It’s an incredibly fun game and I urge everyone to give it a go, but is it a casual game, or is it hardcore?

Wired asks just this question in Getting Lucky: Hard-Core Gamers Penetrate Peggle’s Physics.

It’s an interesting read for both Peggle enthusiasts and armchair (or for-reals) game designers. Quick quote to get you warmed up:

For a casual gamer, Peggle seems too heavily based on luck. You aim the ball, but once you’ve dropped it and it hits the first peg, all bets are off: It bounces and careens through the forest of pegs in crazy, zigzagging patterns. For casual players, there doesn’t seem to be a clear enough correlation between how they aim and the results.

But hard-core gamers see the game quite differently. When they look at the Peggle board, they see the Euclidean geometry that governs how the ball falls and pings around.

Sitting in front of the computer thinking what to do and fired up Peggle for a minute.

A few hours later, I “finished” the game (meaning I got through all the levels in Adventure Mode.

I still don’t know why I was so angry, but I know I’m not any more. Sometimes you just need a silly relaxing game to take the edge off.

I am…the Peggle Whisperer.

Of course, I didn’t get high score… hmm, maybe its time to start over…

If you’ve never played Peggle… well you better stop reading and go play it (there’s a free demo). I mean… IT HAS UNICORNS! I know you all love unicorns!

Kidding aside, this is a seriously addicting puzzle/pachinko style game. I won’t describe it because it just sounds dumb when its described. But it’s pretty popular…I know I’m often weird in my gaming tastes but this one is pretty mainstream and fun. Great for playing with your kids, too.