11 Games that Subconsciously Train Your Employees

So your employees spend a lot of time goofing around on their phones? Maybe all of those mobile games and chicanery aren’t as unproductive as they seem. Although mobile games are no substitute for real computer training, many of the games reinforce qualities that most managers value in their employees. Visual skills, strategic thinking, and multitasking are all valuable employee skills that can be trained with mobile games. We won’t go through all 11 games in detail, but here are the highlights of the infographic “11 Mobile Games That Subconsciously Train Your Employees”.

Angry Birds

Angry Birds trains strategic thinking and resource management. The object of the game is to fling birds into building structures such that you collapse the structures and take out the pigs hiding in the structures. This involves strategic thinking, and the resource management comes in with your limited number of fling-able birds. As you move up into the higher levels, your birds become specialized (some are more effective against different types of building materials), which requires players to plan out which resources will be used most effectively for which task.

Zombie Smash

Zombie Smash trains multitasking under pressure. The game requires that you fend off waves of zombies while managing weapons systems and trying to collect valuable items. The pressure of getting eaten by undead hordes might just make a 9am client meeting a little less daunting. The game might also teach your employees to multi-task. So, you know, they might be prepared for a 9AM meeting once in a while.

Draw Something

This game, like several popular mobile games, puts a new spin on an old board game. Like Pictionary, the object of Draw Something is just that… to draw something. While this doesn’t seem like great computer training for your employees, Draw Something builds creativity and visual direction. The great news is that you don’t even have to be a great artist to enjoy this game (what’s the fun if that bowl of fruit you drew actually looks like a bowl of fruit?). Build creativity by indicating your message in unconventional ways. In a recent game of mine, a friend communicated “gas station” by drawing a seaShell.

Cut the Rope

If Draw Something doesn’t improve your visual skills (some of us are beyond help), Cut the Rope will. To think of this mobile game as computer training, consider the space and depth perception that is required of players; not to mention the strategy involved. Cut the Rope is a little difficult to explain. Essentially, you’re using a pendulum system that swings ropes around to feed a little frog. You have to cut the rope at the correct angle in order to get the food to drop in the correct place. Although visual skills might not seem of utmost importance to all industries, creative work aside, just think about how much easier your office life will be with employees who can cut ropes and feed frogs.

Do you think mobile games should count as computer training? How do you provide computer training to your employees?