The Time Suck
A while back, I was playing a game on my phone that kept popping up with an advertisement for Merge Dragons. One fateful day, I finally installed it. Since then, I have lost hours of my life. That little game is like Count Rugen. "I've just sucked one year of your life away... Tell me, and remember this is for posterity, so be honest. How do you feel?" ( The Princess Bride has an uncanny number of real life applications.) When I was trying to decide what to write about this evening, all I could reflect on was the fact that I spent all day merging things. Just about every weekend, the game creators entice you with a special goal or mini-game that is only good from Friday to Monday. It's what Kef and I call "The Time Suck" because you can literally lose hours while merging things toward your goal. What is it that makes us so enthralled by this game? A site about addictions says that some gamers are addicted to the completion of a mission. I'd have to ...