Ten furlongs are condensed to (7) inches, with very small horses, in the Desktop Derby, a 6-horse straight track that lets you win money while you teach the children the evils of pari-mutuel betting. The electric track pulsates and moves the nags along at a pace of about 45 seconds per race, with heart-stopping lead changes. The best part is that they're un-handicapable: a different horse, in a different lane, seems to win every time. Measures 9-7/8" x 3-1/2" x 2" high and runs off (2) "AA" batteries, included. (Stable the horses in the base between races.)

Our each is a standard set of (28) cream-colored, black-divot dominoes, sized 1-7/8" x 15/16" x 5/16" thick. Includes a wooden case and a tiny sheet with the rules for Double-Six, one of the endless popular domino games.

Bored with looking at bicycles on the back of your playing cards? Sick of that one-eyed jack and the king with the ax? Add a little fun to your gin rummy with these full-tilt theme cards. Regular 52 decks, plus jokers, poker size, but with some of your favorites on both the backs and faces. You pick: Bigfoot; Marilyn Monroe in all her movies; Harry Potter and friends; Marvel superheroes; Bacon recipes galore; or a whole kennel of Dachshunds.

Now comes this ball of geometric possibilities, from creativity guru Roger von Oech. Perfect for anyone with a 3-dimensional mind, from a precocious child to a bored nonagenarian, including your favorite artist, mathematician, designer, engineer, or whatever. The little red ball, 3-1/4" dia, comprises (30) magnetized right golden rhombic pyramids that will fit together in endless shapes, from a rhombic triacontahedron (see the pic), to stars, wreaths, animals, sunbursts, and endless others. Comes with a 96pp booklet on geometric possibilities and creativity. Plenty of desktop noodling fun, but a lot more than just a toy.

Could be. You could put ten of them in there, plus a little bowling ball from the Pocket Bowling game. Features (10) 1-1/4” tall pins and a 5/8” dia steel ball, ready to roll down the 11-1/4” long x 4-5/8” wide rubberized lane. The good news? No foul line!

Fluxx®, the card game with rules that change while you play, has gone chemical. Cards feature your favorite elements, released from their table at last, plus sundry lab items. Includes our new favorite rule: draw the Helium card and you must speak in a falsetto voice.

A "Beam-Bending logic game," The Laser Maze™ is from the same madmen who created laser chess. You get a 25-position game-board with (5) target mirrors, (2) beam splitters, a double mirror and a cell blocker. Includes (60) challenge cards with puzzle solutions and a symbols key card, plus instructions. Fosters strategic thinking, problem-solving and logic. For ages 8 to adult--basically anyone who likes to watch beams bounce around trying to hit a target. Runs on (2) button-cell batteries, included.

The draw-it-yourself jigsaw puzzle, just begging to have an invitation written on it, and then be mailed to potential guests as a handful of pieces. But this 28-piece cardboard puzzle also measures a desktop or car-friendly 6-3/4" x 4-3/4" in plain white, so it's also begging to have kids add a picture for the fun of it. It's even suggesting that you mix the 336 blank pieces in a pile, explain it's a dozen pictures of an albino moose in a snowstorm puzzle, which it might very well be for all we know, and award a prize for the first finished puzzle. Note the classroom and party-friendly bulk price.

Half of the best stuff in the world comes in a can; the other half comes on a stick. (It’s true, don’t argue with us.) Now you get to pick from two kinds of canned fun, both in 5-5/8” x 4” x 2-1/4” deep cans with hinged tops. You pick. The Pranks in a Tin has straw finger traps, a whoopee cushion, nose & mustache glasses, a joy buzzer, the nail-through-finger trick with a bloody bandage, and a squirting ring. Go make a pre-adolescent happy. The Classic Games tin holds a standard deck of playing cards, rubber ball and (10) metal jacks, tiddlywinks with a small felt pad, (30) pick-up sticks, and (5) shooters plus (30) smaller glass marbles, and not an electronic game in the bunch.

Uwe Meffert is the Erno Rubik of the non-cubic universe. You decide which of his puzzles you want to be driven crazy by: the Pyraminx is a 3-7/8" pyramid with different colors on each face, if you can get them there. Rated 3 stars of difficulty out of 5. The Gearball is a baseball-sized sphere with (6) facets that you try to align in their appropriate color before you just throw it into the mean neighbor's yard. Rated 5 stars out of 5 for difficulty.