I got my first ever smartphone two months ago, and ever since, it might as well be taped to my hand. Since downloading it two weeks ago, Candy Crush Saga and I have spent a truly alarming amount of time together (and while we’re on the subject, how do you get past level 65? I’ve been stuck since Day Three. Are there cheat codes? Battle tactics? Candy Crush gods I’m supposed to be sacrificing to? HELP) and I’m starting to see candy patterns when I close my eyes.
Well, actually I do regret it. I have a problem. But now, thanks to the new report released by Random House’s Smashing Ideas division, I now know that I am not alone. Smashing Ideas’ American Smartphone Gaming Report has revealed that upon average, half of American smartphone owners will spend almost 200 hours a year playing mobile games like Candy Crush. The data was collected in collaboration with YouGov, from a sampling of 1,150 American adults.
200 hours , guys. That’s around the amount of hours you need for an intense college internship or community service. It’s just about nine straight days of mobile gaming. Nine whole days that we’ve wasted. We have a problem .
So to help us out, I have put together a list of alternative ways that we can spend our time. Hopefully by trying some of these, we can turn defeating Candy Crush back into just a fun game, instead of one of the main reasons for our existence. Hopefully.
In the meantime, though, advice on Level 65 would be extremely appreciated. But I digress:
1. Learn a language:
Pick one!
If we’re going to be glued to our phones all day long anyway, we might as well make the most out of it. Close out of Candy Crush—first step is always the hardest, dears—and use the same incredible technology you hold in your hands every day to pick up a new skill, like learning a new language with an app like Duolingo. It’s simple, with a friendly user interface and a learning system that incorporates writing, reading, speaking and vocabulary to help you learn with ease. Take those 200 hours and start a course! It’s completely free. Currently the service offers courses in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and Italian, with plans in place for courses like Chinese or Japanese.
2. Learn to cook:
Use Easy Recipes to learn!
If languages are not your forte, learn to cook! There are dozens of apps that could help you learn how to make simple, delicious food. This, by the way, is an excellent skill that is kind of essential to life, because at some point in time you will have to cook for yourself. It’s going to happen. Trust me, you’re going to get sick of instant Ramen and greasy takeout very, very quickly, to say nothing of what that diet will do for your health. Spend those 200 hours trying out recipes from apps like Easy Recipes—Food, Drinks, and Cooking Tips, made for those of you have absolutely no cooking experience, or Epicurious Recipes & Shopping List if you have a bit more kitchen expertise. And once you’ve managed to recreate a few delectable dishes, you can use apps like Snooth Wine Pro or Pair It to find the perfect bottle to go along with the meal. Go ahead, impress somebody—you’ll find that unlike telling them what level you just beat, this might just work.
3. Get a hobby. An actual hobby:
See that? You could look that cool
I have hobbies besides Candy Crush. Or at least I used to, before…well, Candy Crush. But sometimes the best way to break a bad habit is to get a new one: so instead of matching candies, learn how to knit, or fence, or make decorative sculptures of penguins (maybe not penguins). At any rate, find something that piques your interest and try it, or maybe do something that has always interested you but you never got to try. Do something creative; find a way to pass your time that you actually enjoy, instead of something that just passes the time.
4. Read a book, or six:
Pick one up and start reading
There is a literal pile of books by my bed, slightly because I am unable to control myself whenever I enter a bookstore but mostly because I keep saying that I have no time to read them. Which, according to Smashing Ideas, is an outright, horrible lie: I have wasted nine days on Level 65, when I could have been reading a Storm of Swords, or Paper Towns, or Allegiant. So pick up the book that has been languishing on your bedside table for the past five months that you “don’t have the time” to read and actually open it. Read it, cry, give it to your friends. Make them read it and cry. Or, if you don’t have any books on your To-Read list, download an app like Audible or GoodReads and use their recommendations to get reading. Then you’ll know about all of the movies they’re making based off bestselling books (which, by the way, is all of them , including Thor: The Dark World, comic books absolutely count and don’t let anybody tell you different) before they come out, and you’ll be able to make super-impressive observations about them to that date you’re dazzling with that home-cooked meal and handpicked wine.
5. Go somewhere new and fun:
Go here! Look, they have eclairs
Remember that restaurant you were dying to try, or that trail you were dying to hike? Stop playing Candy Crush, grab a friend or five, make them stop playing Candy Crush, and get going. Try the risotto at that little Italian place you’ve been eyeing, or go to that bakery everybody’s been raving about and have a creampuff as big as your face. Bigger. Not sure where to go? Instead of heading back to the same old place and spending the time on your favorite game, use your phone for something productive: download an app like Urbanspoon or Restaurant Finder or just use Siri and find something. Step out of your comfort zone.
6. Actually go and do the work you’ve been ignoring to play Candy Crush:
ME EITHER
We all do this—please don’t lie, nobody believes you. Chances are, no matter what you do for a living or what you’re studying in school, you have at least one moment a week—for me it’s normally right when I get up, because being conscious and not caffeinated makes me slightly crazy—where you go: “I don’t wanna.” It could be anything, from finishing a college essay to running numbers to joining a conference call to taking out the trash. Playing Candy Crush involves none of those responsibilities, which is why these are the moments when we dive for our phones. But this is a habit that we all need to break immediately.
I know, I don’t wanna either. But actually doing what you’re supposed to, when you were supposed to do it, makes you a productive person who contributes to society, and that’s supposedly how people keep their jobs or get promoted. Go figure.
Sources: Insidemobileapps
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