Labyrinth

I don't know what brought this game from my childhood to mind. It is advertised as vintage on ebay but I recall the one I used looking older even then. Maybe they cleaned this one up.

My grandmother had it, and as the older of the two children who lived near her, I had time to practice getting the deft little twists just right.  I eventually got good at it, yet I noticed when my cousins would visit for holidays they would pick it up after a few tries every year despite not having one of their own. Tracing the route with my eyes I remember the drill: getting past those first four holes was tricky, but then you could drop down a row and pause. I think the hardest section was near the end, from 47 on.

It has elements of an early video game, I suppose, requiring both dexterity with controls and some ability to strategise. I wasn't good at early video games either. For some reason I became obsessed with Commander Keen when my boys were young, even stumbling upon one of the hidden levels, then hearing this was common in such games and looking for more.  I didn't find those and eventually cheated by looking them up online. "You're only cheating yourself," they used to say.  Fine. Then it's none of your business then, is it? I feel the same about solitaire(s). I find winning by cheating is only slightly less pleasurable than winning fairly, and losing is annoying. No-brainer.