Genre:  Word
Platform:  PC

Let’s discuss “casual” gaming for a bit.  It’s a term that has always held negative connotations in the gaming community.  These are quick, easy games that are usually played in a browser or on a mobile device.  People who play these games are often thought of as non-gamers.  Screw that.  I’m a gamer and I love casual games.  These games are great for the times when you just want something light which doesn’t involve a lot of thought.

The web site www.pogo.com has tons of these games, and this is my favorite of them.  I talked about using replayability and time spent playing as a criteria for my list, and this game definitely fits that.  I’m actually including three games in this post – Word Whomp, Word Whomp Whackdown and Word Whomp Underground.  My mom started my love of word games pretty much from the time I could talk and I’ve never looked back.  We always make time for a game of Scrabble every time I go back home.  She also enjoys these games a lot, so it’s a rare gaming moment that we can share.

The games themselves are quite simple.  Word Whomp is a standard anagrams game.  Find all of the words hidden in the letters listed and you win.  Whackdown arranges them differently and is a bit tougher.  It has a bonus round.  Underground is original Word Whomp with a slight story behind it.  Once you start playing, I dare you to stop!  The “one more game…” monster will definitely get you with these.