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The thing that a lot of people don't realize about the internet is the depths to which it can be plumbed for information. On the surface there is a layer of relatively useful, moderately interesting information. This layer is the one that is consumed by the vast majority of internet users.
Mere millimeters below that is a layer of pure filth and depravity. That layer is the layer that really pays for the internet. Pornography, online gambling, spam, adware, and cheap medications that may never be delivered to your home are the residents of this layer. They pop up when you least expect them, one moment you are checking stock prices and the next moment
"HEEEEELLLLOOOO!!!!"
Wham! A noisy ad trying to get you to download a pack of smily faces, each one of them looking like they are hopped up on a designer drug so potent that it would have made Hunter S. Thompson pause and consider his mortality.
 But if you dig deeper, if you put aside the mundane first level and the hideous second, you can find some truly amazing stuff on the internet. PerplexCity is one of those things.
Designed by a company in Britain called "Mind Candy" the game is absolutely brilliant. Here's a basic rundown:
1. First you buy some cards.
At this point you probably aren't addicted unless you are a compulsive shopper, and then you aren't really addicted to the game, just the act of buying things.
2. Next, you open the pack (or packs) of cards.
Inside each pack are six cleverly designed puzzles, each one featuring excellent artwork.
3. You figure out a card or two and log onto the website.
This lets you see if you have gotten the correct answer. If you are wrong you scratch your head and go back to the drawing board, if you are right you are given some points and a bunch of things on the website are revealed to you.
4. If you have gotten this far, I'm sorry to say you are a little bit screwed.
Yup, I said it, you are probably hooked by now. I have essentially just described to you the process of getting yourself hooked on intellectual crack cocaine. You look at your score online and start to dream of glory.
Because the game isn't just about solving puzzles, it is much more than that, it's an Alternate Reality game. For those of you who haven't heard of AR games the whole lure of the games is that the real world is a part of the game in ways that you never imagined. In some cases the game may phone you, or text message you, or mail you clues. You may have to research things on the internet to solve some puzzles, and eventually you will probably have to go out into the real world if you want to win.
And you DO want to win. Because even though the game itself is fun to play, there are also some pretty high stakes....
Because whoever can solve the puzzles and find "the Cube" will win
$200,000 US
I have heard lotteries described as "a tax on people who are bad at math". This is exactly the opposite, it's like one mega-nerd taxing the hordes of lesser nerds around the world. It's a global contest that tests each competitor's intellect, resourcefulness, and ability to cheat. Okay, maybe the last one only applies to me. =)
So head over to the web page and get your fix, they even have two sample cards for you to try... Hey, you know what they say, "the first hit is free".
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