Finger Flick Punchbag

If you've ever been a sucker for hypnotic flashing lights and fairground music whilst you’re out winning goldfish, then no doubt, you and your mates have had a bout on a punch bag and made yourself look like a right wet lettuce. If that was you, you are going to love this. The Finger Flick Punch bag is the latest and funniest new desktop accessory to be sporting smack bang next to your Tippex and post it notes!

It's part mini fairground side show and part desktop stress reliever; this ridiculously silly mini punch bag is a great crack. It’s all the fun of the fair without actually having to go there. Just switch it on, watch the whimsical lights start flashing and measure the power of your flick!

All you've got to do is thwack your working finger at the tiny punch bag every morning and slowly, bit by bit, day by day you'll work up the kind of strength that'll have funfair workers hiding behind the counter every time you stroll in the fairground. Who's the wet lettuce now, hey?

Soon to be a cult classic desk-top toy, the Finger Flick Punchbag is brilliant for inter-office competitions and generally showing off your level of good flickiness. But don't be fooled into thinking that any old flick will do, because it's not as easy as it looks, pulling of a decent flick could take months to master. The power of your flick is measured by the 'flick-o-meter' which lights up every time you hit it with a flick of the punch ball. Six levels of strength from Mega Wimp to Super Hero!

The Cubes

In this office, you're the boss! Finally, the drudgery of corporate life has been captured in a play set for adults! Bob, Joe, Ted and Ann spend eight hours a day, five days a week at tiny desks in tiny cubicles, in a giant room packed with countless similar cubicles, in a giant faceless building filled with countless similar rooms. Phewww!!! Enter, The Cubes!

Each set of The Cubes contains one poorly suited office bod and all the necessary plastic parts to build a classic corporate cube: four walls, desk, chair, filing cabinet, in/out box, phone, and computer. Each set comes complete with a sticker sheet of decor for your cube, with graphs, charts, screens for the computer and pithy office posters. Each Cube character also has a job title sticker sheet so you can create a convoluted and meaningless position for your employee.

There are four of The Cubes to collect: Bob, Ann, Ted and Joe. But if that's not enough and you really feel like 'expanding' your thriving little establishment, an expansion set is available which contains four more additional computer geeks!

Why not build an office to look exactly like your current workspace or, better yet, construct a whole labyrinth of cubes to make your own miniature office where you’re the boss?! The Cubes are the latest craze and are preparing to take the world by storm!

Human Resources have just hired a new crop of employees. Sue, Jan, Jim and Dan are anxious to start their new careers and eager to please. Will their enthusiasm last or will they get sucked into the corporate machine and spat out as disgruntled drones? It’s up to you, since you’re the boss!

Each set comes with four plastic pen pushers and nine different plastic accessories including a cell phone, a calculator, a laptop and other office essentials.

Horse Racing Challenge

A day at the races. Those who haven’t had the chance to dress like a silly toff, don a crazy hat and swig copious amounts of champagne whilst making bets on horses then shouting at the aforementioned equus caballus as it loses, don’t know what they’re missing.

If however you do know what you’re missing but still want to feel the buzz of incertitude and warm glow of hope all rolled into one as those great beasts thunder towards the finish line, then get a load of this. The name of the game is Horse Racing Deluxe and the aim is to crush the opposition and win, win, win!

Okay, calm down dear, it’s only a race but that’s the point. This may only be some tabletop circuit with some pretend horses sprinting around but it truly is exhilarating stuff. We were taken by surprise as everyone started shouting and egging their horse and rider on towards the finish line. Lots and lots of shouting. Tons of swearing too but that’s naughty so we won’t recount what was said.

First thing you must do once everything is set up, is to feed the horses. Forget hay and sugar cubes, these equestrian lovelies have a staple diet of juice. Rechargeable battery juice. It only takes a couple of minutes to charge each horse on the Charging Station (2 horses at a time) but they’ll then be good for a few laps of the four-lane oval course.

Next choose your jockey. This selection is made via a spinner a bit like with the game Twister. Each Horse Racing Deluxe jockey has a different weight ranging from tiny Frankie Dettori dimensions to a humongous post-burger binge Elvis Presley. Now this may sound a little unfair but remember the spinner chooses the jockey for each player.

