Casual games = Increased productivity

June 1, 2007 on 1:31 pm | In Social Issues, The Casual Games Business, The Casual Games Industry |

It’s always a good thing when surveys are conducted about the casual games industry, especially when they highlight the positives of fun and games.

Casual game company Worldwinner recently conducted a survey amongst 500 of its customers specifically asking about perceived benefits of playing casual games. What they found was that around 76 percent said that it improved productivity while 72 percent revealed that they rely on game breaks to lessen job-related stress.

The most prevalent games to play seem to be puzzle and card games and these have long been the most popular of all casual game categories. It seems amazing that as casual games become more sophisticated, games like solitaire, three in a row puzzlers, spelling games and bubble shooters remain at the top of most popular games lists. Even larger games companies are recognising the benefit of games that stimulate the mind. Two of Nintendo’s biggest games for its DS system are Brain Age, and Big Brain Academy.

The majority of respondents (66%) in the survey said they played casual games for around 30 minutes during the working day. The survey shows that more and more people are seeking out casual games for more than just entertainment.

I still think it is amusing large companies are quite happy to lose productivity by allowing employees to go for a smoke or a coffee, yet frown upon the use of a computer to play a game and take a quick time out. The US recently calculated it loses 92 billion dollars worth of productivity every year from smoking.

I don’t expect this survey will change the preconceptions large employers have about computer games, but at least a few of them will take notice, and that’s a good thing.