How Casual Gaming Makes Addicts

While browsing the net one can't help but find the slew of gaming sites that are in abundance today. It would be hard to stop yourself from partaking in all the joyous gaming available, but what happens when casual gaming turns to addiction?

How casual gaming makes addicts: Sick day? More like game day.

More and more people today are reportedly taking sick days from work just to play their favorite game, in their fantasy world, surrounded by their peers. Casual gaming has evolved far beyond the traditional board games of the late 90's. These games use to be simple pass times while you chat with a friend over a P2P network.

How casual gaming makes addicts: Social gaming.

Today's casual gaming line incorporates all of the features made available in social networking sites with fantasy world's right through your browser. These games come in all different forms, but the most prevalent is the puzzle genre, with a close follow up by the RPG genre, which is far more addictive.

How casual gaming makes addicts: Are internet tournaments gambling?

Casual gaming today has even become a form of gambling on the internet, with sites like Pogo offering prizes based on the amount of points earned. Other places like 'I won games' offer you tournaments with cash prizes and entry fees. Although these games are simple enough, as the levels progress you become pulled further and further into the game environment, until you no longer differentiate it from your real word.

How casual gaming makes addicts: The pass time.

In itself casual gaming is a subtle pass time for the masses. From the young to the old the games are designed to be easy to jump into, and hard to stop playing. Limiting your time on these sites is difficult indeed, they make an especially appealing distraction when you are doing research on the internet, or working.

How casual gaming makes addicts: Addictive properties.

The addictive properties of video games casual and competitive alike have been well known for a very long time. In reality developers today use progressive elements to train your mind in early levels, and a reward system to keep you trying to complete the harder ones. The methods used in creating addictive games have been finely honed over the years to create that which you see today.

There are reports of people in Korea, China, and other south eastern countries, literally dying in cubicles playing games like WOW. Gold farming has become a real life term in the realm of the MMO, (Meaning to endlessly kill monsters, just for the pittance of gold they provide.)

Casual gaming can quickly turn into a gambling addiction, an escapism tactic, or worse. What can you do to prevent yourself from succumbing to the temptation of staying home to play your favorite game? You could simply refuse to play any games, but where is the fun in that?

1.) Before you begin playing, you should set a timer to alert you when your time is up, as you may no longer perceive the passing of time as others do.

2.) Another method to keep yourself anchored is to have some background noise such as a TV or a radio to alert you that there is more in your surroundings then the screen you're staring at.

3.) And finally I would not recommend playing any of the tournament sites with fee based entries, as these are at worst, a gambling pit for you to lose your paycheck in, and at best a way to throw away a few hours of hard work.

With so many other addictions today who needs one more? Casual gaming is a great pass time as long as you're the one playing the game, it only becomes an addiction when you let the game play you.