But that’s not all. Each horse can be fine-tuned via a tiny hole on its thigh. Insert a special key allows you to determine the speed of your horsey’s front legs. But don’t crank 'em up too much. That will make your rider topple over. It’s all about carefully finding the right balance between speed of horse and weight of jockey.

Once everything is ready, it’s time to race. Place the horses behind their barriers, press start and off they trot. As your thoroughbred gallops down the racetrack, you’ll hear horses neighing, hooves clip clopping, and the William Tell Overture playing Brilliant! Not to mention your friends getting up to all sorts of foul-mouthed mischief as they encourage their horse. The horses never race in the same way, so you never know if Hoof Hearted is going to slow down on the last corner or if Mint Choc Chip will overtake Yo Mama on the back straight. This leads to much yelling, screaming and general mayhem as the four horsemen charge to the finish line. So imagine the fun if everyone is a bit tipsy… Thrilling stuff.

So get those combination bets coming thick and fast and ready yourself for some serious equestrian action with Horse Racing Deluxe. You heard it here, straight from the horse’s mouth.

Cricket Plug 'n' Play

If you’re in to swinging you’re gonna love this. We’re not talking about that thing some couples get up to, no we’re talking about swinging bats and more importantly cricket bats with Plug 'n' Play Cricket, a great way to spend the day at home with a bat, a ball and a TV screen.

Nowadays you don’t need a perfectly mowed lawn and a load of immaculately pressed cream-coloured trousers to play cricket. A video game will do. But where’s the fun in using a joy pad? Well never fear, Plug 'n' Play Cricket is here. It’s a standalone system that includes a real bat and ball and plugs straight into your telly for instant satisfaction. No need for any separate console. Okay so the bat isn’t made from willow and there is no leather on that red sphere but that doesn’t matter. They both have highly-sensitive motion sensors that pinpoint their own position in respect to the little micro wicket placed on the floor.

Swing the bat over this and the system recognises the speed and direction at which you are batting. But that’s not all. There are handy 'Block' and 'Run' buttons for added realism. Bowling is even more intricate. Speed is determined by the amount of force you use, so listen up people: brush up on your bowling skills and prepare for a gentle shoulder work-out! The length of your throw is determined by a power-up bar that shows when your on-screen bowler runs up to the crease. But even better, the ball itself has three buttons and a multi-directional keypad to regulate spin and seam.

If that isn’t enough to become immersed into the world of cricket then why not find a bit of white paint to draw all the creases on your carpet. On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t. That would be silly. Talking of silly, at least with Plug 'n' Play Cricket there is no need to wear what resembles a great big white mattress on each leg while batting. In fact you could play naked at home… just keep the curtains closed as you bowl a googly or thwack the ball full-blooded all the way to the boundary. There is a whole array of batting and bowling styles to contend with. As former cricket commentator Navot Singh Siddhu once said: "A pitch is like a woman...you never know how she will react each day".

Plug 'n' Play Cricket is a game for 1 or 2 players and offers the choice of either playing at club, county or international level. Select a 1-day match, a 5-day test match or go the whole hog with a world tournament featuring 16 international sides randomly split into 4 groups to kick of the championship. In no time at all you’ll be fast bowling, spin bowling and destroying those stumps like the best of 'em.

So all wannabe Atherton's, Gough's or Flintoff's, iron-out your flannels, don your sleekest of sunglasses and smother your cheeks in perfect rectangles of ridiculously fluorescent sunblock. Forget about the Pimms, it’s cricket o’clock!

Money Maze

Money is good but it's also the root of all evil. Quite a reliable adage really, so why not lock away this demonic invention in a prison and escape the evil clutches of materialistic desire. For this, you need a special prison, one that actually prevents you from removing your hard-earned cash. The Money Maze is one such jail. Putting your dosh inside is easy enough but rescuing it is where the fun (and frustration) begins.

The Money Maze is a storage device, but one with a difference. A narrow slot on the underside allows notes to be slipped in nice and easy. However, to remove your money, you must first solve the puzzle. Guide a ball through a maze that runs around the cube to reach the locking mechanism. Once the small metal sphere has been positioned snugly in the slot, simply move the slide to trigger the door. This is the only way but it will take many twists and turns of the cube before success beckons.

