Your cat would love to have a toy like this, with which he can use his agility and wits to bat a ball around inside a simple maze until he can get it out. You can make this yourself from a cardboard box with a knife, glue, and a ball. The “maze” part is just one cardboard strut inside that adds strength and makes the game more challenging for the cat. The tutorial is at meeoow.com. If your cat is like mine and would just pull the ball up with his claws, then you can easily replace it with a more slippery ball with no holes. I can think of other ways you can customize this to make it more difficult or more interesting, depending on what amuses your cat.
This project is from a list at Buzzfeed called 27 Brilliant Hacks Every Cat Owner Needs To Know.
He's not terribly bright.