An Addict Warns: Beware iPhone Game Apps

Cheap, simple games can suck non-gamers in

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted May 22, 2009 11:42 AM CDT

(Newser) – You don’t have to be a gamer to become an iPhone-game addict, writes Farhad Manjoo for Slate. The apps follow an established recipe for great games: “They're easy to learn but difficult to master.” As a gaming system, the gadget doesn't have the sophistication of a Nintendo DS, but “you carry it everywhere, and it's always connected to a vast storehouse of cheap, addictive games.”

That’s led Manjoo to play in the supermarket, in the waiting room, even in the bathroom, he confesses. Playing on “stolen time—away from my computer, where I have other things to do”—is a guilt-free experience not possible with PC games. And he’s not the only one: the popularity of a tank game called iShoot helped its maker quit his job, and the Flight Control app has seen 700,000 purchases since March.

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In this computer image released by Firemint, a scene is shown from "Flight Control," a game for the iPhone. (AP Photo/Firemint)

Ethan Einhorn of Sega introduces a new video game capability for the Apple iPhone during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Monday, June 9, 2008. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

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Because the game is repetitive, a bit mindless, and brief—you can play it for a couple of minutes, then put it away—it expands to occupy all your time. - Farhad Manjoo

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An Addict Warns: Beware iPhone Game Apps