Money Maze has quite a good sized internal compartment, so money may not be the only thing you stick within the not so confidential confines of this clear plastic container. It could be coins, a small gift or perhaps those cigarettes you’re trying so hard to give up. Going to a party but scared of drinking and driving? Why not plonk your car keys inside Money Maze - you’ll have absolutely no chance solving the puzzle when feeling a bit tipsy. And here’s another idea: want to propose to your other half? Make him/her work for it and whack the ring in the cube! In fact, place pretty much what you want in there, as long as it fits through the circular hole in the base.

Money Maze could even help kids improve their problem-solving capabilities and learn to understand self-control. After all, should you have trouble accessing your dough, the temptation to smash Money Maze into smithereens with a rather large blunt instrument is enormous. Then again it may only teach them how to aim carefully at relatively small objects with a ruddy great big hammer. But even that has a plus side - if your tumbling tots are thinking of becoming a tradesman, this could hone their skills from an early age.

So you see, a whole new world of opportunity arises from the ashes formed by the smouldering tears of an imprisoned £50 pound note. The Money Maze will change your life forever. Okay, a slight exaggeration but it’s a good laugh watching your friends’ desperate attempts at retrieving their money. If you can’t solve this cubic conundrum, you’ll be screaming “Show me the money, SHOW MEEE THE MONEY!!!” just as Tom Cruise did in the film Jerry Maguire. Only difference is you probably won’t be shouting down the phone. Instead you’ll be mouthing off at some cube-shaped piece of plastic.

The Money Maze. A cheeky little gadget which sits nicely on a shelf. It also has a tendency to withhold your money…like some banks...

Shocking Roulette

When someone mentions the game roulette you automatically think about slapping a tux on, sipping on Martinis and spending some serious money. But what if you were to find out that not only on those nerve wrenching spins you would lose your money, you would also get a nasty electric shock straight through your finger? Would you still want to play? Of course you would and why not, it's not going to hurt that much is it??

Shocking Roulette is such a simple idea and so much fun. Up to four nervous players insert a finger into one of the electric shock chambers and then the player in the No.1 slot presses the start button. This sets the invisible electric ball (as it were) into motion. Grit your teeth and get ready to get stung as the countdown sequence begins with beeps, lights and realistic sound effects of a traditional roulette wheel as the ball homes in on its final destination.

Shocking Roulette will begin to slow, the sequence will gradually begin to stop and then eventually land on the unlucky victim's chamber, where it emits a nasty electric shock! It's harmless but it's certainly enough to make you jump 6 feet back in horror - and the more you get shocked the more fun it is on the next game because your nerves are in tatters!

The great thing about Shocking Roulette is that it's only 15cm wide and 5cm high so you could quite easily slip it in your pocket, take it down the pub and stitch up your mates! In essence, any game that uses the world victims instead of players has got to be worth its weight in gold. Shocking fun!

Cube World

What do you get when you cross Tamagotchi, a cube, some helpful house mates and a truck load of imagination? You'd probably end up with something similar to Cube World. This is one of the strangest games we've ever seen and, if you thought Tamagotchi was addictive, wait until you get your grubby mitts on these little capers! It's an inter-connectable world where funny little digital stick people live, work, play and pester the life out of each other! Like we said, it's like nothing we've ever seen before!

Inside each cube is one pixellated stick man who plays and lives. There are eight different characters in total to collect and each one has a favourite hobby; Slim throws a stick, Scoop plays with his dog, Dodger likes kicking, Whip goes skipping, Dust’s a clean freak, Handy is a handyman, Hans is super fit and Mic, as his name says, just likes a good old sing song!

On the front of each cube is a set of three buttons which lets you control and play games with your new animated friends. Whether it's a spot of hoovering, a game of kicky-uppy or knocking in a couple of old nails, the Cube World characters will keep you entertained for hours on end. All of the Cubes have motion sensors attached so, if you were to shake one of your Cubes around, the character would tumble along with you!

Cube World is the most original new concept of gaming we've come across in a long time and because you can link up to 16 cubes, the amount of actions that these little sprites can perform really are endless! Buy them today and join the Cube World gaming revolution!

Ntropy

Remember when you where a wee nipper and annihilating things was brilliant. Well it still is! Our good friends at Recreation Plc have come up with the game of Ntropy. The ultimate game of destruction! Sorry that should read ‘The ultimate game of skill’.

Ntropy is primarily a game of creative construction which tests your dexterity and bottle. First you need to erect the base. Once that is done each player takes it in turn to roll the die which determines how you must add your sticks to the ensemble. If some fall off during your turn then those precariously-placed chunks of timber are added to your pile. The first player with no sticks remaining wins. Simple!

