"Games are addictive for the same reason anything pleasurable is addictive: Our brains give us little pats of wonderful chemicals when we do enjoyable things. Sometimes the wiring wins." Shannon Drake looks at some of the reasoning behind gaming addiction.

Some games can envelope the player, drawing them completely into another world for a short, but intense, time. Tom Rhodes tells us of his recurring affair with The Longest Journey, while taking a look at game censhorship, violence, and art along the way.

"Ladies and gentlemen, readers and fellow writers: I have an admission to make. I am a recovering A Tale in the Desert addict." Laura Genender looks at how ATITD inspires obsession, addiction, and burnout.

"Bang! You've been shot in the arm, but it doesn't hurt. Bang! You've been shot in the head, but you're not really dead." Bonnie Ruberg looks at how pain and gaming relate to each other.

As a hobby, gaming isn't much more addictive than others, though gamers take more pleasure in the obsession. Sometimes this can be a bad thing. Brian Easton asks: Are you doing it for the pleasure of the game, or the distaste of something else?