Matthew BaileyI really want to start properly getting into the spirit of the Summer Games Fest and try to do close to a review a day. Normally I like to have a bit of a reserve of reviews ready to go, but I don’t have that this year, so we’re going to see how we get on. I’m going to do my best.
Today we are going to be doing something a little bit different and looking at Gecko Run, an unusual marble run set from Thames & Kosmos. Over the last year or so I’ve been including more STEM products, and we’re going to have even more STEM content as we go through the summer. While these things aren’t inherently board games, I’ve always felt they fill the same kind of general niche, and I often think of them as solo board games. Plus, it’s my reviews, so we’re going to include them.
If you’ve been to a science centre or discovery centre with your kids over the last ten years, you’ve probably come across those big marble run displays that stick to walls, where the marbles travel all the way down before being lifted back up to go again. This is essentially a home version of one of those, without the lifting mechanism, but the same general idea.
Unlike normal marble runs, where you build a tower and everything travels downwards, this is made using flexible half-pipes and sticky pads that attach to windows and doors. You set up your run and then let the marbles make their way down. As you get more and more expansion sets, you can create progressively more impressive contraptions. I’ve attached a video of Jack trying to build a weird latch mechanism that’s really cool. The boys got into this a lot and have spent a decent chunk of the day playing with it.
This here is just the Starter Set. There are lots of other sets available that include extra components, but the Starter Set is definitely enough to get you going.
One of the benefits of this over more traditional marble run sets is that, because the pieces are flexible, you’re not limited to the fixed positions you’d normally have with rigid plastic supports. This gives you a lot more flexibility in terms of drops, movement, and the routes you can create. So even though the Starter Set obviously doesn’t include tons and tons of pieces, you have far more freedom with those pieces than you would with an equivalent traditional marble run.
From a production point of view, everything is made really well. The only thing I was a little unsure about is the way it attaches to windows. It comes with these gel sticky pads and, if you’ve ever stuck decorations to your windows, you’ll know the kind of thing I mean. They work really well and come off without leaving any marks, but obviously over time they’re going to pick up dirt and lose some of their stickiness. The box includes enough spare sticky pads that you can replace them a few times, so it’s not an immediate issue, but it is something I’d be a little concerned about in the long term. I was a bit surprised they didn’t go with suction cups. I understand that the sticky pads allow them to attach to a much wider range of surfaces, but it was still a design choice that surprised me.
Gecko Run is a fantastic marble run system and offers so much more flexibility than you get from traditional marble runs. Gecko Run will inevitably be compared with Ravensburger’s already well-established GraviTrax range, and even if you already own GraviTrax, the two systems are different enough that I could easily see a STEM-focused child who enjoys building and experimenting happily owning both… Jack has now wandered off to experiment with 3d printing an extra bit to combin both systems.
My only slight concern is the long-term durability of the sticky pads, but aside from that I really like Gecko Run. I’m hoping to pick up some more expansion sets over the summer so the boys have even more pieces to experiment with. At the moment it’s set up on our living room back window, and I suspect it’s going to stay there for quite a while.
Disclaimer – A copy of Gecko Run was kindly gifted to us by Thames & Kosmos. We have not been paid for this review.