However, there is also an element of tension built in. Each time a stick is added to the tower, the structure becomes more unstable as it reaches for the skies. And us humans being quite curious, there is no doubt that we will attempt to create all manner of crazy structures just to see how far we can push the boundaries of gravity.

It’s definitely multi-player action as there are enough sticks for a two, three or even foursome in the privacy of your home. It’s also worth noting that Ntropy can work tremendously well under the influence of alcohol. Not that we’re suggesting you should drink, but hey, like Jenga, its best served with beer or shots of sambuca, tequila or all of the above… Ntropy is so addictive, you’ll want to play it again and again just to see how far you can get before your magnificent creation comes a crashing down.

The aim is to win by using up all your sticks but the secret aim is to pressure your opponents into going that one piece too far and causing the whole thing to fall with a cataclysmic earth-shattering thud onto the table or carpet or wherever you are playing.

SSX Snowboarder Plug 'n' Play

Ever fancied sliding and grinding down the snowy slopes of the world on a snowboard? Well now’s your chance. Forget couch potatoing it with a control pad, that’s far too easy. No, get on your feet soldier and jump aboard the amazing SSX Snowboarder plug & play system. You’re guaranteed some disgustingly sick action.

This cheeky little gaming device puts you directly on the board itself and straight in the thick of it. All the SSX Snowboarder action is controlled by you, your feet and your natural ability to balance like a ninja. But if you are the sort of person who falls over at the mere sight of a bicycle, this may train you to become a rock-steady Freddie, Pete or Katie or whoever. Move or lean on the board and your on-screen character will do exactly the same. You literally ride the board like Seabiscuit, er no, sorry, just like the real thing, tilting left and right to pull off some bad boy tricks, while controlling your speed by leaning backwards and forwards. And in case you’re wondering, it’s not actually hard to stay on the board as you dodge trees and rocks and hurtle through gate after gate at silly speeds.

Choose your crazy character and let the great graphics and ultra-realistic board action take you through four exciting events. You can give everyone an eyeful of your free-styling skills in Show Off, attempt to clock the best time in Time Challenge, ride the half-pipes of your dreams in Pipedream and catch some serious air in Tokyo Megaplex. The more you play, the more ridiculous tricks you’ll be pulling off on the powdery perfect slopes of SSX Snowboarder.

As always with plug & plays, just connect it straight to your TV and you’re away. There’s no need for a separate games console. Just plug in the little box and get your snow plough boots on ready to dish out those phat moves while blasting down the hill with this exciting and addictive game. It’s either stay slumped, hunched and slouched in your grotty armchair or get right amongst it - leaning, twisting and grabbing your board.

Take a wild ride on the SSX Snowboarder plug & play system. It will save you spending plenty on a crazy kamikaze holiday and all the hassle of waxing and tuning your board. Extreme sports from the comfort of your living room all year round, any season? That’s how we like it. Just try not to fall off...

Golden Tee Golf Plug 'n' Play

Golf is assuredly a mystifying game, but no more mystifying than 18 holes and a driving range jam packed into a tiny plug 'n' play unit. We’ve all played the Golden Tee Golf stand -up arcade version in the pub, but now you can drive, chip, welly and putt like a Tiger Woods all from the comfort of your own settee! Ahhh... Modern technology's just terrific, isn't it?!

The Golden Tee Golf Plug ‘n’ Play unit is definitely one of the most revolutionary games consoles that we have ever come across. Just like the arcade version in the pub it still has its signature piece – the unique trackball control, which assists you in recreating the atmosphere of the classic Golden Tee coin-op! It has all of the features of the arcade version including club selection, backspin button and shot manipulation to perform hooks and slices.

To begin play simply click in 4 x AA batteries (not included) and connect the AV lead into the back of your telly. Once you've got it tuned in, you're pretty much ready to tee off. Using the tracking ball on the main unit you will be able to scroll through the different game modes you can choose from (Play Round, Match Play, Tournament and even DrivingRange). Once the game mode is highlighted press the select button and you're ready to play!

