Does time inexplicably speed up and race by when you’re playing an MMO? Well now there’s proof that the clock isn’t possessed, as a new study by Syracuse University psychology professor Joshua Smyth indicates that MMOs invoke the most play time.

Smyth’s recent study of 100 student volunteers looked at the effect different kinds of games have on players lives. The students were randomly divided into four groups and assigned to different games. One group received tokens for a local arcade, a second group played “Gauntlet: Dark Legend,” an adventure game on the Playstation 2, the third group played the PC game “Diablo II” and the last group, the only one to have online interactions, was assigned to the MMORPG “Dark Age of Camelot.”

The study lasted a month, after which the fourth group, those playing the MMORPG, returned results totaling an average of 14.4 hours per week, a number more than twice as high as the second most hour clocking group, Diablo II.

In addition, those assigned to Dark Age of Camelot reported “significantly lower overall health and poorer sleep, and were more likely to find the games interfered with their studies and social lives.” On the positive side, however, they also said they had more fun and more often claimed to have made new buddies while playing the game.

After the study’s conclusion, Smyth pointed out the importance of a games “enthrallment level,” noting that, unlike the ongoing and eternal debate surrounding violence in videogames, this key factor of games like MMOs sucking you in has received far less attention.

If you’re interested in seeing how all the games stacked up (come on, who’s pulling for the arcade games?!), the study was published in the October issue of the journal Cyberpsychology & Behavior. That is, if you can squeeze it in between MMO gameplay.