Smartivity DIY Pinball Machine Toy for Ages 8-99 Year Old | Award Winning Arcade Game | Birthday Gift Ideas for Kids & Adults | STEM Toy for Boys & Girls I Fun Family & Party Game

What fun! My ten year old grandson is having a blast with this pinball machine. My wife and I enjoyed playing it what little we were allowed. Once each. My grandson and I assembled it together. I am and electrical engineer and he is predisposed to this sort of thing. He probably could have put it together himself. It only took us approximately two hours to assemble it. I read the instructions and guided him through the assembly which he did mostly himself. My goal was to have something that I could do with him and this definitely was quality time together. The instructions were mostly good. There were a couple of steps I thought were missing but we easily figured it out. Overall the instructions were very thorough. I can see where some people in reading other reviews may have had trouble assembling this pinball machine because their talents lie elsewhere but the instructions are rather good. Kudo's to the designers and makers of this toy. It is ingenious.I can't say that it has been educational since he wanted to just play it. I'll have to see if I can discuss the science behind the levers, rubberbands, gravity and such at a later time after the thrill subsides a bit. The size is good for what it is. It seems very sturdy. It is one of the few toys I have seen fastened with rubber bands and it seems to work. We will see how durable this is.

10/10 IF you have a kid that loves putting things together. This took my 10 year old about 3-4 hours to assemble. But he did it all by himself With no help from me. He’s been having so much fun playing on it too. It’s very well built and obviously the instructions were well done because he never needed my help. He has a crunch lab subscription so to compare it to that type of build: the paper instructions for this are much better than crunch lab. Usually my son has to watch the crunch lab videos while building the boxes. Apparently this booklet was sufficient by itself although there is a video. Parts wise there are WAY MORE moving parts in this than any of the crunch lab boxes. Which is why it took much longer to assemble. But my son loved every minute. If you have a little engineer I highly suggest this toy!

I purchased the smartivity pinball machine for my 7 year old son, who desperately wanted a pinball machine for christmas. After looking at some tabletop machines, browsing through numerous reviews, and weighing the pros and cons, I decided that the likelihood of a cheap plastic machine ending up in a landfill after only a couple of months was probable, and not aligned with my less waste goals.Upon first opening his gift, my son was surprised as I'm sure he was expecting an electric game. Once we opened up the box to begin building he was very excited to see all the components, and he couldn't wait to start building. We first made sure everything that was included came in the box and decided it would be best to leave the sheets intact until we were prompted to take the pieces from them.Now let me get to the instruction manual. If there were ever an example of what a perfect instruction manual should look like, it would be this. The directions were exceedingly clear and concise consisting of written description and coordinating pictures of the front view as well as the reverse view which was very well planned out. There was honestly not one step of the way where we were confused on what to do next. we completed the build together in two sessions that were about 1 to 2 hours each, Which I feel is a perfect amount of time to inspire anticipation in my son while not causing frustration or burnout.We're getting to the best part now. This completed pinball game is so so so much fun! my son played for 2 hours straight on the first day. On the second day he played a total of 4 hours trying out all the different techniques and variations. I have never seen him so involved and interested in anything as I saw him with this pinball machine. My teenage son's friend has been over twice this week as well, and he was drawn to the pinball machine both times playing with it for a good amount of time. I especially love the balls in the vaults for keeping your score which doubles as math practice.Overall this has by far been the best online purchase to date that I have ever made, and it has been the most enjoyable thing that I have ever taken part in building. The pinball machine is solid, high quality, and obviously very entertaining as well. If you are looking for a great gift for an engineering-minded kid, I can't recommend this pinball machine enough. Buy it!

I rarely write reviews, but this pinball machine deserves one. The wooden boards where the pieces are punched out are nice and thick, so none of them break, and the instruction packet is clear. My ten year absolutely loved building AND playing with it. It’s looks just as advertised on the box, there are lots of moving parts, and it’s solid enough to play again and again and again.