Golden Tee Golf Plug ‘n’ Play is one of the most realistic and effective golf games around. You can play with 1-4 players exactly like the stand up version in your local! It's officially licensed by Incredible Technologies, the makers of Golden Tees unique trackball interface and offers exciting game play of the hugely popular arcade-style golf game. Order yours now and get out of the Pub and on to the couch!

Sudokube

The ultimate number puzzle game. For those of us that remember the Rubik's cube in the early 80s, this has to be the logical successor, the Sudokube. This new concept in cubic game play is 7 x 7 x 7cm of mind numbing, brain teasing fun. Get all of the numbers back into their original configuration to solve the puzzle. Sounds easy? Well, it is not. There is only one possible solution to this cube (unlike Bedlam) and if it gives you sleepless nights, don't blame us!

Sudoku is an ingenious game for number crunchers everywhere. It's one of the biggest crazes in the world since sliced bread and doesn't seem to be losing its popularity in the slightest. Sudoku is breaking new sales records monthly and the new Sudokube set to take the world by storm!

So what would you get if you crossed Sudoku with the Rubik's Cube - that would surely be the greatest puzzle of all time, wouldn't it? Well, think no more our eager puzzle loving friends, We present to you the long awaited Sudokube!

Basically it's a Rubik's cube but made of numbers instead of colours. The rules of the game are to get the numbers 1-9 on each side of the cube. Just like the Rubik's you have to twist and turn the panels so the numbers correspond, but you need to get the numbers on each side just like you would in a Sudoku grid. Now you've the best of both games.

The Sudokube is the most brain confuzzling highly addictive puzzle to hit the market in 2006 and once you buy this head tangling game, you'll see why Sudokube is the latest and greatest craze to land in the shops this year. Add a Sudokube to your cart this instant and take part in the ultimate 3D numerical challenge of the century!

Lightning Reaction Extreme

We love hurting people and seeing them writhe in agony. Equally we enjoy auto-flagellation. Okay so that’s the truth about us Shushhh! types revealed, but what about you? If you like a bit of pain once in a while and thoroughly enjoy watching your friends cry like little children then Lightning Reaction Extreme is most definitely for you.

Okay so that all sounds a bit extreme but there’s no need to worry, this mad little number doesn’t really replicate levels of pain generally associated with sticking sharpened wood under your fingernails. What the Lightning Reaction Extreme game does is increase the stakes a little more than usual. It may look like some crazy futuristic torture implement that would get placed on someone’s head. Please don’t attempt to sellotape one of these to a friend. Not good. That’s not what it’s about.

It’s all about suspense, quick reactions, and a little pain. Pain for everyone. As you’ll notice in the pictures, this menacing looking contraption is designed to accommodate four hands, four poor unsuspecting hands belonging to four soon to be frazzled players. Each victim places one hand on a pistol grip then one person hits the start button. What ensues is a shear wall of laughter. First the timer light starts flashing, accompanied by a strange infernal droning music, creating a spin-tingling suspense as all players wait for it to stop. When this occurs, and it happens quite suddenly, it’s a case of fastest trigger in the west as everyone tries desperately not to be the last to press the button. But the slowest of the bunch gets the shock. Nasty but nice. And very very funny. Especially if it’s the shockee’s first time because the look on their face is possibly the funniest thing ever.

But even if you are a dab hand at this evil little game, each shock will still make you jump and scream in a very embarrassing way. It gets even better when a quiet night in with a few friends inevitably turns to an alcohol-fuelled riot. And you know exactly what happens then. Some clever person shouts: “Every time you get zapped you have to down a double shot, wahey!” Well as we all know, drink slows your reaction time, so you’ll be getting properly frazzled the more booze you ingest. Which makes Lightning Reaction Extreme possibly one of the best drinking games ever.

Lightning Reaction Extreme has two skill settings. In ‘Normal’ mode, the last person to press the button receives the nasty surprise but in ‘Extreme’ mode, only the fastest player avoids the shock, while the other three jump for, er, well, certainly not joy. If that’s not enough then switch the red devil machine to ‘high power’ for some added juice.

You could always spice things up to devilish proportions (and you’ve got to admit this thing looks fresh outta hell) and use two Lightning Reaction Extreme games in unison but still with four people. Each player gets two pistol grips to love, cherish and hold till electricity do them part. Stagger the timing on both machines slightly and you’ll really have to concentrate doubly hard to avoid the second shock. Which ever way you decide to play, you’re in for a treat and whole lot of laughs. You may even find that the pain from laughing beats the electric shock. We said maybe.

