The ESP Game & PeekaBoom

I like to find, play and share free games, and these two are not only a lot of fun, but they're actually good for something besides killing time.

The ESP Game has been around for a while. It's a two-player game where you're randomly paired with another player. You and your partner each view an image, and type in words you associate with that image. When both of you type the same word, you get a new image. Why? It's part of a project by Carnegie Mellon University, funded by the National Science Foundation, to label all the images on the web.

PeekaBoom is newer, and it's done by the same people. In this one, one player (Boom) views an image, but the other player (Peek) can't see it. The Boomer clicks on the image to reveal parts of it to the Peeker. Then the Peeker tries to guess what word has been used to label the image. When the Peeker guesses correctly or passes, the players swap roles and a new image is shown to the new Boomer.

Give 'em a try, have some fun, and help do some serious scientific research.