by Nan Demers

Created on: November 29, 2008

I'm the co-owner of an online business and a freelance writer. Consequently, I keep rather odd hours, and I find playing games online is a great way to escape daily pressures or unwind at the end of the day. My day starts very early, so when I take breaks, I'll sometimes play games rather than sitting in front of the tv, and when I'm ready to get back to work, I'm relaxed and ready to keep going for a few more hours. I don't play games online as an escape, but sometimes just taking a break for awhile can help me to think more clearly about the work at hand when I get back to it.It's also nice to spend a few minutes during the day chatting with people about something other than work.

My favorite internet game site is Pogo. The site has an extensive collection of card, board, word, puzzle, free casino, and arcade and sports games to choose from, as well as games that can be downloaded, and some of them are very addictive. One of the features I like is that members can compete against other players, or have the option of playing against robots, which is helpful if you're new to a particular game and want to sharpen your skill. On each member's main page is a section to bookmark favorite games. I started off with about five and now I have a list of close to forty. Some of the games are classic board and card games, but a lot of them are exclusives.

One of my favorite games is cribbage. My dad taught me to play years ago when we vacationed in Maine and I hadn't played it in years. We spent many fun and relaxing hours in the evenings playing, so it was great to find a site that included it as one of the games. My game was pretty rusty, so I started playing against a robot one night when I'd finished work, and before I knew it, three hours had passed. I thoroughly enjoyed playing again and improving my game, although it's considerably different playing online rather than with the board and a deck of cards. I've also found that playing the puzzle games keeps my mind sharp, and each time I play, I work on my strategy to score higher. Good puzzle games are Phlinx, Poppit, Sweet Tooth 2, and Wonderland Memories, a form of the classic card game Concentration. I've gotten hooked on playing Mahjong, and have found that playing for an hour or two at night is much more calming than watching the late evening news. When playing a puzzle game, your mind is on the game and not fifty other things. It's a great stress reliever.

Another great thing about Pogo is the people you meet. On several occasions, I've gone on to play a game, but will start chatting with people in the room, and we spend more time talking than playing, but that's one of the more interesting aspects of an online game site. I've met people from all over the world, and have made some friends that I talk to more often when we aren't playing on the site. Everyone has responsibilities and a life offline, but I love having a fun place to go where I can chat with friends that I may never have met if it hadn't been for online games.

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