Still playing this at lunchtimes and in quiet moments. It’s still just a virtual scratchcard with mini games and I’m still very annoyed when I run out of health and have to wait actual, real time to play some more, but it’s also still very compulsive.

Treasure Madness

What's in that crashed plane?

There’s a new mini game, too. You have to move a wooden ball through a maze by tilting it. It’s incredibly easy right now, but I’m hoping it’ll get a bit harder later on. (Some of the other mini games are going on for a bit too long now. I like Fruittle and Gem Swap well enough, but they last for ever now.)

There’s no end goal here, just very ways to raise numbers that help you raise other numbers, but, well, that’s what a lot of games are about, underneath it all. I’m not quite sure why I’m so sniffy about this one. Probably because it keeps stopping you from playing, but letting you know that you could play more if you just gave them some real money. Again, though, that’s what arcade games have done since the dawn of video games and they didn’t even let you play for free.

Maybe I’m just prejudiced because it’s on Facebook, but I doubt it. When Civilization turns up, don’t expect me to be damning with faint praise, pulling aside the curtain and pointing out every little flaw.

The fact is, I enjoy Treasure Madness and I’d like to play it more – but I’m not prepared to pay for the privilege.