As the name suggests, things are hopping at Pogo, Electronic Arts' gaming portal: It attracts millions of visitors each day. The colorful, easy-to-navigate site features dozens of free distractions, including basic card games and myriad board, casino, puzzle, and word games. Play long enough, and you can earn cash or prizes: Scores are translated into tokens, which you can use to purchase tickets for cash drawings (if you're over the age of 18). There are also prizes for younger players. And if you're so inclined, you can chat with other Pogo-ers while you play. (You can turn off chat if you find it too distracting.)

Some of the most popular attractions, such as slots, can get busy, making it hard to enter a game. And though Pogo is a free service, it interrupts games fairly frequently with "intermissions," which are online advertisements. Club Pogo, a subscription-based version ($4.99 per month or $29.99 per year) that's ad-free, offers so-called enhanced prizes and provides a few more games. But given the selection of free games—they even include mini versions of popular EA Games and EA Sports titles such as Command & Conquer and Need for Speed—you might find it worthwhile to take a short intermission (typically under a minute) and a grab a soda before jumping back into your Pogo playing.