Mr. Biggs Family Fun Center is indeed big (or is that bigg?) fun.

The grand opening of the threeacre indoor facility is Saturday. We got a taste of the Mr. Biggs brand of fun at a preview this week.

The sprawling, sectionalized set-up doesn't give you the kind of instant "wow" you get from walking into the comparablesized Fat City Entertainment Center in Littleton. And it can make it more difficult to keep track of your kids. But the advantage of the arrangement is that it gives you a sense of discovery at every turn: "Look, there's a pirate ship! And, ooh, a paintball arena!"

During our visit Monday, the center was a work in progress. Wazoom, a type of croquet game designed exclusively for Mr. Biggs, wasn't ready for play -- although a peek at the game's black-light environment prompted plenty of oohs and aahhs. The paintball area wasn't open either. Some of the holes in the 18-hole Backstreets Golf weren't finished.

But there was enough to show that kids of all ages will find plenty to entertain them.

Budding NASCAR drivers will be drawn to the NightRider Speedway. The electric gokarts hold two people, although it can be a snug fit. The perky little cars are quieter than gas-powered go-karts -- and you won't be choking on fumes. Because of the smaller track area and lack of straightaways, these cars can't get up to the speeds that the gaspowered cars at JoyRides do. But they feel plenty speedy, with amazingly good pickup.

We got only half of the NightRider experience. The attraction will only get better when they install lasers for the passengers to use to shoot at targets.

Speaking of shooting, the LaserJam LaserTag is the most sophisticated laser tag in the state. The Wi-Fi system allows scoring in real time, so players can look at their breast-plate readouts and see how they're doing in the middle of the game. The system also allows some strange variations. Besides doing team play or free-for-alls, you can play a game called Zone Laser that blends laser tag with basketball. There also may be games in which an employee dresses as an alien and you get extra points for shooting him.

The laser arena's layout is well-done, but leaves few spots for hiding. Also, the other laser-tag places in town have the advantage of two floors instead of one. The developers of Mr. Biggs want to add another floor as soon as they install more sprinklers.

The "theming" was incomplete during our visit, but it'll be much more exciting when the arena is transformed into the interior of an alien ship, complete with alien goo and blast holes.

The highlight of the arcade, which on Monday was still awaiting 20 more machines, looks to be AMF Thunder-Bowl. It involves shorter lanes and a lighter ball with no holes -- and no need to wear special shoes. You'll find yourself wishing for a lane in your home. It's a boon for younger kids who have trouble getting a heavier bowling ball all the way down the lane. It can take some time for smaller hands to get a feel for controlling the ball, though.

As fun as Mr. Biggs is for big kids, for younger kids, this is about as close to heaven as you get this side of Disney.

Remember when you were little and thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if adults built a place with..."?

Mr. Biggs' LittleBiggtown is that place -- if your dream was a pirate ship, a cave filled with dinosaur bones, a mechanic shop, a dress-up party, a bakery, or a power plant.

Reserved for kids 10 and younger, LittleBiggtown provides 10,000 square feet that will keep tykes busy for hours.

"All I did for two months was try to remember, what did I dream of then," said Kim Shugart, the brainchild for much of Mr. Biggs. "I want them to think a little bit and imagine, and not just sit behind a joystick. I wanted a place that would be offhook crazy for the little guys."

The space is arranged like a small town, with storefronts down Main Street representing the bank, firehouse, police station, power plant, beauty salon, bakery, pet store, toy shop, music store and more. Each of these storefronts opens to individual rooms stuffed with things to play with; for instance, the mechanics shop has a miniature car up on blocks and loads of tools.

When 2-year-old Jack, the youngest on our preview team, saw the soft-play area filled with enormous school supplies (imagine a ruler big enough to slide on) he yelled, "I think I want to try it out!" as he ran inside. The kids younger than 5 or 6 will love this part of LittleBiggtown. Around the next corner is stuff to please older children -- a cave filled with dinosaur bones, a giant sandbox for archaeological digs, an old mine maze. They can then crawl through the tube to Pirate Cove.

The pirate ship is battling a fort, so kids can choose to be pirates or enter the fort and climb to the top to man the cannons that rain down foam balls on the pirates. Very cool.

There's food on top of the fun. You can get a fine sandwich for $5, including the great "flops" -- ground beef, cheese and sauce wrapped in a pizza crust. The homemade chips at the Funky Junky Chow House also are outstanding.