Top 5 Free Games for a Complete Time Waste

May 12, 2009 by Lauren Fairbanks

Dominos

If there’s one thing I’ve taught myself to do well since becoming an adult, it’s procrastinating. I have mastered the fine art of wasting time through multiple veins — waiting until the dark shadow of night (and sometimes the wee hours of the morning) to reach deadlines and finish projects. Unfortunately there are just too many other things to take my mind off the task at hand. Even though wasting time is technically a small sort of accomplishment, it has triumphed at turning my life into a constant game of catch up.

On the other hand, casual games are usually good for the mind — keeping you sharp and on point, so I’ll spin this one accordingly. Take a gander below to find out — and play — our top five free titillating brain games.

1. Solitaire - Solitaire used to be my game of choice right before dozing off to sleep. It used to also occupy my time commuting on the trains, until my smart phone died and I downgraded to a more simple solution. World of Solitaire has about every type of Solitaire you can imagine, complete with custom backgrounds and card decks which makes it easier on the eyes than those way too bright white on green screens.

2. Bejeweled - Popcap is probably the mecca of free online games. They have practically every variety available to mankind — including about five different kinds of Bejeweled and they also have options to download to smart phones, iPhones, and iPods — for a small fee.

3. 50 States – I won’t lie. I’m horrible at this game, and it’s pretty embarrassing when you can only correctly place 28 states out of 50 (and the majority of those were figured out not because I knew where they actually were, but from deductive reasoning). I guess that’s what you get for living in the center of the known universe — complete ignorance of the rest of the country. But on a positive note, I am learning.

4. Bubble Shooter – Bubble shooter is the mother of all mindless entertainment. I usually play it while simultaneously watching Family Guy on Hulu since that doesn’t take much concentration to begin with. The one problem I have with Bubble Shooter is actually being able to pull myself away from it. Take for instance, the past two hours which should have been spent by me writing this post. Instead, it’s two hours later and I’ve beaten the computer three times.

5. Word Challenge – I will go up against anyone — and I mean anyone — on Word Challenge. The only person who I haven’t beaten is my cousin, and the only explanation I can come up with is that she must have more spare time on her hands than I do for practicing. This one isn’t downloadable or available on a separate website, as far as I can tell. It’s a Facebook game and other than being seriously addicting, you constantly learn new vocabularly like “col”, which according to Webster’s is “a pass between two mountain peaks”.