Real Swing Golf

Every golf fan will tell you that there's nothing quite like heading out on a sunny day and belting a few balls up the fairway. But if its cat and dog weather or you just can't be bothered to get your fat backside off the couch, golf gets put aside to the following weekend and so it goes on. But what if you could play in the comfort of your own front room? We're not joking, now you can with Real Swing Golf!

The 18-hole course featured in Real Swing is ultra realistic and has all the classic characteristics as your expensive toffee nosed golf club just off the M25. Radica’s ultimate plug ‘n’ play system will introduce you to a pixellated world of greens, roughs, lakes and bunkers.

Ok, so you could play golf on any new age console you like, but where's the fun in button bashing and joystick pulling when you could be swinging a real club and shouting birdie?! The clever part of the Real Swing Golf game lies in the ultra sensitive CMOS camera installed into the main unit that detects the swing, speed and path of the golf club that comes with the game.

But don’t be fooled into thinking you can get away with hacking the ball, Real Swing Golf’s CMOS camera is ultra sensitive and can detect hooks, hacks, slices and all round ball thumping. Up to four players can enter competitions by using the control buttons on the sensor pad, or, if you don’t fancy a full 18 holes you can just welly some balls down the driving range, switch clubs depending on the terrain and even scroll through a selection of different shots that you want to take.

Real Swing Golf is ideal for any golfer, but it's also perfect for anyone who's ever wanted to smash a ball on a golf course without shedding out £500 quid on a new set of clubs and dodgy trousers! It's extremely addictive and once you've got used to the super clever club you'll be putting like Tiger and smacking balls the length of... erm... a fairway... Fore!

Hard As Nails Game

This set of five puzzles really our as 'Hard as Nails'. Ranging from a difficulty of 1-5 these puzzles are bound to leave you biting your own. Simple you think? Put it this way, all of these puzzles are possible but don't fool yourself by thinking you will get them finished in a day or two. If you think you've got what it takes, be warned that you're in for the long run!

As any builder will tell you, 6 inch nails are too big for any practical purpose - that is of course unless you want to build one of the greatest puzzle compendiums ever invented. Hard as Nails has five different levels of difficulty, the first 4 follow the same rule - just take them apart. Sounds easy? Maybe, but these cunningly designed metallic marvels are more challenging than rubbing your stomach whilst patting your head and being fed an apple through a tennis racket at the same time... Very challenging indeed!

The fifth level is a totally different idea with a twist, which if you crack it, will give you a smug satisfaction for achieving notoriety that being on an intellectual par with Einstein and Newton could only just match.

Diehards will no doubt endeavour to solve all 5 Hard as Nails puzzles, but be warned - it could take less time to straighten all the nails and use them to knock up a shed! Please email us with your photos of these puzzles once they are solved. We have only managed to solve the first two so far, so we will be very interested to see how far you have got!

Fighting Grandads

We love old people. Who doesn’t? Probably due to the fact that we all know we’re gonna be one in our not too distant future. It’s a worrying fact, as we are fully aware, but the concept of getting old definitely isn’t a pleasant thought. That’s most likely why this troublesome twosome are walking sticks at dawn and Zimmer frames at the ready! You can’t blame them – they are old after all.

Fighting Grandad’s are the newest or ‘oldest’ pair of half-wits to hit the shelves. Just wind these perilous pensioners up and watch them battle it out as they go hell for leather to win the coveted title of clash of the Grandads! Forget about crosswords, hanging the washing up or feeding the tortoises, whip out your walking stick and wallop an old wrinkly right round the raddish . Follow that Jonathon Woss! These Fighting Grandads will keep you entertained for hours on end, or certainly longer than a round of bingo or an omnibus of Coronation Street, any day of the week.

Who knows why these grappling Grandads have copped the hump. Maybe they’re fighting for the dishy Doris who’s flashed them both a bit of leg, or possibly they’re rowing over the last bottle of Ginger Beer in the local Seven – Eleven, we will never know. One thing’s for sure though, whatever these ancient artefacts are arguing about they are doing it for one reason and one reason only and that’s for your entertainment.

We don’t like to admit it, but the harsh truth is that the devilish streak in all of us sometimes likes to see a good ol’ fashioned backside whooping, especially when the whooping is being done by a dangerous duo of ferocious old fogies. It’s exactly like a cat fight, but ten times better!

