Games to play while working?

[Kalakian]

Ok, maybe I shouldn't be encouraging you to sit and play games while studying or working, but it's going to happen anyway, so no point refraining from asking this question ...

Are there any good games for playing while you're working that offer minimal distractions?

I google'd for a bit and found this thread, but the suggestions there aren't quite what I'm looking for. I want a game that can sit on my second monitor and can turn my attention to it now and again for a bit of distraction, to keep me working, rather than keeping me from it. Sure, I can switch on my PS3 and start playing Oblivion, but that's far too much of a distraction.

What I need is something like Little Computer People but with more to it and newer, or The Sims, but again more to it and doesn't get so boring. I used to love playing the turn based X-Com games where I could just take my turn then get back to work while the aliens had their turn, but this can still be a little too distracting and I know of no newish games like this.

The game I'm looking for... Something where I could give a character (or characters) something to do, and they would take a long time doing it, and would essentially be a screensaver for my second-display while I got on with my work. After completing their tasks, they would let me know by posting a note to the screen or something, and if i didn't reply within a set time, they would just go find something else to do. I know that The Sims or Creatures have similar features, but in neither game can you really trust them without constant supervision :P.

Does such a game exist, or one similar enough to it? If not, why not? ... maybe we should make one :)

[Johnny G]

[Kalakian]

Yeah, cos it's possible to work while playing peggle :P

I've deliberately avoided buying this game cos the demo was so addictive and I know I'd forget to eat and sleep if I had the full version ... perhaps over the summer :D

[Michael Robertson]

You have me intrigued because I've been feeling seriously underwhelmed with my gaming time these days, played ODST for like an hour in the past 8 weeks! not exactly a gaming joy! Anyways to sort of answer your question, What about the civilisation series or medieval total war?

The first hour is really the main setup after that I found its minor changes to your overall battle plan and developments, stick it onto cruise control difficulty for easiness and it shouldn't be too much of a bother. Though you have the problem of getting picky about details with the politics side of the games i suppose.

The systems for medieval in particular is good because you can choose auto battles to skip the strategy element all together incase you just want to manage your regions rather than work out the perfect strategy for war. With civ its just a matter of balancing the game mechanics sufficiently enough to satisfy npc needs.

Well thats my spin on the games they do offer far more in depth stuff and can be as complex or as simple as you really want them.

[Peter Bloomfield]

There's always the rather variable realm of truly web-based games... i.e. ones that just involve HTML pages (AJAXified these days). There's little or no 'action' to speak of, but they've taken on a new level of engagement with their integration into social networking lately. Since they're typically asynchronous, you're not really playing alongside other people, but you are involving them in the experience.

Zynga seem to specialise in these, although the only one I've really got into is Mafia Wars on Facebook. It's basically a gangster-style RPG and is quite addictive, albeit tedious at times. Good for occasional dipping-into.

Not that I would play games while working.

Ever.

Couldn't possibly.


*ahem*

[Kalakian]

Some interesting suggestions. I was playing Travian for a while, but got bored of it and haven't found a replacement for it. I don't like the idea of play-once Flash games cos I usually spend ages just trying to get one I like. Games like Travian, if that's what you mean, can be fun for a while but I end up spending far too much time checking up to see how things are going and making sure nobody is destroying my village while I'm offline.

Had thought about the civilisation games, and perhaps settlers 2, but again i'd end up getting too involved and distracted from work. Argh! It's really annoying when there are a few games that are kinda like what u want but not quite ... where's a games developer when u need one? ;)

Used to be on bebo, but got bored of it (notice a pattern?) and now stay away from social networking sites except here and LinkedIn.

Managed to get sims 2 running in a window on my second display. So far it's not annoying me but I'm sure if I look away for too long they'll get themselves killed :P. Think I'll start a wee bachelar pad and slowly work at the game, that way I shouldn't get too distracted, won't reach the top of the employment ladder too easily, and may be able to keep playing it for a while ... maybe.

Any more suggestions, keep em coming :D

[Michael Robertson]

Hire/acquire a hardy team of developers to make you the game you desire and worship you as a deity, heck it'd almost be like playing a game! You've got action with epic geek rage battles, RPG elements and even a bit of light entertainment with a god simulation encapsulating them all you're on to a winner. Plus the end product of all you're hard work to enjoy after completion ^_^" replayability.

[Kalakian]

Now that sounds like a good idea!

If only I was teaching a class full of students where I could set the coursework ...

Michael Robertson said:

Hire/acquire a hardy team of developers to make you the game you desire and worship you as a deity, heck it'd almost be like playing a game! You've got action with epic geek rage battles, RPG elements and even a bit of light entertainment with a god simulation encapsulating them all. Plus the end product of all you're hard work to enjoy after completion ^_^" replayability.

[Michael Robertson]

That would be handy ^_~, Would you have them as evil minions and ruled by corruption and fear or would you have them as agents of the light, ruled by mercifulness and hope? Though a stick might help in either case, the carrot will prevail!

Kalakian said:

Now that sounds like a good idea!

If only I was teaching a class full of students where I could set the coursework ...

Michael Robertson said:

Hire/acquire a hardy team of developers to make you the game you desire and worship you as a deity, heck it'd almost be like playing a game! You've got action with epic geek rage battles, RPG elements and even a bit of light entertainment with a god simulation encapsulating them all. Plus the end product of all you're hard work to enjoy after completion ^_^" replayability.

[Peter Bloomfield]

I do play quite a lot of casual flash games, but rarely more than once, and certainly not while I'm working. There's some awesome gameplay concepts in some of them though, which I occasionally try to review on my blog.

I tried Travian for a while, and it was OK but I gave up because some high-level guy nearby kept wiping me out because he didn't want any villages too close to his.

Mafia Wars (and I think the similar ones from Zynga) are good because there's a limit to how much you can lose to other players. Other players can attack you, but you hardly lose anything when they do -- it's more about the prowess of having the biggest toughest Mafia. Most of it is played on your own, but with your friends as fellow characters.

[Seán Hamilton]

Defcon. It goes so slow you'll have finished your work before the game even picks up pace...

[Gordon Robb]

One i have found that may suit you need is a game that i only discovered just last night is Galaxy Online. It is a slow starter or maybe i have not played enough of it. Check it out and decide for yourself

[Ben MacKinnon (aka "Dover")]

Evony