#92 Playing Casual Games Until Their Hands Cramp

Remember the good ol’ days when video games were simple, had shoddy graphics, and didn’t cost $60 each? Pong, Tetris (which just turned 25), and built in computer games like Solitaire and Minesweeper were all people needed before hardcore gaming took over and became mainstream. Eventually, people (women) grew out of playing video games except for the occasional round of whatever was installed on their computers when they had to study for finals, write a paper, or when they thought their bosses weren’t looking. Then the internet was invented, and casual games like Snood, Mah Jong, Text Twist and more started sneaking back into the lives of all those who had forgotten about all the fights they got in over the stupid video games of the past. 

Most people have probably had their bouts with video game addiction, endlessly clicking and button mashing away to achieve high scores that don’t exactly earn bragging rights in the real world. With unemployment, the potential for getting addicted to wonderful casual games like Zuma, Jewel Quest, or whatever is offered as a demo luring players into downloading full versions of the game, is astronomically high. Much like being unable to walk away from a slot machine, casual games entrap their players causing them to lose hours of their life due to the simplicity of beating each advancing level, causing them to continue playing as long as they possibly can. When they have no other purpose in their life, pursuing the goal of beating a video game suddenly becomes a top priority – and real video games are too hard to beat now that they’re all in 3D.

With casual games easily being found across multiple platforms, users are no longer finding themselves doing stupid things like solely buying Nokia phones for Snake and Snake II (something they disappointedly stopped pre-loading). Instead, they are infuriating their significant others by using their Xbox 360 points to purchase full versions of their favorite casual games (all are favorites), and using their hardcore gaming machines just to play “stupid little puzzle games” in full HD glory. There’s nothing quite like having nothing to show for the day except for creepily cramped up hands, greasy hair, and multiple food stains on the clothes and couch with the added bonus of draining the batteries from the controllers so their significant other can’t waste the evening truly dumb, time-wasting games like Halo 3.

Tags: casual games, game console, killing time, staying shut in, things to do when unemployed