You have to hand it to casual game provider Popcap - it's stumbled on a surefire means of gaining mainstream press coverage: commission a never-ending series of lifestyle-themed surveys in which the results show that either a) everyone is really enjoying playing casual games, or b) everyone would really enjoy playing casual games if only they gave it a go.
Over the past year, the company has shown that white collar workers love casual games and that families that play casual games get along better. Now, in a new study undertaken alongside the Stress Management Society, the company has discovered that UK mums get just 23 minutes of 'me time' per day and that they're catastrophically wasting this time on things that are causing them more stress, such as tea (eh?) and fags.
Mums use their stolen 23 minutes to sit down with a cuppa (52%), smoke a cigarette (19%), eat a snack (18%) or gulp down a glass of wine (7%). According to the study these types of breaks are actually counter-productive as they don't allow mums' minds to rest from their worries - the most common, incidentally, being money troubles (66%).
So how should mums be spending these precious 'me' moments? Did you really have to ask? Popcap makes three suggestions: exercise, yoga and... casual gaming! In the press release, the company helpfully advises mums to:
trial a 5 minute 'cyber-break' by logging onto your PC. Playing a casual game helps lower stress levels by reducing blood pressure, slowing breathing and heart rate. Tests[1] prove that just five minutes a day on www.popcap.com has considerable stress reducing benefits.
And just in case you're not sure if you're stressed, Popcap has even provided a stress test. I tried it and was advised to seek immediate medical attention. Only kidding, it said I should try to relax more and perhaps download Peggle with the 50% off voucher. Sadly, the grammatical paradox that existed between some of the questions and the range of answers made me feel worse than when I started the test.
In my house, gaming tends to cause my wife (a mum) more stress - her only interaction with my Xbox 360 is to shamefully stuff it into a cupboard when her friends come round, as though it were a porn mag or recently murdered animal. My PS3 meanwhile, has been forcibly relocated to the attic room because the hi-def TV I bought to go with it - sporting a mere 26" screen - terrified her due with its gargantuan size.
Do any mums read Gamesblog? If so, can you recommend any particularly stress-busting casual titles? Or if you're the partner of a currently non-gaming mum, the next time she's looking a bit edgy, perhaps you ought to steer her away from cake and toward Cake Mania. Please let us know how it goes - as soon as you regain the ability to type.
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