Angry Birds, Farmville and Other Hyperaddictive ‘Stupid Games’ - NYTimes.com

Angry Birds, Farmville and Other Hyperaddictive ‘Stupid Games’ - NYTimes.com: Stupid games, on the other hand, are rarely occasions in themselves. They are designed to push their way through the cracks of other occasions. We play them incidentally, ambivalently, compulsively, almost accidentally. They’re less an activity in our day than a blank space in our day; less a pursuit than a distraction from other pursuits. You glance down to check your calendar and suddenly it’s 40 minutes later and there’s only one level left before you jump to the next stage, so you might as well just launch another bird.