According to the Casual Games Association, casual games are popular among people of all ages, gender and nationalities. In fact, the CGA estimates that more than 200 million people play casual games on the Internet and I'm guessing that many more million play on their PDAs and mobile phones. Actually, that's how I play mine. Since I'm stuck in front of my computer for plenty of hours a day, I figure, why not change things up a bit and look at something different? That's when I pull out my PDA or Android phone and get going on Alchemy or Word Up, my two favorite casual games.

In reading the FAQs about casual gaming on the CGA Web site, I noticed a statement buried deep inside: "...casual games are usually played for a short period of time, from five minutes to 20 minutes - though it's common for people to play for hours." Five minutes? Twenty minutes? Those have to be misprints, right?! I've never known any gamer to play for only five or even twenty minutes. So, while I disagree heartily with those estimates, this one I do agree with: casual gamers can spend hours playing their games. A thought suddenly dawns: is it possible to become addicted to casual games?

Let's take Alchemy as an example. It takes longer than 5 minutes to get beyond Level 1 of the hard version. And, if you can get beyond Level 1, why would you stop? Why not try to beat Level 2? And, if you do actually beat Level 2 - which is damn near impossible, I might add - you're definitely on a roll so you absolutely can't stop there. You have to move on to Level 3. Now, this is where the fun stops and the addictive behavior begins because, no one gets past Level 3 of the hard level. No one. So, once you lose, you are so frustrated and angry - you have devoted a lot of energy and mental acuity getting to this point, after all - you have no choice but to start all over again and see if you can go farther.

This whole process can take hours. Trust me. I know. I've played Alchemy until my batteries have closed me down; I've played Alchemy until I've suffered from a repetitive use strain on my right arm; I've played Alchemy until everyone in my family has fallen fast asleep and the only one awake in the house is me.

What strikes me as odd about this is the fact that casual games are not supposed to be addicting. According to the Aspen Institute, which is a "leading provider of education programs for struggling or underachieving young people," puzzle games (which fall under the category of casual games) are only the tenth least addicting videogames on a list of 13 because they do not lend themselves to addictive behavior. (The most addicting are, no surprise, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games such as World of Warcraft and Everquest.) According to a study published in Psychological Science, such addictive behavior includes playing games to escape problems, excessively thinking about games and planning the next opportunity, restlessness or irritability when trying to reduce or stop playing. So, casual games like Alchemy and Word Up supposedly do not conjure this kind of addictive behavior.

In addition, according to the CGA, the majority of people who purchase casual games are women over 30 (that includes me). So, we're therefore immune to the kind of addictive behavior that overpowers teenage boys, right? Think again! Casual gaming can be just as addicting as MMORPGs! Okay, there are no characters to identify with and no online players to commune with. But, those damn moving gemstones, or those annoying colored symbols, or those irritating three-letter words that you never knew existed can get as deeply under your skin as the addictive social nature of MMORPGs.

It's true that women over 30 won't skip out on household chores nor do we have homework to ignore. It's also true that most women over 30 probably have been out of school for decades so we don't have to worry about test performance. And, since many of us are working women, we don't have to steal money from our moms to buy a game. No, we don't have the classic issues associated with videogame addiction. But, we still want to feel like we can win Bubble Burst when we play it so we keep playing it until our fingers go numb or we lose the feeling in our arm. (For the record, I've played this game for hours and I've only beaten it once.) So, while we may not have the classic videogame addiction symptoms, we will keep at it like we do.

I guess what these statistics and research studies really mean is that casual games aren't addictive and the women over 30 who play them have more self-control and willpower than 13-year-old boys so there's no danger of us becoming addicted. In other words, we have the ability to control our game-playing habits. Whew. That's a good thing. There's absolutely no chance of becoming addicted. Great. Now, forgive me while I end this hastily. I've got to get back to Alchemy. I'm sure I can beat Level 3 this time...