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When I was a kid, my grandparents had this thing we called The Marble Game. It was basically a big marble run. It stood maybe three feet high and had alternating rails that wound back and forth across it. We’d put marbles on the top-most rung, and watched as they weaved their way down to the collection box at the bottom. I can still remember the sound of the marbles running to the end of the row, the click as it fell down to the next, and ran all the way to the end again. Back and forth. Back and forth. It was mesmerizing. I can imagine the sound being very soothing as well. Of course being kids, we’d load that sucker up with as many marbles as it would hold. They’d jam up at the end of the rows and the sound would be deafening what with all the marbles running at the same time.

I’ve always been fascinated by Rube Goldberg machines, and I think The Marble Game was the foundation. In fact I bought plans to make a Marble Tower years ago, but it proved way too complex for my skills. Still today, I look everywhere I go for one of these and really hope to buy it one day, ready made of course. Know where I can get one?

So to feed my interest in the meantime, I am so pleased to say that I found this little desktop marble game. The Perpetual Tower Marble Run stands 10.5″ high and sits on a 4″ x 4″ base. Five marbles at a time load in the top, and take turns running around, dropping from bucket to bucket, until they reach the end. When one marble gets to the bottom, it automatically starts the next marble on its way. For only $19.99, it’s the perfect little office game. Click here for more information.