Hello. My name is Ben, and I'm a Snood-aholic.
In case you are out of the loop, Snood is a simple computer game in which small, colorful characters must be destroyed while they slowly creep down on top of you in an effort to rule the world.
When dreams about Snood configurations and strategy left me in cold sweats last night, I finally came to terms with it. I have an addiction. This hybrid Tetris-alien game around which my pitiful life revolves has finally left me a tired, broken man. I don't go to class. I don't do homework. I don't party. I shoot colorful square aliens away in groups of three until my eyes bleed.
No matter how high the score, when I'm finished with each game, I feel just like that alien-free board: empty.
So I play another, and then another. I play till the smiling Snoods really seem to be laughing just at me. When my perfect play is somehow flawed, I have even memorized the quick restart sequence on the keyboard: A-Y-N. With a few swift strokes I'm back in the game, and no one has to know. It's sick.
As the semester winds down, I don't find myself asking the questions I should be, like, "Will I pass my classes?" No, instead it's more like, "Will today be the day I make the clutch shot that gives me the Snood world championship crown?"
The most comforting thing is that I know I'm not alone. There are students out there who suffer from this poisonous pastime, too.
"It gets in the way of my everyday life," said broadcasting sophomore Thomas Wilson. "Homework, food, women; they all get sidelined by my addiction."
Wilson, who claims to be the Snood champion of ASU, boasts a high score of 45,942 on the "Evil" level, something that took him over a year, and thousands of games, to reach.
I can only think of one way to curb my problem. I will not rest until I can claim to be the undisputed Snood champion.
Sorry ... in the middle of a game ... no time to finish this paragr ...
Ben Honingford is a journalism sophomore and a full-blown Snood addict. Reach him at benjamin.honingford@asu.edu.
