It's Not Procrastination If It Looks Like Work

The semester’s almost over, and work is beginning to pile up. Term papers, extra-long problem sets, and those looming finals are upon you. But what better way is there to increase productivity than by firing up a game that takes five to 10 minutes to play? Here I recommend three casual online games to play while taking a “break” from your papers.

Miss Management
Developed by Gamelab, which also created the better-known Diner Dash, Miss Management follows Denise, a young office manager just starting out in a company. This game plays a lot like Diner Dash, in that the player has to delegate four different types of work (art, writing, IT, and accounting) to the employees.

The objectives of the in-game week usually revolve around office politics and keeping the peace. Every employee has preferences and dislikes—the first employee you meet, Mahavir, is always looking either to slack off on the company couch or pursue an office romance with Tara, a shy artist, at the water cooler. Getting the most work done in a day is generally not the objective, but it does help in increasing your overall score and gaining cash to buy office supplies and snacks that boost productivity and keep stress down.

The best part of the game is definitely the presentation. Like its obvious influence, The Office, Miss Management is split into seasons and has a really funny story due to its character interactions. The game deals with all kinds of office quirks, like water cooler talk, the resentful warhorse (after all, you are a new manager), work stereotypes—like the suck-up, shy artist, and hipster writer—and getting away with unauthorized office “projects.” For example, Timothy, the IT guy, sets up an arcade machine in the office. Yes, there is even a version of The Office’s Dwight in this game.

All of this would be less effective if it weren’t for the artwork, which is appropriately colorful and cartoony. Miss Management is a charming, fun game—and a great substitute for those still waiting for new episodes of The Office while the WGA strike continues.

Crimsonland ­
This game was created in 2003 by game developer 10ton, which tends to harken back to the design philosophy behind Cold War-era arcade games, such as Space Invaders and Galaxian—you’re probably not going to survive to see the end.

Crimsonland, which uses an overhead perspective, is a very pure experience: there is no storyline or really any reason why you’re doing what you’re doing except to get the highest possible score. You’re just a guy with a gun who’s trying to survive wave after wave of aliens, zombies, spiders, and whatever monsters 10ton thought were appropriate.

Enemies are relentless and once they mob you, it’s game over. So what can be done against these odds? Well, Crimsonland has a total of 25 guns, from the mundane pistol, to the meaty rocket launcher, to the sci-fi ion cannon. Every fallen monster gives you experience points, which help you to gain levels and special abilities called “perks.” These perks can increase the time allotted for reloading guns, allow healing, and give you skills like telekinesis. Adding to your survival ability are power-ups like “freeze,” which freezes all the monsters on the screen, or “reflex boost,” which slows down time Matrix-style. This game is a pure adrenaline rush, so fire it up when you’re really bogged down by work.

Oasis
Game Tunnel, a Web site covering the indie gaming scene, gave its 2005 Game of the Year award to Oasis, which plays a lot like a more complex version of Minesweeper—rather than simply locating mines, the object of the game is to defeat barbarians. Each level is a 10 by 10 grid, and each turn is played out by clicking on squares—like in Minesweeper—which reveal different resources. The main resource is manpower, which increases population growth and the ability to research, both of which make it easier to fend off the barbarians. And don’t worry if this sounds complicated: the in-game tutorial is very helpful, easing you into these different concepts.

Besides getting the better of the barbarians, the player must also find the “glyph” of the level, which is tied to an oasis in the desert, hence the game’s name. Your success or defeat is dependent on the abilities of your followers, and each of the game’s campaigns is finished once 12 glyphs have been found.

The charm of Oasis lies in the experimenting, which is based on the constant trade-off between attaining more manpower and increasing defenses. And since each turn gives the player some gain, the path to victory lies in a set of what-ifs and how best to utilize the turn. Every turn is just a click away, which means each level takes at most five minutes. The tension and the surprising ease of play make this a perfect game for procrastination.