Wire loop game

The wire loop game, commonly called buzz wire, is a test of steady hands in which a player must guide a metal loop along a winding length of wire from one end to the other without letting the loop touch the wire. The loop and the wire are wired into a simple electrical circuit, so any contact between them closes the circuit and sets off a buzzer or a light, ending that attempt. It was invented in 1953 in Yorkshire, England, by the electronics engineer and former Royal Air Force electrician Robert Scrimshaw, who built the first version as a favor for a friend's garden party. His friend, John Waddington, saw its appeal and patented the design, and Waddington's own game company began producing commercial versions from the mid 1950s onward. The basic idea has since been built in many forms, from small desktop novelties to large walk through versions at fairs and carnivals, and some modern builds add electronic scoring or timers, while purely virtual versions let a player steer an on screen pointer instead of a physical loop.