Product Description

Using all your skills and co-ordination, take the screwball through the weirdest of obstacle courses. It's a topsy-turvy race to beat the clock! 5 Years +

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4568 in Toys & Games
• Brand: Tomy
• Model: 1707070
• Released on: 2004-01-01
• Dimensions: 11.42" h x 3.15" w x 13.78" l, .2 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Determination, agile fingers and an alert mind are required for Screwball Scramble, a cleverly designed tabletop obstacle course made by Tomy for children over five.

The object of the game is to move a small steel ball through eight hurdles as quickly as possible, by hitting, pushing and turning buttons or pulling and twirling levers.

The orange, brown and beige obstacles sit compactly on a green plastic unit 30 centimetres long, 25 centimetres wide and 15 centimetres tall (at its highest) and the controls feature clear pictorial instructions. The game does not require batteries and assembly time is limited to the few seconds it takes to slot a timer and loop onto the unit.

The one-minute timer is quite noisy, designed to increase the pressure as each second ticks away. The player has to direct the ball along a tilting three-part walkway, use the magnet on a lever to turn the ball in a semicircle, manoeuvre the ball down two steel parallel bars and lead it to the correct exit on a wobbly plastic board. They must then slide the ball into a small hole and bounce it into three further openings, propel the ball through a loop, guide it through a covered maze, carry it on a small plastic arm into a hole before catapulting it accurately to ring a bell.

The obstacles vary in difficulty, but players--with practice--will become adept at handling each of the hurdles. The real knack is to complete the circuit in one attempt and this requires good concentration and coordination.

Screwball Scramble can be played competitively or alone and is challenging either way. This well-designed sturdy game will provide hours of entertainment and will be a firm favourite in any household. --Tracey Hogan

Manufacturer's Description
Wind up the clock-it's a race against time. You must stay cool and use your skill.
Tooter down the tilting walkway.
Scramble across the parallel bars
Bounce through the great tyre obstacle
Spring through the catapult. and land on the bell

Customer Reviews

Not as easy as it looks...!
Just brought this for my 6yr old daughter, but my nearly-3 yr old loves it too. It is great for co-ordinations skills development and has kept both kids quiet all afternoon - no mean feat. The game is really well designed and intuitive to use, no having read the instructions first! Also came out of the box ready to go with no assembly required. I can see this having a long life as once they've got the hang of it, you can start using the timer and see who gets around fastest.
I recommend not 'showing them how to do it' unless you've had the chance to practice first :-)

Passed down over the years
Firstly, the sloping runways as the first obstacle is NOT a design flaw - you are supposed to time it so that the ball is still rolling forwards as the slopes change direction (another reviewer has commented that the first runways cause the ball to always move in the wrong direction). The idea is not to just let you press buttons and watch as the ball moves - the point is to cause the user to think how to reach the end using basic physics, adding to its educational value.

The game loses a lot of replay value, unless you are determined to beat your fastest score. This is possible, and suprisingly hard - its very easy to make one slip up and have to start over (unless you cheat and put the ball back onto where it fell off!)

This game requires no batteries - its all just twisting dials, pushing levers, and pressing buttons - the timer is clockwork.

Definately keeps kids busy, and stops them wondering upstairs when the family come round to visit!

Dont sell this off - just pass it down the family and itl continue to serve its purpose.

Screwball Scramble - Through the generations
I had this game as a kid over twenty-five years ago (then called Crazy Maze). I bought it again for my daughters then must have given it away! Goodness knows why as I'm now having to buy it for their little brother who is desperate for it. This'll be it's third time in the family so let this be a warning to you all - don't chuck it out! Keep it in the attic or somewhere cos you'll kick yourself if you get rid. Brilliant game!