App Addiction: Game Edition

I've talked before about app addiction when it comes to social media apps (Twitter, Facebook, etc) and email but I want to focus on games. I have been fascinated lately with the addictive properties of app games.

I've never really been a big "gaming" person. I had a six month stint of playing XBOX360 games while I was dating a guy who had an XBOX360. I've never owned a gaming system.

But then I got an iPhone.

At first I just used it to be on social media, check email, and call people. Then I got apps for "good" reasons: sleep and food tracking apps, IMDB and recipe apps (so I don't have to pull out my computer all the time!), weather apps (because if I don't like the forecast on one, I can go to the other?!), and the keyring app (so I don't have to carry all those plastic things on my keychain...they're still on it). Then, finally, I heard so much about games that I had to get some of them (just to keep up with what everyone was talking about!).

This is a list of games with which I have had serious addiction problems, albeit some just for a few days. They are classified with these colors: Red = Numbers, Green = Words, Blue = Strategy, Black = Other.

My games folder on my phone.

Tap Tap Revenge
Sudoku
Bejeweled
Bubble Shooter
Angry Birds
Words With Friends
Boggle
Farkle
Word to Word
Hearts
Dot Line
Whirly Word
Flow Free
Chain of Thought
Word Jewels
Domino
Word Wall
Drop7
Number Fill
Number Cruncher
7 Little Words
Eighty-Eight
Take It Easy
Daily Crossword
Dots

The breakdown: 10 word games, 7 number games, 6 strategy games, 1 speed game, and 1 card game. For the record, I only have the last six still on my phone and haven't played "Eighty-Eight" or "Take It Easy" in a few weeks (I just have such great high scores that I can't delete them!). I had to go back through my App Store history to find all the names of the other apps.

But why are they so addicting? This is something I've been thinking about for a while and here is why I think I am prone to obsessing over these particular games:

Word Games - I love the satisfaction I get from completing a crossword or other word game, beating someone in Words with Friends, or even beating my own scores in some word games. I think word games tap into our perception of "smart": "smart people" do crosswords, "I'm playing smart Person X in Words with Friends and I beat them, ergo I am smart" etc. I'm not saying that's a good reason to play word games, but I think it definitely plays a part in it.

Number Games - I have loved numbers my entire life! I just like number games. Why are they addicting? I think I have a propensity to be obsessed with number games because I'm extremely competitive and I love numbers. The way the games are built tap straight into my brain's "pleasure center" because of the built-in reward system: you get this many numbers, you get this much more time.

Strategy Games - Again, these games have great reward systems built into them: more time when you do a certain thing, more points if you do a certain thing, bonus levels if you get a certain amount of points on the previous levels. And that idea of reward is something our brains latch onto very quickly.

I wanted to test just how quickly my brain would latch onto a game I'd never played. I came across the new strategy game called "Dots." It took me less than two times through the game (120 seconds) to become hooked. It literally took me longer to find and download the game than become addicted to it. I kept picking up my phone and playing at odd times during the day: while I was waiting for the microwave to finish, while I was curling my hair (bad idea), during every commercial break, while I was walking from the living room to the kitchen, and then this morning before I even got out of bed! I'm not too concerned about my well-being in the long term. I usually go through a period of a day or two of being extremely addicted and then I get bored with it and end up deleting the app (Drop7 lasted the longest: two weeks and I played way too much.).

So, if you know you have an addictive personality and a lack of self-discipline, I think the above list is probably a do-not-download-these-apps list! They're fun, but unless you can put them down, are they worth it?

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Apple and McDonald's: Corporation Moguls Making Changes

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb57088/
borderlands/images/e/e5/Apple_Logo.png

Apple came out with the new iPhone 5 yesterday! Speaking as someone who just got her first iPhone and it is the iPhone 4...why do we already have the iPhone 5?! So here are some of the new features:

• The phone is lighter. This is great! My iPhone 4 in its Otter case is heavy. Sounds like a first world problem, but if it can be improved, why not?
• It has a larger screen. Awesome! There are now 5 rows of apps, not 4. Love that! Also, watching videos and taking pictures (with it's improved camera--should that be its own bullet point? Nah...) will be so much nicer with the larger screen.

• EarPods > earbuds? I don't listen to crazy bass-heavy music, so I don't really care a whole bunch. I guess it's nice that they are more sweat resistant for working out, but beyond that, I barely use them. I know my fiancé is going to love this, though--he listens to music all the time!
• 4G LTE instead of 3G. Of course. You can't come out with a new phone with only 3G these days.
• No more Google Maps! Apparently Apple made its own navigation system. Thank god. :) I despise getting lost and that is definitely what happens more than not with the current map app.
• Passbook. Now, I don't completely know everything about this, so I don't know how I really feel about it. From what it sounds like, if you walk into an airport and you have your e-ticket on your phone, your phone automatically knows you're in the airport and pulls it up. Um...yikes? I know that Google has a lot more on anyone than we even really know at this point, but enabling it further? I'm not sure...maybe I'm just old fashioned.

Verdict: Keeping my perfectly fine iPhone 4, but looking forward to getting the iPhone 5 someday. Also looking forward to getting iOS 6! :)

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McDonald's is posting the calorie counts of all their food now! *Side Note: I don't eat McDonald's. It has literally been years since I've set foot in one. I don't like fast food at all. I hope you aren't thinking I'm a pollyanna or anything; I just don't like it. Apparently posting calorie counts is common in NYC. How interesting. Some people are saying it's not going to make a difference, and people are going to just eat whatever they want while they promise themselves more time at the gym "tomorrow." In my opinion, just from how I react to food and calories and all that, I would quit eating all together if I started seeing that. I quit eating at Panera for years after I worked there because now I know how many calories and grams of fat are in everything there. 

Overall, I think it's great that McDonald's is doing this because there have been allegations in the past of them not being honest and forthcoming about what they're feeding their customers. This really gives their customers the facts before they order. It's honest and it seems like the right thing to do (although, in all reality, most people have smart phones so people can just look it up if they really want to). 

Such an interesting world we live in, that technology and fast food are headlines. 

P.S. I included the sites of where I got the photos of the copy written images because I don't want to be sued for stealing them or anything. Just making that very clear. :)

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi