There are some mobile games which rival dedicated console titles for their addictiveness, but sadly these are in the minority. Too many mobile offerings still give the user a couple of day’s fun and even then it can be a struggle to immerse yourself in the game properly. Here is a rundown of the most addictive mobile games (in my experience) available, and feel free to chip in with your recommendations-

1/ Angry Birds (iPhone, Symbian)

Angry Birds is immensely popular at the moment and at the time of writing is number one in the App Store. It is already one of the most talked about iPhone games and I can understand why- it is super addictive in a way that few other games can manage. The ‘just one more go’ phenomenon is more than apparent here and I found myself playing for 3 hours straight yesterday until the battery gave out. My son and my wife are the same with their iPod Touches and the only downside is that I completed all of the available levels in 2 days. Need more levels!

Addictive rating: 8

2/ Space Miner: Space Ore Bust (iPhone)

On the subject of games that make you want to play one more time, Space Miner is possibly the best available at this time. Instead of completing levels to move on, you have to mine space ore to get funds to equip your ship to go and mine more ore. In some levels there are tasks to complete such as picking up lost space tourists or beating seriously tough enemies, but the bulk of the game is made up of exploring new territories and putting the final pieces together to complete your quest. It took me a long time to complete it on easy and now I can go back to the next level so there is longevity built in, but hardened gamers will want even more longevity to be satisfied.

Addictive rating: 9

3/ WordPop! (iPhone, Windows Mobile, Palm OS)

No games list of mine would be complete without WordPop! and even though I have played it for a few years now, it is still going strong on my iPhone. It is the first game I install on any new device and probably always will be. With the iPad version in the works, there is even more to look forward to and I expect to be playing it for a few more years yet. The online high scores, best words and comprehensive word list only add to the fun. This is the only game I have played that has never got boring for me and for the life of me I can’t see that it ever will.

Addictive rating: 10

4/ HomeRun (Symbian, iPhone)

Can a simple card game really be addictive? This one can. I was playing it way back as the default game on Psion PDAs and now that it is available on Symbian and iPhone I can play it again. It takes some time to get into, but once you do it is really hard to put down. The premise is simple, but there is some skill involved and to this day I have never mastered it. It has no sound in the iPhone version, but I don’t care. The same goodness from the Psion version is still there today and I am grateful for that. Solitaire is of course addictive, but there is something special about clearing card after card in this game when you hit a good run.

Addictive rating: 8

5/ Flick Cricket (iPhone)

This game shouldn’t really be in the list because it isn’t great for a lot of reasons, so why do I keep coming back for more? I have no idea, but I do keep coming back and 5 minutes of every day are spent trying to get a perfect score. For the first couple of days you will indeed wonder what is so special about the game, but as you learn to master the flicking you will start to enjoy it more and more. Facebook integration is nice as well even though it does little more than add your friends names to the team line ups. The paid for version offers more options and better longevity so go for that one if you can.

Addictive rating: 7