While online, people can access and play the games they love right on their very own computers, mobile phones or hand-held PDAs. Playing games online is not only fun and easy, it’s also convenient and relatively inexpensive compared to visiting a local coin-operated arcade or buying a vintage arcade game that would take up space in your home.

And although you may not have guessed it, men aren’t the only ones who spend a large amount of time playing games online. In fact, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) reported that adult women are almost twice as likely as men to spend 20 hours per week playing PC games.

The most popular online games among women tend to be those which are quick and easy to pick up. Games that don’t require inordinate amounts of time or intense focus are favorable among women, perhaps because of the increasing responsibilities today’s women juggle. Work, child rearing and other household duties leave little time for extended leisure activities. Online arcade-style games provide a fun break from the daily routine that refreshes without taking too much time and energy.

Why do you play games online? Click on the comments link below to add your reasons.

Tips for healthy game play part 2 include:

• Give your eyes a rest. Take a 10-second break every 10 minutes to look elsewhere. Hold your eyes closed for a few seconds, and blink often to keep your eyes lubricated. Keeping the room well lit helps with eye fatigue, but make sure to angle the lighting so it does not cast a glare on your screen.
• If you start to feel a strain on your body or your eyes, take this hint to adjust how you’re sitting at your computer. Even more, this should be a clue that it is time to take a break from the game. Whenever you get up from the computer, it is important to take the time to stretch the muscles in your back, arms and legs. Stand up tall and take several deep breathes while rotating your arms, shoulders and neck, before going back to play.
• Be cognizant of how much time is being spent on playing computer games. Setting a timer is an easy and effective way to keep track of this for yourself and your family. If you believe you or someone in your family is spending too much time online, find out why, and work to create a healthy change.

By following these guidelines, you and your family can play games online in a healthy, responsible way.

Tips for healthy game play include:

• Although it’s easy to get caught up in game playing action, try to limit the time spent on the computer. Save game play for times when you would normally settle down to watch television or read. Consider mixing up your nightly routine so that your game play is limited to only a few nights per week.
• When you play games online, sit up straight and position your computer screen at a comfortable viewing distance. If you find you are slouching, raise your monitor up to eye level. If you play games on a laptop computer, consider investing in an ergonomic keyboard and mouse. These are much easier on your hands, arms and posture.
• Schedule breaks in your game play for approximately every thirty minutes to allow you to get up and move around. By keeping food or beverages in another room, you ensure that you will have to get up from the computer in order to get a drink or healthy snack. These set breaks will cause minimum disruption in the action of your game play, and will help you come back to the game in a more alert state.

What are some of your Slingo Playing habits? Share them with the community by clicking on the comments link below and stay tuned to this blog for part 2 of Healthy Game Playing Habits.

What kind of games do you like? Share your comments by clicking on the comments link below.

How many Slingo Friends do you have? Some popular players have over 1,000. Others only have a few. Hey we’re not here to judge what’s right for some people is different for others.

We all spend a lot of time playing games and hanging out online, chatting from room to room and looking at member profile pages for who’s got the best picture and we’re all friends on Slingo, or at least that’s what the Slingo Joker tells me. I know everyone here loves to play games, right that’s why you keep coming back to Slingo.

But hey we all want friends, don’t we? Friends are people we like, buddies, people we talk to and share with, or are they? Are friends online the same as friends off line? Has the Internet changed the definition of a friend?

Is it okay to accept a Slingo member as a Friend if you’ve never chatted with them in one of the games on Slingo.com?

Click on the comments link below to write a comment on this blog with your thoughts and ideas of Online Friends.

First and foremost, every morning I get up and do something that’s a dream for most people around the world, I get to design games that people around the world play. Much like those that are gifted with the talents so they can sing, act, or play a sport for a living, I’m able to go and create the things that are dear to me, and that of course is games.

There are several types of games that folks make; some make games for home consoles like the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, others concentrate on massively multiplayer games for computers, and still others make games for phones and handheld devices. However it’s Casual Games that I make on a daily basis.

One of the great things about making Casual Games is that I get to work on more than one game a year. Those that work on huge games for the home consoles don’t get to see very much variety in what they are working on from day to day and month to month (and with some titles now, it’s even year to year). In the past year, I’ve gotten to work on at least a half of a dozen games across a variety of platforms.

Also, Casual Games have traditionally smaller teams. I’m able to get up from my desk, that is when I can be drawn away from the beautiful view from the window, and go and talk to everyone on the team of the project that I’m working on. If there’s any questions, they can get aired out in a few minutes of everyone’s time.