Fighting Grandads are going to fly off the shelf quicker than a tea break quickie and are set to take the universe by storm. So it’s brown brogues on, walking sticks aloft and Werthers Originals at the ready, it’s The Big Scrap ‘Live’, Bernard Vs. Percy, who will win? Wind them up and find out! Touché! Or should we say Toupe?! Hit buy now!

Race Cups

When you think of stacking cups, you tend to think of tidying up the night after a long night of debauchery. Luckily Race cups aren’t that tedious! Shushhh.co.uk is thrilled to bring you the very latest craze straight from America – the sport/game that’s completely out of this world. Whether you’re sporty or not, you won’t be able to put these cups down once you’ve got your hands on them.

Race Cups is an exciting new sport (yes, sport) where participants stack and un-stack 12 cups in pre-determined sequences in the shortest time possible. There is a variety of sequences and different World Records for each one! Individually, stackers race against the clock for the fastest or best times. You can also compete on a relay team racing against another team in head-to-head battle. And with practice you can stack at some serious speeds!

Race Cups uses a “Stack Mat” and patented “Stop Clock” designed with hand pads and a digital timer that will begin counting as soon as the stacker’s hands are lifted from the pads; it stops when they are slammed back down after completing their set. This cutting edge technology isn’t used anywhere else in the world of cup stacking and is normally used for the World Record attempts!

When we saw the video of the Race Cups World record holder we thought they had speeded up the video, it was that fast! The current World Record for the fastest Speed Stacking sequence is 7.43 seconds held by Emily Fox from the U.S.A! But remember, how can be expected to break World records if you don't have the official Race Cups set! Add some to your cart now and get stacking!

Gya

Oh my goodness great balls of Gya! Human verses rock!!!???. It’s clearly time to get a pickaxe from the garden shed and give this orbital orb a right proper seeing to. Actually, don’t do that because it’s obviously not a real lump of planet. That would be silly. It may look like a meteor with a bad case of acne but this is in fact a game called Gya. And a rather addictive one at that.

Meteorites have been a problem since the dawn of time. They still present quite literally a sizeable risk to us humans but never fear, this is one piece of rock that you can manhandle like there’s no tomorrow. We owe our little extraterrestrial terror to the toytastic types at Tomy and they’ll have you screaming with joy and frustration at the same time amidst a barrage of light and sound for this is a game of memory, speed and that old hand/eye coordination malarkey. Incidentally, Gya means “scream” in Japanese. No coincidence there then.

Gya comprises of 10 games each with 5 different skill levels to progress through that test your ability to memorise and react quickly. On your interstellar travels, you’ll be memorising flashing sequences, fending off an audio assault as you match pairs of sounds and predicting the direction of moving light amongst the 12 red buttons.

Each time you complete a level, your gaming prowess is stored in Gya’s memory and one of the red lights stays illuminated to indicate this. You’ll find the entire list of levels below. The game becomes increasingly hectic as you travel deeper into the dark world of Gya and once you have proven yourself, a final level (the final showdown) will decide whether you or the meteor can claim the title of master of the universe.

Get good at this and you could become the best button-basher in the cosmos. Or perhaps just on Earth but that’s still good. Gya provides a silly amount if distraction and plenty of twists and turns (quite literally) as you turn it over to see which buttons hidden from view are lit. Your reaction times will improve and you may even get as fast as Neo in The Matrix. Well maybe not that fast…

Skateboarding Plug 'n' Play

Time to drop those butt-tight jeans you’ve been wearing all your life and slip on the baggiest pair of shorts you can find. Get ready for some Skateboarding Plug 'n' Play's action with this great set that plugs straight into your TV. There is no time like the present to get some half-pipe dreams going on!

Remember the first time you took up a wibbly wobbly position on your brand new skateboard? It was probably one of those great big slabs of wood that your parents thought would do the trick. It wasn’t the coolest of boards but it worked. After all, you had to learn somewhere… Well forget all those precarious balance issues and set your feet down on this great offering from the plug 'n' play people at Radica.

Connect the unit to your TV or VCR using the included AV input jacks, take position on the interactive board and you’re ready to fly around the Skateboarding Plug 'n' Play skate parks. To perform all sorts of different tricks, use the 3-button hand remote which also controls the menus screens. Choose from several difficulty levels, characters and skate parks. Throughout the game, win tournaments to unlock new tricks and different parks.

