Marble Racer

Man was born to compete. That's why sports were invented. This, in turn, is why marbles were invented. Sadly, over the centuries, the humble marble has become indelibly associated with school kids, street urchins and old men. Hardly surprising when you consider most marble-based games are played at a snail's pace.

That's why we were initially skeptical when presented with Marble Racer. After all, how exciting can a few marbles tumbling down a winding track be? The answer, dear friends, is difficult to articulate - not because we've run out of adjectives, but because Marble Racer has been such a hit here in the office that we can't focus long enough to think up any decent ones! The incessant noise of racing marbles and the ruckus from hollering employees makes it rather hard to concentrate.

So why the fuss? Well, in a nutshell, Marble Racer is devilishly simple yet fiendishly addictive - a combination that's well known for its potency in gaming circles. Essentially, this is a construction set/marble racing game. Simply build the towers, slot together the track, add the equalizers, place the marbles in the starting gate, twist and away they go!

As the marbles roll, plop and drop down the track they enter 'equalizers' - circular platforms that cause them to spin and crash into each other as they attempt to enter the next section of track in pole position. And you don't need to worry about getting bored of the same circuit because you can design alternate tracks for ever more complex marble-based madness.

Not that we condone gambling, but you can also place bets on whose marble will emerge from the manic melée in first place. As you might expect, this makes things even more gripping and significantly increases the whooping and yelling quotient from the assembled peanut gallery.

We really can't stress just how riveting this colorful confusion of tower and track is. In fact, if you're anything like us, we guarantee you'll be unable to pass by a Marble Racer without putting a few marbles through their racing paces.