Free Games

Productivity is the buzz word of offices world-wide. With profits crashing everywhere due to the credit crunch bosses are wanting to make sure that there is a as little wastage as possible and as a result things which cause people to waste time at work such as free online games come under fire.

However, free online games often come in for a lot more stick than I think they deserve. They are simply another form of distraction at work. Just like going to the water cooler, or getting an extra cup of coffee, playing free online games are just one in a number of ways people try and have a slightly easier time at work.

The reason free online games come in for so much attention is tri-fold. First, when an employee is sat at their terminal it is very hard to tell exactly what they’re doing unless stood looking over their shoulder every minute of every day and so free online games are seen as an undetectable time wasting device. Second free online games are genuinely addictive, if an employer was to allow employees 5 minutes an to play online games, they wouldn’t be able to play for just those 5 minutes, they’d end up playing for 10 minutes or 15 minutes. And even when they’d stopped playing they’d be thinking about that game for hours afterwards and their productivity will be affected. Third, flash online games, unlike taking a break for a coffee or some time spent at the water cooler is very individual and doesn’t help develop any inter-staff relations.

The playing of free online games by students is no more condoned as it is felt that kids at university and at school should be working and not playing. Again the same reasons are cited and worries of waste and people not spending their time efficiently crop up all the time. The reasons the pupils play are the same too. Free online games are now fantastically complex and interesting so instead of just being 5 minutes of fun, you can play games for hours on end if you like, constantly trying to complete that last level or defeat that boss. The graphical quality of the games is all a great pull as flash games online now can often rival the quality of graphics on portable console. Moreover, games are developed now with addict ability in mind, so that people will play the games over and over and bring webmasters revenues by keeping visitors coming back for more.

So it is fair to say that free online games remain a massive source of distraction online for everyone from kids in 9th grade right up to their parents working nine to five jobs. In pretty much every place they’re played, they’re looked down on but with addictive gameplay and easy access, people find it really hard to break the routine of flicking onto big fish games of realarcade when they’re trying to dodge working. In the future it is unlikely that businesses will tighten up to the point it is impossible to play free online games but with worries over productivity and the internet with facebook and free online games seen as the main problems, it is likely that an ethos will arise where playing free online games is no longer acceptable.