When you're still "playing" a game even after you've closed your eyes to go to sleep at night, you know it’s something special. That used to happen to us with Halo matches, but now it's Peggle that pervades our dreams.

Mixing equal parts of pachinko, pinball, and Plinko (of The Price Is Right fame), Peggle couldn’t be simpler in idea or execution: using the left thumbstick, you aim a metal slug down at a board dotted with dozens of blue and orange pegs. When you’ve lined up your shot, simply press A to launch the ball. The goal is to eliminate all of the orange pegs before you run out of balls. Purging every orange peg triggers Extreme Fever, a point-multiplying score-gasm that guarantees an ear-to-ear grin each time it happens.

As with any memorable puzzler, extra wrinkles add to the fun. Tagging the purple peg nets a point bonus, and if you get a big enough score on one shot, you’ll earn a free ball. That’s critical in the single-player Adventure mode, where you’re trying to work your way though 55 levels. The green peg, meanwhile, activates the special ability of your animal avatar (there are 10 total, unlocked as you progress). The lobster, for instance, enables pinball-like flippers on the sides of the screen for three turns, while the dragon launches an unstoppable fireball that barrels through pegs instead of bouncing off of them. The owl, meanwhile, wisely adjusts your shot for maximum peg punishment.

With enough here to make the $10 asking price an easy investment (including higher difficulty levels and a you-vs.-CPU Master Duel mode), the glorious multiplayer modes feel like a fan-service bonus. A two-player contest lets you take turns to see who can score most while sharing the same level (try to leave yourself the last orange peg!), while the Live-only four-player Peg Party gives everyone a copy of the same board and sees who can score highest. We saw “Just one more game!” turn into one more hour, and the cross-office chatter ran the gamut from words of encouragement to scalding trash-talk.

Simply put, this is a once-in-a-generation puzzler, much like Tetris. It’s Xbox Live Arcade’s finest offering, and it can be both mindless and high-level strategic fun. Don’t miss it. Find an internet connection and create an Xbox Live Silver account if you have to; it’s that sublime.

On XBLA

+ Simple, riveting "just-one-more-round" gameplay.

+ 55 levels out of the box — plus higher-difficulty challenges.

+ Intelligently designed four-player multiplayer mode.

? Where's the downloadable content? We need more now!

9.5