Everyone knows that the company computer is for work and not for surfing the web or playing games.
But hey, we're not machines. We can't type things into this electronic box all day long without taking little breaks here and there, maybe even play a couple of levels of a game. The trick? Make it look like you’re working so your boss doesn’t catch on. To do that you’ll need games that you can play at your desk quietly and casually. If a game takes too much concentration then you might not notice your boss walk up behind you.
Here are our Top 5 games to play at the office. Check out the list and then tell us your favorites.
Tell us: What are your Top 5 favorite games to play at work?
-- Ken Smith";
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games_top5_070509[i-1].body = "'Hidden Expedition: Titanic'
Big Fish Games’ “Hidden Expedition: Titanic” takes staring at a screen to a whole new level.
As a scuba diver exploring the underwater wreck of the Titanic, it’s your job to find the various items on your list before your air runs out. This is no easy task because each room you search is actually a composite picture made up of many objects layered on top of each other, resulting in some items being “buried” inside other objects, while others hide in plain view, so obvious that you just can’t see them. Adding to the pressure is a time limit, and the fact that each wrong guess costs you precious oxygen.
“Hidden Expedition: Titanic” is so addictive that you might have a hard time breaking away. But the best part: The game looks like a screensaver. Your boss could drop by while you’re playing and leave none the wiser."; games_top5_070509[i++] = new Array("","'PEGGLE'","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070508/070508_peggle3_hmed_11a.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "PopCap Games", "", "273", "364", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); games_top5_070509[i-1].body = "‘Peggle’
PopCap Games’s “Peggle” is like pinball mixed with pachinko. It’s kind of like a digital version of the “Price Is Right’s” Plinko, except that you don’t get to meet Bob Barker or win any money.
“Peggle” is played by shooting balls at a screen full of different colored pegs, and any peg it hits will disappear after the ball drops off the bottom of the screen and out of play. While hitting any color peg will increase your score, knocking out all the orange ones is how you clear the level (causing rainbows and stars to shoot across the screen). Choose your shots carefully because when you’re out of balls, the game is over.
We love how the decorative cartoon character at the top of the screen intently watches the ball bounce around. It’s like someone else is joining in on our fun."; games_top5_070509[i++] = new Array("","'BEJEWELED 2'","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070508/070508_bejeweled1_hmed_11a.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "PopCap Games", "", "273", "364", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); games_top5_070509[i-1].body = "‘Bejeweled 2’
Any mention of casual games inevitably includes a reference to “Bejeweled,” from PopCap Games. To play, you match gems of various colors and shapes into identical groups of three. Doing so causes that triplet to disappear and the other gems to shift down the grid to fill its place, with new random gems filling in the gap at the top. The trick is that you can only move a gem one space, either vertically or horizontally, and you can only do that if the move results in an identical trio.
“Bejeweled 2,” also by PopCap, kicks the game up a notch. You still want to make groups, but this time you get a power gem when you make an identical foursome. Placing that rock in a trio (or bigger) causes all the surrounding jewels to explode and disappear, resulting in a whole big batch of random gems dropping down. This really adds some flash to the game.
We could spend our whole workday playing “Bejeweled” – and some days we do."; games_top5_070509[i++] = new Array("","'MINESWEEPER'","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070508/070508_minesweeper2_vmed_11a.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Robert Donner and Curt Johnson", "", "273", "208", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); games_top5_070509[i-1].body = "‘Minesweeper'
“Minesweeper,” the granddaddy of workday timewasters, is popular with cubicle-dwellers the world over for its sheer simplicity. Click any box on the grid to figure out where mines might lie; if your click uncovers a “1” then you know that there’s a mine in an adjacent box. If that number is a “2,” that means there are two mines nearby, and so on. But if your click uncovers a mine – boom! – the game is over.
The joy in this game comes from trying to figure out where all the explosives are. When you’re fairly certain that a particular box is loaded, you can flag it with a right-click of the mouse. Safely flag all the bombs and you win the game.
There are two things we particularly love about this game: For one thing, it comes loaded on practically every PC sold today. We also love the smiley face icon, which grins when you’re safe, frowns when you hit a mine and gasps when you take a turn. Who knew a smiley could build such tension?"; games_top5_070509[i++] = new Array("","'TETRIS'","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070508/070508_tetris2_vmed_11a.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Alexey Pajitnov", "", "273", "297", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); games_top5_070509[i-1].body = "'Tetris'
This popular puzzle game has been around for so long – and in so many variants – that it has woven itself into the fabric of gaming. It was the standard for casual games before people understood there was a thing called casual games.
The object is simple: Fit blocks into corresponding slots. The blocks, which tumble down from the top of the screen, can be rotated and moved around for the best fit. If you organize them correctly, these blocks will form a solid horizontal line and then disappear. But do it wrong and these blocks will stack up (and up and up). When the blocks reach the top of the screen, the game is over.
How well loved is this game? In the movie “Office Space,” a cult favorite about on-the-job slacking, the lead character Peter Gibbons avoids work by playing – you guessed it – “Tetris.”
Tell us: What are your Top 5 favorite games to play at the office?
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