The Most Addictive Games on the Internet

In 2003, a Broadway musical called "Avenue Q" quickly earned widespread praise, in part due to the widely popular musical number, "The Internet is for Porn". While the statement made by this song continues to be reasonable 7 years later, a more accurate song for 2010 might very well be "The Internet is for Video Games".

In the past decade, the internet video game market has exploded with seemingly unfettered growth. From globally successful massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) like World of Warcraft (WoW) and Lineage II to free to play Facebook and Yahoo games, online gaming is a global phenomenon. Of the thousands of online games released every year, many garner a small fan base, but never seem to gain any significant popularity. A few games, though, have widespread appeal and prove so addictive that online game addiction is quickly gaining ground as psychological diagnosis. The following are some of the most popular and addictive internet video games today.

Farmville (Facebook) - Zynga has produced over a dozen free to play games that work as applications on Facebook and MySpace. Despite intriguing titles like Mafia Wars, Pirates, and Vampire Wars, the most popular of these applications is a game called Farmville. The game has almost 100 million active players and by design requires players to log in and play at specific times during the day. Devoted players religiously tend their farms 10 or more times each day, highlighting exactly how addictive this game is.

Online Poker (Various Platforms) - When ESPN started airing the "World Series of Poker", Texas Hold'em quickly became one of the most popular card games in the world. Given gambling laws in the U.S., playing poker is still difficult outside of the virtual setting. Recognizing a growing need, hundreds of online poker sites sprung up in short order. PokerStars.net and FullTiltPoker.net are probably the most popular of the current poker sites, but literally thousands exist on the internet. As both gambling and playing internet video games are addictive separately, many players have lost fortunes to the addictive nature of these web sites.

Counter-Strike (PC) - Even more than Halo, Counter-Strike is the first person shooter of choice for most fans of the genre. The game, a modification of the highly popular Half-life, pits two squads against each other in quickly finished military scenarios. Because games are so quick, it is easy to play dozens or even hundreds in a row without stop and many players do exactly that. Counter-Strike is also the official first person shooter for many video game competitions, increasing its appeal and driving the most competitive gamers to play endlessly in order to perfect their edge.

RuneScape (PC) - The first hit's free. This phrase, commonly associated with drug culture, refers to the fact that drug dealers will often provide free drugs to new customers in order to get them hooked. Jagex has done the same thing with RuneScape. Anyone with an internet connection can get a free account and play the game. Additionally, for a modest monthly fee, any player can get a paid account. Players with paid accounts have access to every feature of the game, while free accounts can access roughly half the game. Game play is simple, yet enjoyable, and the appeal of a full game often convinces players to pay for a full account. Even those who don't play tend to play non-stop, in part because the game is free and in part because the game rewards such dedication.

World of Warcraft (PC) - WoW is often referred to as the game that ended a million marriages. If the diagnosis for online video game addiction can be said to have any catalyst in its creation, this game is it. Ten million players pay $15 a month in order to play this game that has no definitive end. Requiring only modest computer set ups, even people with older model computers can play the game and friends often induce other friends to start playing. Stories abound of players losing wives, jobs, and even their lives due to overplaying, and while such incidents are not the norm, they are statistically significant. The game is the biggest replacement for real life interaction in the video game business and Blizzard is making billions because of it. In return, Blizzard continues to reward players by providing hundreds of thousands of hours of new content.

The addictive nature of video games is neither surprising nor necessarily bad. Video games are a form of entertainment and entertainment should have lasting appeal in order to successfully lessen stress. Internet games include interaction with other people, which increases competition and make the games more open ended. All this really means is that game players need to be more careful than ever to successfully balance the time in their life when they aren't play video games and need to keep video games from interfering with other things important to them.