is the exception that genuinely benefits from two, because building a marble run together is collaborative. If you want a puzzle two children can do side by side, buy two cheap ones rather than one expensive one.
Shape fitting, as in Kanoodle and IQ Puzzler Pro, gives you a set of pieces and a partially specified board, and you must find the one arrangement that fills it. The skill is spatial visualisation and the failure mode is being one square short. Sliding block, as in Rush Hour, gives you a fixed set of pieces already on the board that can only move along their axis, and you must clear a path by moving things out of each other's way in the correct order. The skill is sequencing, planning several moves ahead, and it transfers to logic rather than geometry. Children often strongly prefer one or the other.