Overview: This review took three times as long to write as it should, because I kept wandering off to play just one more level. Boomshine is, like many of the best games, almost absurdly simple and yet comically addictive. You’ll find imitators on Facebook and elsewhere, but Boomshine is the original and the best.

There is a screen with pastel dots bouncing around in a leisurely fashion, while a lovely, relaxing piano theme plays in the background. Click on the screen and a white circle will expand, pause, and then contract. Any dot that hits it will also expand, setting off a chain reaction. The goal is to catch a certain number of dots in the reaction to complete each level. This is very simple, and in fact the first several levels are very easy. But the last few become fiendishly difficult, as the required number approaches 100% of the dots and the circles seem to slip craftily away before tagging the next target.

The music is at least half of the charm of the game – beautiful and complex, never becoming too repetitive. The graphics are clean and suit the game well, and the gameplay is almost meditative in its peaceful simplicity. This is a game that may devour an entire afternoon and still make a rough day at the office feel like a trip to the beach – at least until you realize you’ve done nothing productive for hours.