The Five Most Addictive Facebook Apps: Mostly Games

Companies have created more than 30,000 applications for Facebook's year-old app platform, ranging from "where I've been" travel maps to photo slideshows and dating/flirting widgets. But what do users keep coming back for? Games -- which make up six of the top ten, and four of the top five -- most-addictive Facebook apps.

How do we figure? We took the top 50 Facebook apps -- measured by daily active users -- and re-sorted them by a second stat Facebook provides, which tells us the app's addictiveness. Specifically, it tells us what percent of people who have installed the app on their profile use it on a daily basis. The higher that percentage, the more addictive the app is.

Of the 50 most popular apps on Facebook, 15 of them get 10% or more of the people who've installed the app to use them on a daily basis -- and seven of those are games. Of the top five, four are games -- including the most popular one, Bowling Buddies:

1. Bowling Buddies (19% of people who've installed the app use it every day): "Go bowling with your friends! Featuring stylish 3D graphics, easy controls, tons of achievements, customised characters and challenges against your friends."

2. Bubble Town (17%): "Bubble Town is the ultimate arcade-style puzzle game that will test your wits and your reflexes. Launch the cute bubbles to match 3 or more of the same color. Be aware: one shot from the chute and you will be hooked!"

3. Mob Wars (16%): "Join the Mafia, and start your own mob. Band together with your friends to become the most powerful force in the elite criminal underworld of Facebook."

4. Word Challenge (16%): "Word Challenge by Playfish is the addictive new word game featuring vivid animations, 40,000+ words, 20 vocabulary types, a bonus game mode and weekly, monthly and all-time top scores."

5. Pokey! (15%): "Adopt an adorable, interactive 3D puppy who lives on your profile, plays with you, carries bones to your friends, and gives you tons of love! You've never seen virtual pets like this before!"

This makes sense to us: Facebook is a site people primarily use for fun -- not serious business, so entertainment apps should be popular. And if you've taken the trouble to install a game on your profile, it makes sense that you'd play it often. If you don't like it, or if it gets old, we think you'd delete it from your profile. (On the other hand, you probably won't be updating your travel map on a daily basis.)