Merlin

Parker Brothers' Merlin, the Electronic Wizard, arrived in 1978 looking like a red telephone handset with eleven lit buttons. Former NASA engineer Bob Doyle invented it with Holly Doyle and Wendl Thomis, and its value was variety: six games on one device, from tic-tac-toe and a blackjack variant to Music Machine, which let you compose tunes on the buttons. It became one of the bestselling electronic toys of its day.