The Skateboarding Plug 'n' Play's wooden board actually looks, feels, smells and tastes like a real skateboard, but why you should be attempting to eat your board is another matter altogether. It has a grippy surface which adds to the authenticity and probably genuinely helps a little too - the board tilts so you control the action via your feet for a change.

If you have any idea what "That skater was pumping mongo" means or "Dude that half-cab over that nine set was sick" or even "I just strapped on my gnarly boots and 50/50'ed that smubba, dog" then you truly do belong in a skate park. The rest of us will stick to saying pathetic stuff like "Oh my goodness I just obtained a rather substantial amount of o2 on that last jump." Whatever! Give it your best ollie or nollie, grind or fakie and feel the sick fun of Skateboarding Plug 'n' Play!

Get rippin bro!

Cranium Deluxe

Board game? Or should that be bored game… You may be unenthusiastic about some of them until you stumble upon this. Cranium Deluxe is the award-winning game that offers up a veritable plethora of classic board-game tasks as well as some funky new ones to keep you hooked through all the seasons.

How do you fancy impersonating a famous person, humming a tune until your friends guess what it is, or even modeling something out of putty!!!! These are just some of the pearls hidden inside the hilarious world of Cranium.

And even when the game ends, the fun continues - you'll never forget your brother impersonating Britney Spears, your friend acting out "ants in your pants", your girlfriend spelling "platypus" backwards or even your father sculpting platform shoes or high heels out of clay. Which he’ll then try to wear... But that’s another game altogether.

Cranium includes 800 cards for your group gaming sessions. You and your opponents will be divided into teams; all the questions and tasks are divided into 4 sections: Creative Cat, Data Head, Star Performer and Word Worm. Now upon reading this you should guess the kind of testing trials awaiting you, but only if you use your Cranium… Having said that, the dictionary’s definition for cranium is: the portion of the skull enclosing the brain. So it’s more likely you’ll be using that for head butting face offs and other such jolly activities.

If, since your childhood, you haven’t sat down and played a game other than on your computer then we suggest you give Cranium Deluxe a whirl. Each gut-bustingly humorous round lasts approximately an hour. So if you’re weary about plodding through another one of those games that never seems to end and where each challenge feels far too familiar, boring and frankly more like a chore, discover Cranium. It is guaranteed to alleviate that pressure you feel around the head caused by everyday life.

Bedlam Cube

It’s now time we had a go at some recreational mathematics (yes the concept exists) with the latest hands-on puzzler, the Bedlam Cube. Shaped as you would imagine like a cube, this small chunk of plastic madness will keep you occupied for a long, long time.

The Bedlam Cube, invented by Bruce Bedlam, is a puzzle consisting of 13 polycubic pieces: 12 pentacubes and 1 tetracube. The objective is to assemble these pieces into a 4 x 4 x 4 cube. Erm, what? Well in recreational mathematics, a polycube is a polyform with a cube as the base form. Consequently they are the three-dimensional analogues of the planar polyominos. The Bedlam Cube is an exa… Okay, okay, enough already. Sheeeshhh (dot co dot uk?) and very boring! Shouldn’t have asked.

Okay so that might make no sense to most but this puzzle is ridiculously simple - in theory! You have to join all 13 pieces together to form a cube. Thing is, there are 19,186 different ways of doing this and to date, only a handful of people have managed it worldwide. There are so many combinations that attempting the Bedlam Cube at random could take months - even years. It's only through practice and familiarity that the puzzle can be solved.

Beware! This is one of the most extreme and highly addictive puzzles available and you will find yourself reaching for it time and time again instead of the video games controller to try and find a solution. Might drive you to madness… Incidentally, the inventor of this game is called Bruce Bedlam and Bedlam was also the nickname for an infamous mental institution that existed in London for centuries. Hummm, how ironic.

The Bedlam Cube is available in pleasurable platinum, in a lovely and shiny chrome and the ‘retro’ option which is a multi-coloured (red, green and blue) affair.

We haven’t decided whether or not Mr Bedlam is our friend yet. This thing is rather hard and may indeed spawn the fledgling seeds of insanity within the garden of incertitude that is the human mind. But if the desire to solve it is strong over time you can do it. It’s time then to get interned inside the world of the Bedlam Cube.