March Madness is in full swing. And according to a recent study, the annual college basketball tournament will cost businesses more than $3.5 Billion in productivity. Sadly, not everyone is a basketball fan. So while Sam over in marketing has wasted the day checking on his tournament pool and looking to see how UNC plays away from home against a center taller than 6'8", you sit at your desk working like a chump.

Well, you have come to the right place! Instead of picking up your co-workers' slack, I say kill time on IWON! And here are 5 ways to do it :

1. To make up for the stress of all those last minute shots and come-from-behind wins, play a few rounds of our new take on the classic bingo game ... Turbo Bingo

2. Simulate the craziness of the tournament by giving Kitchen Chaos a try

3. Jock Jam can give you that perfect mix of sports aesthetic and puzzle fun

4. If you would rather contrast sports with something a bit more intellectual, perhaps a Crossword Puzzle, or Sudoku will suit your tastes

5. Or, worse comes to worse ... just stick with Basketball!

So have fun killing time ... and I'll see you when the madness is over!

It's always exciting when we add new games to IWON! This week, we are particularly proud to present four new games we've been developing over the last few months. These games are the perfect partnership between IWON and Ask.com, bringing together our expertise in gaming with one of the most powerful search engines in the world.

We are proud to present the IWON! powered by Ask experience!

Acrosswords
Acrosswords is like Sudoku mixed with a crossword puzzle. Click on the buttons at the right to get your clue then click on the tiles until they form the correct combination.




Skywriter
Skywriter gives you a word that contains the letters for all answers in the puzzle. Just read the clue, take a look at the word, and solve the puzzle. Easy as 1,2,3!





Crossword Plus
Not your run-of-the-mill crossword puzzle, Crossword Plus provides in-game help with Ask's hint feature. Long gone are the days of sitting with the Sunday Paper well into the next week thanks to Ask.com!





Word Press
Unscramble the words based on the letters given. What sets Word Press apart are its four rounds of play. Deep and immersive fun!

So there you have it! Check out these new games and let us know what you think. And, as always, have fun, and good luck!

~Drew

Believe it or not, the IWON team takes the time to read all of the feedback you leave us on this blog, though we don't always have time to answer everyone back. Periodically, however, we will post some of your comments here on IWON Now and provide responses for all the IWON community to see. So here we go with the first ... IWON Mailbag!

I have a lot of coins in my Bingo games. Will I win a prize or something?

Thanks,
Mary

Dear Mary,

Though I cannot guarantee you will win prizes, the more coins you have, the better your chances! The trick is to use those coins to enter one of the IWON sweepstakes. You can choose the daily, weekly or monthly sweepstakes ... or take your chance with our annual sweepstakes for a chance to win $1 million!

Aloha, I have been a loyal member of IWON since it came online several years ago. I have played, entered, etc. as many contests as I can. I just wonder...Is it for real?. And can I win if I live in Hawaii?

Mahalo,
Ken

First off, Ken, mahalo and thanks for playing! I assure you; this is very real! We are proud to award more prizes than any other gaming site on the net. And any legal resident of the United States or Canada can win ... Even a Hawaiian! Unfortunately--just like in Las Vegas or with the lottery--not everyone does win. But keep at it, Ken. Good luck!

I have loved your site for many years. I play and play and get discouraged because I never ever have won. Nothing! But the New Year and new layout have me attempting to win in 2008...And, when I do win, I can yell out like Tony the Tiger: "This site is grrrreat!" Thanks again for your splendid work!

LiesjeMarie

Marie, glad you like the site and the new layout. You have a great attitude about the new year. Here is hoping that 2008 turns out to be your year!

Presidential Paintball is off the chain! (If you don't know what that means, it means your game is a very fun game to play.)

Hailey

Thanks, Hailey. It is "off the chain!" I'm hoping we can add more games like this in the future. If you have any ideas, let me know at iwongames@ask.com.

Well, that's it for now. Keep the e-mails coming. In the meantime, keep playing. GOOD LUCK!

Happy 2008, loyal IWON-ers! Hope you are all kick-starting the new year with some healthy resolutions and a firm commitment to try new things, expand your horizons, try something you normally wouldn?t, perhaps? I, for one, have committed to several new things including a vacation to a country I have never visited and learning how to bake. Hopefully, both will teach me a thing or two I never knew before.

Speaking of new things, I invite you all to try out our Pick 7 game. Looks like many of you haven?t and what better way to test out your luck in 2008! You can find it on the home page (the third one in the rotation) and all you need to do is pick 7 numbers and Submit. Your birthday, your dad?s birthday, your high school football number ? anything that feels lucky to you. You can win $50,000! Remember to play everyday and check back to see if you?re our next winner!

The IWON team is constantlly searching and scouring the world to provide you with the best possible gaming experience on the web. Today, I am proud to announce the launch of 4 brand new IWON games! We are calling them IWON daily, as each of these games will update every morning, to provide all of our loyal users a brand new game experience everyday. So, without any further delay, I present: IWON Daily!

Daily Crossword
Your tried and true crossword puzzle, straight out of the daily paper. This crossword puzzle changes everyday with new content and varying levels of difficulty. Be warned, you only get your coins if you finish the puzzle, but trust me, it's worth it!

Kakuro
It's like a crossword puzzle for the mathmagician in all of us. Simply look at the clues and figure out what numbers to fill in! If a Sudoku and Crossword puzzle had a baby, it would be Kakuro.

Sudoku
Another classic! This one brings the challenging fun of a new Sudoku puzzle to the IWON audience each day!

Jumble Jong
Jumble Jong is a brand new game to IWON users. Combining the strategy of Mah Jong with the basics of Scrabble, we are presenting you with a unique experience. I guarantee it will be the must fun you have spelling all day!
So have try out these new games, and have some fun! Don't like today's puzzle? Come back tomorrow. It will be a whole new experience!



In this Installment of Drew's Clues, I want to mention one of our newest games - Word Drop! In Word Drop, keep a lookout for black tiles. When you use one of these tiles in the game, the letters disappear! This allows you to eliminate blocks based on color - just like Collapse. This should help keep you alive in the game. At least for awhile.