Mayan Maze

This challenging freebie has you shooting balls into a moving chain of colored orbs before they disappear, similar to PopCap's $20 Zuma. Get three or more balls in a row, and they explode. There are plenty of opportunities to earn bonuses, and you can "buy" ancient artifacts that give you special powers.

Game play is fast-paced and challenging. Truth be told, I never made it out of the first level. Mayan Maze could offer hours of fun.

One caveat, however: The game is free, but FreeGamePick.com pushes a browser add-on that sends traffic to its site. When you install Mayan Maze, it appears to require that you also install a toolbar. Be sure to remove the check boxes from "I accept the License Agreement" and "Make Ask.com my browser default search engine provider" before you click Next to go forward with the installation. You'll also be prompted to install this toolbar when you launch the game; again, be sure the check boxes are cleared before proceeding.

Given that Mayan Maze is completely free, I can't blame the vendor for trying to drum up extra traffic to its site. The game is challenging and fun, with attractive graphics.

--Kim Saccio-Kent