The way that we spend our leisure time is changing like never before. Increasingly, we’re spending our time with digital games and other media. Despite our enduring interest in board and card games, it’s digital pastimes that suck up the lion’s share of our free time.
But why is this, and what might the future of entertainment look like?
The decline of traditional play
Psychologists have long been concerned about a decline in free play among the public, and the uptick in screen time that has accompanied it. On average, adults in the UK spend around 7.5 hours a day in front of a screen – including televisions, computers, phones, and tablets.
It’s easy to see why things might be moving in this direction. Digital platforms are able to deliver immense gratification at a moment’s notice, and they’re more affordable and approachable than ever before.
Mobile gaming
The advent of the smartphone is arguably the most consequential development of the 21st century, as far as our engagement with technology is concerned. No longer do gamers need access to specialised hardware, like a console or a gaming PC. They can simply install their preferred game on their phone, instead.
Many modern games, like Candy Crush, are designed specifically with the needs of mobile gamers in mind. Modern gambling also thrives in this space, with a dizzying array of digital slot machines, roulette wheels, and card tables now on offer to those in search of a mobile casino experience.
Digital reinvention of classic pastimes
It’s often fairly straightforward to adapt an existing, classic format into a digital space. In this way, it might be convenient to play a round of Monopoly or Chess against a human player – be that a friend or a stranger with whom you’ve been matched by an algorithm. In some cases, these old games are faithfully recreated for the small screen; in others, they’ve been adapted and supplemented with new features.
Cultural shifts in leisure behaviour
Digital gaming has a social dimension that should not be discounted. Through streaming platforms, leaderboards, ranked multiplayer and other innovations, it’s possible to make an online game more enjoyable, and to allow it to bind together a community that shares a common passion. This has helped to reshape not just our leisure time, but also the way that we socialise.