While the teams are smaller, the audience for Casual Games is huge. From young kids to great, great grandmothers, and everyone in between, it makes me proud to see such a big and diverse audience enjoying what I do. To top that off, I’m a big fan of when my mom, and my nieces enjoy games that I’ve worked on. I really doubt that they would enjoy them anywhere near as much if I was working on Super Death Race to the Finish 2009.

Another thing that must be said about the audience (and that means you!) is that they usually appreciate the games more than those that would play Super Death Race to the Finish 2009. Some of the audience is vocal, and make it know whether they love or loathe a game, but usually say things about games that can help out with future ideas.

But the absolute best thing about working in Casual Games is that I get to craft fun. While fun is a noun that’s really hard to describe, every day I toil at my desk at making something that I would like to think is fun for everyone. It’s a hard task, but I’m able to try different things. I’ll end up asking myself is popping balloons in a carnival game fun, or what about a tropical island adventure, or taking the stage in a trivia game show? Even when a game is made and done, the fun doesn’t stop there, I’ve got to look at things like the title, the instructions, and the credits for the rest of the team, and they need to be fun too. After all Slingo is First in FUN!

The universal appeal of online games is astounding. Research shows that one in four internet users visit online game websites, bringing the annual total to more than 217 million online game players worldwide. Online game communities are populated by people from both sexes and all age groups. Everywhere, people are spending time playing puzzle, card and trivia games. But is all this game play healthy? Yes – probably in more ways than you think.

1. Improve Your Memory and Problem Solving Skills
Online games are great for keeping your problem-solving skills sharp, but finding fun games to play or someone to play with can be difficult. Playing games online lets you exercise problem solving skills on a regular basis on your own schedule. Today people of all ages are finding fun challenges and brain boosters in online games targeting memory and responsiveness. Puzzle games such as Slingo Mahjong or Sudoku, trivia games like Questions About Stuff on Slingo.com and multiplayer games like Gin Rummy and Sub Hunt are easy to learn and start playing, yet offer an ongoing challenge for players.

Adults tend to use certain parts of their brains often, while other parts are less active. By playing games that focus on reasoning, logic, speed and memory, you can “work out” those lesser used parts of your brain. Studies have shown that puzzle, trivia and logic games can help stave off dementia and the forgetfulness that sometimes comes with ageing. Using all areas of the brain can have big benefits for you now and as you grow older.

For children, these same challenges can enhance the cognitive development they are undergoing as they grow. Where speed and memory might not be as much of a challenge to a 13-year-old, reasoning and logic probably are. Games have always been a part of the childhood growth cycle. Alternating physical play with today’s plethora of online games offers a healthy balance and gives the brain the workout it needs.

2. Companionship
Mental challenges, cooperative play and rich story lines draw game players in, but part of what makes online games popular is the social interaction. Through online interaction, chat and messaging, players build both casual and meaningful relationships with other people they might have never met otherwise.

Playing Slingo Millennium and surfing the Slingo community allows players strengthen existing online relationships and meet new people. Chatting to other players during a game adds enjoyment and a feeling of group relationships to the game while creating a sense of companionship. Players often find that partnering up with someone to overcome a difficult challenge through personal experience and know-how can be as satisfying online as it is in the real world.

3. Stay Connected
Online game communities offer opportunities to promote social interaction within existing relationships as well. When friends and family members are miles apart, staying in contact can be challenging at best. But, today grandma and grandson can enjoy a casual game of Merry Poppings each night matching colors and getting power ups, while moms are playing Swedish Bingo and Lemur Slots, after the kids have gone to bed – all the while talking about the day and staying involved in each other’s lives.

4. Heal Faster
There is also the potential for online games to help families deal with chronic illness and other health issues. In 2006, the not-for-profit Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation released several online games designed to help children understand and cope with serious illness. Games can be easier to understand than books and pamphlets, especially when dealing with health. From battling cancer cells to understanding bone morrow, from pain management to managing dyslexia, free online games allow families to use imagination and creativity, while opening the door to understanding and recovery.

5. Have Fun
All in all, the best reason to play online games is to have fun. There’s nothing quite like the feeling you get from winning a game or beating your previous score. A true sense of satisfaction and joy overcomes you, and you know you’re having fun. Fun is the first step to happiness, after all your emotional state has a lot to do with your general health and happiness can only come from having fun.