Our current guilty time-wasting pleasure is online quiz game The Bank Job, a clever TV tie-in which basically follows the format of the Channel 4 show of the same name.
On The Bank Job, a high stakes, high concept general knowledge quiz hosted by tall drink of cockney water George Lamb, contestants fight for the right to open numbered boxes in the bank vault to earn the cash within.
Here's the fun bit though; to earn a spot on the show contestants must first prove their quiz credentials by playing online.
It's a new show- just in its second short run – and the affiliated online interactive quiz is a smart marketing move. Playing along exposes potential viewers to the format and, in our case at least, creates a level of investment in the show.
It's damned addictive too. If you're a sucker for pub quiz machines, and you've got a competitive streak The Bank Job is likely to get its hooks into you quickly.
In the online game you replicate the action from the final, head-to-head round of the TV show. Each player- here, you and a real life opponent from somewhere else in the UK- gets 45 seconds on the clock to play with.
You then take it in turns to answer questions; when you get a question correct the clock stops and you get the opportunity to pick from one of the vault's 25 boxes. Whatever you find in the box goes in to your little virtual briefcase.
The ultimate object is to rack up more cash than your opponent within the time limit, so general knowledge and speed on the buzzer are rewarded; the more questions you correctly answer the more chances you get to plunder the game's lavishly stocked bank vault and the more chances you have to fill your pot. If you think you have enough money to win, an you don't want to risk running out of time, you can close your briefcase and make your money secure. It is then up to your opponent to try and better your hoard.
What makes the game really compelling though are the elements of risk, strategy and chance that this hybrid of Deal or No Deal and an orthodox quiz game introduces.
You can be the best quizzer in the land, and rattle through 10 questions in your 45 seconds before leaving the vault, but if your opponent gets lucky and finds a couple of high value boxes you could still lose.
With £200,000 spread across 25 boxes you can find a box worth £500 as easily as you can find one worth £30,000.
There are four, galling, empty boxes in each vault too and around the same number of boxes containing a 'STEAL'. Find this and you will pinch the highest value bundle from your opponents box. That's where the strategy comes in. As well as racking your brains to answer a question on one of the vile creatures from TOWIE, you'll also find that your making calculations on how much money is left in the vault, how many steals are still out there and when is the best time to cut your losses, shut your case and leave the vault.
The questions in The Bank Job could perhaps be more difficult (you choose form three multiple choise answers) but elements of chance, strategy and probability keep the game interesting right up until the last second. It has us gobbling down game after game, either because we're on a winning roll or we want to right an unjust last-second defeat.
There are other interactive quizzes on line, which are a lot less glitzy and offer straightforward, most-points-win-the-round thrills, but we haven't been as hooked into any as we are with The Bank Job.
There are a few issues. This being an online game, and a glossy hi-res one at that, you get some frustrating moments where the game lags and freezes, so that while your answer hangs, waiting to register, the game clock ticks agonisigly down towards zero. In a game where a few seconds can be the difference between victory and defeat, this can be a problem. A shouty, sweary problem.
Head over to the Channel 4 mini-site for the Bank Job and register to play; you might even earn spot on the show and win some real cash. Just hope you don't play us, because we're ace.
Our Rating: 
