151,600 copies of Kluster, a magnetic tabletop game sold by Ohio toymaker Stoney Games, have been recalled in the US, because according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, its loose, swallowable, high-powered magnets pose an ingestion risk.
The website states that the “magnets can attract each other, or other metal objects, and become lodged in the digestive system”, leading to “perforations, twisting, and/or blockage of the intestines, blood poisoning and death”. Though no injuries caused by the Kluster game have been reported to date, according to the CPSC, more than 26,000 cases of magnet swallowing were treated in hospital ERs from 2010 to 2021.
The Kluster board game, which has a 14+ age rating label, involves placing magnets inside an arena defined by a loop of string. The aim is to get rid of all your magnets by placing them inside the area. If your magnet attracts any others, you have to pick them all up, so the strategy comes from carefully positioning your own pieces, while forcing your opponent into a situation where there are no good moves available.
The CPSC states that consumers should stop using the game, and contact Stoney Games for “instructions on how to dispose of the recalled magnets and receive replacement magnets that are not small parts”.
This is not the first time Kluster has raised safety concerns. In fact, the game was recalled in Canada in 2023, as well as a few countries in Europe. Not here in Britain though. I can eat all the magnets I want.
Despite this game being subject to scrutiny in multiple regions, it seems like there are numerous offbrand versions of it still available online. A quick Amazon.com search for ‘magnet game with string’ turns up dozens of near-identical takes on the exact same concept.
Source: Wargamer
