The trick to determining if a game is suitable to play at work comes down to three main factors: the ability to pause and conceal it quickly, not bogging down your computer, and being able to keep your interest for hours, sometimes days, at a time. The following list of games achieve them all. We’ve also ordered them from least to most hands-on, so if we were you, we’d dip our toes in the first one and gradually move our way down.
Warning: Several of these games will give you flashbacks to junior high (links included).
Let’s get started with Bow Man. The best part about this game is that you can play it over an extended period of time so long as you just minimize the window. While its staying power in terms of keeping your interest after a few games may be minimal, features such as adding a wall, increasing the vitality of your opponent, and adding wind resistance will keep it from getting stale on you too quickly. Plus, who doesn’t like to see stick figures gushing blood?
In the same vein as Bow Man in terms of minimal clicking and easy minimization without having to start over, appease the trivia geek in you with this effective time-waster. By that, we simply mean that while you will technically be slacking off on the company dime, at least you might learn a thing or two in the process. The rules are pretty simple here: pick a category, attempt to answer the question and repeat. It’s pretty standard fare as far as trivia games go, but it’s just a notch higher on the hands-on level because with each question, there is a time restraint involved.
Helicopter Game
Another game that require minimal hands-on effort (so long as you don’t mind abandonin
g a game and starting over), clicking and releasing your mouse for extended periods of time is all that is required of you in Helicopter Game, so you won’t have to worry about looking like you are obviously goofing around. Word to the wise: Just make sure your sound is off, as with many of the games on this list, there will be constant noise to go along with gameplay. The biggest appeal to this game is how quickly it can end. If you’ve got something to do, or you see your boss coming, just let go of the mouse, your helicopter will crash and no one will be the wiser. Let’s just hope you weren’t about to beat your high score.
Snood
This is the final game on this list that is mouse only, but it happens to be one of the most
addicting at the same time. Although we’re positive most of you have probably played this game in the past, it appears to have been given an upgrade at some point, with the Snood characters being redesigned. Call it the pre-Candy Crush Candy Crush if you will, and we all know how hard it is to stop playing that. Luckily for those who’ve played in the past, there is a “Classic” mode if you preferred the old look, too. Can’t put a price on nostalgia. Fortunately, like all these games, it’s free, so you won’t have to worry about that.
Pineapple Treasure Hunt
OK, time to start incorporating your keyboards into the mix. Don’t worry, though, this
game does a good job of easing you in, as most of the movements performed by your character are still done by mouse. However, just because we said it eases you in, that doesn’t mean the game is easy. In fact, it’s probably one of the hardest, most involved on the list. Oh, and it also requires Adobe Shockwave, FYI. Basically, you play a Lifesavers version of Indiana Jones, fighting off snakes, scorpions and even boulder-throwing bald eagles. We know, we had you at “Indiana Jones.”
Monkey Lander
Now that we buttered you up, it’s time to say goodbye to your mouse completely from here on out, because other than using them to get the rest of these games started, it’s all keys from here. Monkey Lander only requires the arrow keys, though, so that’s a major plus as far as looking non
chalant while playing games on the clock. Since it’s just three buttons (the up, left and right arrows) to control your monkey’s spaceship, you won’t look as much like you are obviously playing games like you will with the latter part of this list. The best feature here is that you can use the “P” key to pause your game, as well. Plus, there is the added bonus of the “S” key for sound, but your speakers should have been off long ago anyways.
Bomb Jack
Bomb Jack is very similar to Monkey Lander in that it only requires the use of three keys
. This time it is the left arrow, right arrow and space bar to jump. You’ll pick up on how the game works very quickly. It can be highly frustrating, but even more highly addictive. Fortunately, it’s also very fast-paced, so having to quit and start over again isn’t such a big deal. Besides, there are no time limits, and you can usually move your character to certain areas on the screen so he won’t die while you minimize your window. Just keep your eyes peeled for nosey co-workers, because this definitely looks like a kooky video game, so there would be no way to try and act like it wasn’t.
Bubble Trouble
Bubble Trouble utilizes the same keys as Bomb Jack, only now your character shoots a grappling hook with the space bar instead of jumping. The game itself is, again, not all that difficult to fi
gure out. From there, it will just be a matter of keeping yourself under control and not getting lost in it, as it is very fast paced and highly involving. There is an option to play this game entirely with your mouse in the “Controls” menu, but it makes things a bit more complicated and doesn’t always work right. There’s also no pause button this time, so prepare to get angry if you make it really far only to have your boss come around the corner, forcing you to start over again.
Breaking Bad
Now that the list is nearing its end, we’ve finally arrived at a game that was actually created in the last few years. “Breaking Bad” will go down in history as one of television’s most addictive and engaging series of all time. Likewise, the tribute game bearing its namesake will likely do the same in the fr
ee online games department. While the controls are very simple (arrow keys, space bar), the obstacles along the way aren’t, so expect to get pretty heavy into it as you go along. Fortunately, it’s another game where you can leave the character in a safe place and nothing will happen in terms of ruining your progress. Also, once you beat a level, you can start from said level, instead of all the way from the beginning, which is actually a huge deal as far at these type of games are concerned. If you’re a fan of the layout of this game, but not the biggest BB fan, you could always try Vampire Boy on for size instead. They are quite similar, but the latter will require Adobe Shockwave like Pineapple Treasure Hunt.
Super Mario Bros. Crossover
Love Super Mario Bros? Love old Nintendo games in general? Well, then we have the game of games for you. Super Mario Bros. Crossover combines characters from classic games such as Mega Man and Zelda with the original Super Mario Bros. game for an experience you likely thought would nev
er exist. While there are a lot more buttons at play here, you can set them however you’d like in the “Set Buttons” menu. If you know Mario well, you’ll also know that time restraints are involved, so that will be a factor with minimizing your screen. But the pause button will make short work of that little detail. As an added bonus, we’ll even throw in the Flash version of Super Mario World because we’re just cool like that. Plus, if you look at the top of the screen on the Super Mario Bros. Crossover page, you’ll see other classic games you can play like Frogger and Sonic, too.
We hope you enjoyed our list of some of the funnest and easiest games to play online. But if you get yourself into trouble, you were never here. Thanks for reading, and have a great “workday.”
