Online games are probably the most addicting thing I have ever tried in my whole life! I originally planned to spend no more than two hours playing games, and then I was going to put this web page together. However, four days later, I finally had enough will power to pull myself away from the games long enough to write this piece. Alas, although I am finally writing about my experiences, my mind is still longing to play Jumblebees or Word Whomp! Below are links to the two sites I felt were the best.

http://www05.pogo.com http://games.yahoo.com

My first trip into the gaming wonderland was to Pogo Games. Here, I found a large amount of games to choose from. I had to decide between single player games or multi player games, then I had to struggle with which game I would play! I decided it would be best for me to start off with games that sounded familiar to me. This allowed me to gain a better understanding of how this sort of thing worked. So off I went to play Backgammon. A tried and true game that my deceased grandmother had taught me as a child and had forced me to sit through game after game with her. I thought that my years of experience and forced knowledge would help me to succeed at the game. This was not to be.

You see, Backgammon is a two player game and you are put in a room where you can sign up for a table and wait for someone to select you to play with, or you can find a room where someone already has a table, but needs a partner. The rooms are leveled from beginner through expert, based on the amount of points you have earned. Since I had just started, I was in the beginners area. When I got there, I chose to watch another pair play so I could see what it would be like, and then I worked up the courage to play a round with a total stranger. All was fine and we were playing along, when I noticed that the person was sending me messages! This made it very hard for me to concentrate. I do not know how these people socialize in these game rooms and play their games at the same time. Needless to say, I did not win. I played several rounds, but I lost far more than I won. I also found out the hard way that there are a lot of very disturbed people out there. Having strangers be able to send me disturbed messages was very unsettling.

Next, I tried single player games. Having to interact with a total stranger online made me a bit nervous, and I decided to stick to single player games from here on out. I played several word games like Jumblebees and Word Whomp. Both of these games have three skill levels and involve making words. I am positive that I had increased my vocabulary after playing these! I learned words I had never heard of.

I then tried some puzzle games like Poppit, Animal Ark, and Overflow. Poppit involves popping balloons of various colors and trying to clear the screen. Animal Ark has blocks with animals on them and you have to strategically try to clear the screen as well. Overflow involved building a pipeline from one point to another using pipes that would pop up randomly. You had to complete the pipeline before the fluid spilled out of it. Out of the three of these, I enjoyed Poppit the most, but I still have yet to figure out the strategy for playing it.

The other gaming site I used was Yahoo Games. Again, since I did not like strangers having access to me, I stuck to the single player games. Knowing that I really enjoyed the word games at the last site, I chose Spelldown. This is a game that uses tiles that remind me of Scramble tiles. You have to unscramble the tiles and try to spell words of a certain length. You are given five minutes and you have to spell as many words as possible. Rare words earn you bonus points, and if you discard a tile, you lose ten seconds off your time. This game is okay, but the word games at Pogo Games are far better and more entertaining.

JT's Blocks was my next choice. This was similar to Poppit, except you were clearing blocks instead of balloons. Also, in this version, you are given magic blocks that can shuffle the combinations of blocks in order to help you clear the screen. The highest I got was level 6.

Tornado 21 is a version of Blackjack. Here, you are given a stack of cards and five columns to try and build 21 in. You get bonus points for making a large 21, using yellow cards, and making a straight. My highest score was 445 points which, I did once and have never gotten past 135 since.

So you see, I have found my favorites for now. There are still hundreds of games that I have yet to try, but I am afraid to continue my quest at the risk of never getting out from in front of my computer. Online games are free, entertaining, addicting, and a lot of fun. I wonder what my grandmother would have thought of all this, had she lived to see it!