The goal of "waitinginline3d" is to stand in a line and avoid falling asleep by punching yourself in the face. Credit: Waitinginline3D

A computer game so excruciatingly boring that most players are unable to play it for more than two or three minutes is emerging as a surprise hit.

In " Waitinginline3d," the goal is to stay awake while standing on a line of identical, highly-pixelated people for as long as possible. As time progresses, you begin to fall asleep, your awake meter heads toward zero, and the only way to wake yourself up is to punch yourself in the face (and punching, of course, adversely affects your health).

"Punch yourself in the face to stay awake, but don't punch yourself too much or you will die," the instructions for the game warned.

Since the game went live on Monday, it has been played nearly a hundred thousand times, according to interactive artist and director Rajeev Basu, who created the game.

"I wasn't sure how well it was going to do, but it's really picked up momentum and steam rapidly," Basu told ABC News. "It's been interesting seeing how long people have been lasting on twitter; most last between two and three minutes."

"It's about the balance between punching yourself to stay awake and making sure your health [meter] doesn't go all the way to zero," Basu said.

Basu says he's received a range of reactions to his game.

"Most boring game ever," and "worst game ever created," are two of the responses Basu says he's seen on Twitter.

"Best. Game. Ever.," was another response, said Basu, who added that several prominent gaming companies including Electronic Arts and Activision have expressed their enjoyment in playing his game.

Basu demurred when asked about the best strategy for his game, and warned that most players will be unable to score a single point before succumbing to inevitable boredom and despair.

"You have to stick it out for quite a while," Basu said. "Players will have to really keep with it to see how long."