Some Pointers To Look For When Judging Addictive Computer Games

Gamers alike like to spend some of their leisure time playing their favorite video games. For some it starts out quite innocently, they are just doing it for a nice little bit of R & R. For others however they get carried off into the world of addictive computer games. Not only that everything else in their life gets totally neglected, family friends and personal hygiene high on the list.

So what makes for addictive computer games? Are they developed with this intention in mind by gaming designers? Are there any tell-tale signs that one can identify so they know ahead of time the consequences of a certain type of game leading them down a rather slippery slope?

Well covering the first question, it needs to be fully understood with regards to where the industry stands on the measure of a good game and their use of data statisticians.

These statisticians look to the popularity of any given game revealed by the actual numbers of people that play it, the frequency with which they play along with time that they spend playing. They're always looking to add new features to make a game more appealing. And play more? Yes, of course.

There are some very obvious hooks that keep a player glued to his screen if they take time out for a second to consider. There is " the high score" type game where a player goes on to rack up points, each time trying to beat their or someone else's best, oh how time flies when engrossed in this one!"

There are "Discovery Games" such as World of Warcraft where the player spends a great deal of time in exploring and discovering imaginary worlds one leading on to another one, it's just so compelling to keep going on, oh "when can one stop?"

How about "Role Playing Games" where players unite online playing out a character's role along with other online players they get to meet their new online friends time and time again each time they play too!

At the end of the day one has to reflect on the outcome of their actions if it's seriously impacting their health, hygiene, or those close to them, yup, it's time for them to wise up. As with everything a little bit of this and a little bit of that never hurt anybody. Everything in moderation keeps everybody happy, and quite honestly isn't that the name of the game called life anyways, think that's a far better route, agreed?