LEGO ‘Great Ball Contraption’ Is Pointless Yet Enthralling

YouTuber Akiyuki Brick Channel has created some of the wildest Technic LEGO builds we’ve ever seen. The Japanese LEGO engineer (and artist?) has in the past made massive rollercoasters and working engines. But Akiyuki’s latest build, which he refers to as “Five Tilted Rings,” looks like some downright alien toy technology.

Akiyuki recently posted the video above to his YouTube channel. The creator says this is just one of his “great ball contraption” modules, or GBCs. It seems like it’s his best one yet, as it has that je ne sais quoi that can only come from something that moves things around both seamlessly and endlessly. ( Tesla battery factories come to mind on the “real world” end of the spectrum.)

In the video, Akiyuki begins by assembling some of the GBC from its individual mechanical components. Obviously each one of the components—e.g. the rings with their arms—consists of hundreds of LEGO pieces, both Technic and regular. He then continues to add ring after ring, until there are a total of five. A setup that makes the whole build look sort of like a stack of Tilt-a-Whirls.

Small, toy basketballs moving their way down a pointless yet beautiful LEGO machine.

Akiyuki Brick Channel

Akiyuki proceeds to add on several more components to the GBC, which, while certainly meaningless, make the whole build even more mesmerizing. Speaking of which, it seems the goal(?) of the contraption is to move basketballs up and down the rings endlessly. Similar to that Penguin Slide toy that somebody always had lying around their house as kids.

Small, toy basketballs moving their way down a pointless yet beautiful LEGO machine.

Akiyuki Brick Channel

Anyone now eager to stare at more ridiculous LEGO contraptions, there are, of course, a ton more out there. Other YouTubers with mad LEGO skillz have also built functional contraptions, which can actually build things on their own. And playing real mini-golf is cool, but have you ever played LEGO mini-golf?!

Feature image: Akiyuki Brick Channel