Holiday Gift Guide: Obsessed with Marvel: Test Your Knowledge of the Marvel Universe by Peter Sanderson

An interactive book that can be played as a game, Obsessed with Marvel (Chronicle Books) adds to a growing and successful series of addictive game-books packed with as much fun as can be stuffed into a microchip.

The series thus far includes Obsessed with Star Wars, Golf, Baseball, Hollywood, Football and TV. And, when you think about it, any topic with lots and lots of questions and followers would be a good candidate for the Obsessed with treatment.

It looks very much like the kind of book that little kids get to tell them a story or play animal sounds: just a regular-looking book with a small electronic panel in the bottom right-hand corner.

The book is broken into sections of questions, with each section dedicated to a different part of the Marvel universe: Chapter 1 is Fantastic Four; Chapter two Spider-Man; Chapter three is The Avengers and so on. There are 2500 questions in total and two player play is possible (more if you opt for some type of team play). In my own testing, even if you don’t know much about the Marvel world -- as some of my guinea pigs did not -- it’s almost impossible to stop playing once you start. And with so many questions, I can't even do the math on how long it would take to have the same game twice.

Basically, it works like this: the read out gives you a question number. You go to that question, read it and push buttons A through D with your answer. You either get it right or wrong. (Eith a beep or a buzz alerts you.) Either way, you get another question and the chip keeps track of the score. And, basically, once you start, it’s impossible to stop. It’s like eating potato chips: until mom hollers that the turkey is finished, you’re not going anywhere. Real holiday fun for the Marvel fan!