flash games are eating my brain

Earlier this year we started some of our first social media experiments with young people. As part of it, we asked them about the sites they like. And loads came back with places where you can play free Flash games. I had to try a few out, partly because I was writing about it. But more because I was intrigued. And now I'm hooked. I started with this motocross game. I moved on to Tactical Assassin 2. And now it's all about Street Skating. And I do mean I'm hooked. I don't know what it is, but whenever I need to get something done, these games provide the perfect segue for some reason. They just get me into a zone for proper thinking. And I don't know why I like them so much. I think it's just the simplicity of it all. It's (relatively) democratic in that all you need is a laptop with up-to-date-ish software, rather than an expensive story engine. And there's something charmingly rickety about the gameplay. There's something simple and nostalgic baked into it, like Bubble Bobble, but with hitmen and stunt riders. All of which makes it demanding enough to be addictive, but at the same time a distraction, something that refreshes your head before you move on to the next thing. I'm sure this says something interesting about continuous partial attention, using gaming techniques to improve productivity, or something like that. But I'd have to play a few games first in order to work out what I really wanted to say about it.