Puzzling computer games prove highly addictive

The most popular casual titles are puzzle games, of which there are three primary subgenres: match three, hidden object, and time management. PopCap Games' Bejeweled is one of the best-known match-three titles. In this game, players manipulate gems on a grid in order to line up three or more identical jewels. This makes them disappear and causes the remaining jewels to fill the gaps.

Hidden-object games are visual puzzles in which players try to find items that are embedded within a larger picture. One of the breakout examples was Big Fish Games' Mystery Case Files: Huntsville. Others, such as the Big City Adventure series developed by Vancouver's Jolly Bear Games, are also built around cities.

In time-management games, players have to manage a set of tasks that get progressively more complicated and more numerous. Gamelab's Diner Dash has players taking on the role of a restaurateur. Serving customers, players have to move fast, remember the order in which tasks need to be performed, and maintain the happiness of patrons.

Other popular casual games that have been released recently include two PopCap titles. Peggle is a virtual pachinko puzzler, while Plants vs. Zombies is a tower-defence game in which different breeds of flowers are used to defend a house against the invading undead.

Prior to Microsoft's announcement in May that it would acquire BigPark, the Vancouver studio quietly released a tower-defence game called Wizard Defense (www.wizarddefense.com/), which is notable for its high-quality 3-D artwork and Harry Potter–like setting. It was the company's first release, a low-key test of its plan to, in the words of cofounder Hanno Lemke, “create the best 15 minutes of your day”.