Magic Machine Plays the Shell Game [Video]

You know the shell game. This game is in magic shows, marketplaces, ballparks, you name it. You put a ball under one of three cups, move them around, and make your audience guess the cup. Here’s a wooden machine that plays the shell game when you turn a crank. Nothing special, right? How wrong you are!

This little wooden machine contains a tiny magical energy core, allowing it to manipulate time and space. We looked all around the Internet for an explanation behind this modern marvel, but all we could find is the sentence: “A room filled with wooden objects that move and play small venues when you crank on them.” This is surely a mystery waiting to be unravelled! Where is this room filled with wooden objects? How do they move? What are these small venues they allegedly play? Only time will tell.

All joking aside, the machine is featured in a small shop in Sweden and was created by artist Per Helldorf. The crank-operated mechanism is titled “The Gambler.” While we couldn’t find an explanation for exactly how the machine works, we guess that the three cups each have a ball held in place by a magnet or wooden peg. You can see this and other contraptions at Pers Mekaniska Kabinett in Kisa, Sweden.

(via Best of YouTube)

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