Casual games = Increased productivity

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.

Baby you can park my car

Here’s something odd: the latest phenomena to hit the casual gaming scene is parking cars. At last count, Millions of Games was tracking 20 of them, and the number keeps growing.

For me, parking the car is about as exciting as checking the mail and locking the door. It’s a fleeting inconvenience that almost goes unnoticed — certainly not something I’d expect to inspire a sensational game.

And yet, I was intrigued, so I tested my ability and was surprised by what I found:

• Parking: Battle of the Sexes challenged the notion of men being good with cars. Nice touches in this game included hazard lights that flash when you bumped another car.

• I also found myself losing track of time with Parking Perfection 2. It was encouraging when awards were given for top efforts.

• The puzzle idea behind Parking Zone was monotonous and fairly plain.

These games are infinitely more forgiving than trying to navigate a real car park. At least you can revise your efforts until you’ve done a good job without someone beeping, swearing or laughing at you.

My verdict: while the games could be fiddley and the sound was generally mundane, I had fun. I liked the fact that objectives were generally clear, and playing them was usually simple even when it was tough.

Let me know whether they do the same for you.

Let the people play!

More and more companies are blocking access to game sites like Playaholics, but we say: “Let the people play!”

Maybe these organisations are worried about “time wasting”. Or maybe they just invested in a web filtering product to block gambling or pornography but then they found that game sites were blocked by default too. Either way, their thinking is wrong. In reality, taking the occasional quick break is one of the keys to sustaining productivity in the workplace.

Besides, the old 9-to-5 regime is dead, so employees are entitled to a breather. People are spending an ever greater part of their day behind their desk and as a result, they simply must take short intervals away from multitasking in order to organise their personal life, pay their bills or take a break.

On one level, this is just common sense. We know that playing a casual game is quick pick-me-up. The adrenaline flows. You get excited. You punch the air. You recharge your batteries.

But still we look for science to support our suspicions.

For example, scientists at the University of Hull and University of Oklahoma believe that games can have positive effects on a player’s mood. They are monitoring the physiological and psychological response to games, testing for increased alertness and heart rate as well as examining cognitive function and hormone levels — a process that is called “mood profiling”. They propose that positive feelings are experienced when playing games and that there can also be increased adrenalin and alertness.

The science is fine by me, but I also believe it is mostly confirming what we already know: that whether we’re talking about a quick walk, a cup of coffee or a few minutes of Wolf N’ Swine, short diversions provide workers with a mental break, an uplifting experience and renewed energy.

Success in the workplace should be measured by a final product and not the process of getting there, which may include periods of rest. So if employees are more productive and happy after indulging in a casual game, then I say: “Let the people play!”