It’s buggy, it’s crowded, it has bland graphics, few options and some of the worst physics and collision detection I’ve encountered in any PS3 game. And yet, despite all that, the Bowling Alley on the public beta of PlayStation 3′s Home service has been more addictive than anything I’ve playing in years.

How addictive? Maybe not addictive enough to commemorate on rubber stamps, but certainly the Bowling Alley on Home has become a default destination for me every time I’ve fired up my PS3 for any reason.

Mostly, I think, it’s because of the incredible social aspect; every player is a real, live human being just like you, and the social aspect of getting to know your fellow players overcomes all the deficiencies of the Bowling Alley application.

Sure, there is plenty of room for improvements to be made; Home is rife with largely uncontrolled profanity, hate speech and other nasty talk. It is also wholly unequipped to deal with the near-constant sexual harassment that takes place in Home, especially to its female inhabitants. Frequently, bowling alleys will be filled with as many people getting up on your avatar’s personal space, dancing suggestively and ignoring requests to piss off. There is virtually no intervention by moderators, and no penalty system for acting, frankly, like an ass.

Yet despite all that… the Bowling Alley on Home has seen way more of me than anything else of late… even the excellent Prince of Persia title, which is a lovely game in and of itself.