I generally prefer my games to have a healthy single-player mode with some multiplayer on the side.

I'm antisocial, I admit it.

Every once in a while, though, a game comes along that was born for multiplayer, that lacks that big solo experience - and I'm all right with that.

"Fat Princess" is one of those games.

The premise is absolutely ridiculous, and that's part of its charm. You have two teams of as many as 32 players, each with a princess in the castle. Each team tries to break into the opposite castle to take the princess (while attacking each other, of course).

The catch is that the princess loves magical cake and feeding it to her makes her heavier and harder to carry. Over time, the princess loses the weight, so you have to keep feeding her the cake to make it tougher for the opposition.

When you start the game, you're a villager. Villagers can run quickly, which makes them great for nabbing the princess.

Inside the castle are hat machines. Putting on a hat turns your character into that hat's class. There are five: warrior, ranger, priest, mage and worker.

Each class has its own benefits. The warrior, for example, does more damage, while the priest can heal other players.

Personally, I loved being the worker, who can dash out to the battlefield to find resources (wood and rocks) to upgrade the hat machines and the castle. The worker also can repair damage and build items to get around the enemy's fortifications.

There are four game types. Two are variations on the princess theme. The other two, which probably aren't as popular, do away with the princesses for straight death matches.

I beat the single-player game in less than an hour. It's really more of a tutorial for the different gameplay types and to fill in the background story before you head online. It's worth playing, but probably not more than once.

Once I figured out the nuances of the game (and it's much deeper than it appears), I couldn't stop playing. Each game lets you try different strategies, maps and classes.

For those willing to play online, it's a fantastic, cheap way to waste time.

Plus there's cake!

Etc., etc.

-- Connections: "Fat Princess" had server issues when it launched, but I didn't have any problems after a patch.

-- Commentary: My favorite phrase from the game's announcer: "Help! We're being ganked!" (For you newbs out there, that means a bunch of guys swarming a single guy.)

Aimee Green reviews video games for the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star, a Lee Enterprises newspaper.