BillD/Misophist, the original arcade game was called Breakout. Bat'n'ball games had a phase in the 80s and early 90s, with the classic unsurpassed version being Arkanoid 2 (sequel to the earlier Arkanoid).

I love Mah Jongg - the proper one, not the crappy solitaire game (which only exists on PCs AFAIK, not as a RL game). Besides it being a great game, and allowing strategic planning like going for a more risky hand returning more points, there's also the effect of the tiles. It's like playing a game using wooden wind chimes - the clicking sound is kind of soothing - and the feel of the tiles is much nicer than cards. I never used to play much, but Yahoo now have an online Mah Jongg game which is good. It can't beat the feel of actual tiles in your hand though. :-)

Backgammon's fun too, but I don't play much of that. I win a lot at Monopoly (years of practise when I was younger :-) but it's kind of boring.

On an "odd-ball" theme, my wife got me a card-based game called "Citadels" last year, where the idea is to build your city first. Once you've got the hang of how to play (which doesn't take long), it's really good fun, and you can be reassuringly nasty to your fellow players (war and assassination are options! :-) Recommended for something to try at Xmas instead of the old standards.

Graham.