History Main / PlayingGamesAtWork

The most common choice is ''TabletopGame/{{Solitaire}}'', which was commonly found bundled with older UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows systems. This is an indication that not only is the character bored out of their mind, they don't even have the means or the energy to download or install something cooler -- they just play whatever comes pre-installed on their work machine. Later Windows machines require you to download games yourself, which might lead to something a bit more involved like ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' or surreptitiously playing a phone game like ''VideoGame/AngryBirds''.

* [[http://dilbert.com/strip/1995-01-22 This]] {{ComicStrip/Dilbert}} comic.

[[folder:Films - Animated]]

[[folder:Films - Live-Action]]

**

Many people tend to slack off at their jobs, at least occasionally. For people who spend their workday at a computer, this can take the form of secretly (or not so secretly) playing a video game.

->''"That man is playing VideoGame/{{Galaga}}! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."''

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': Mac overhears Adam and Danny speaking excitedly, goes to investigate, and finds them playing ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar 3''. Adam explains that it's part of their case: the motive was someone hacking the game in a tournament to make the winner's [[HitBoxDissonance hit box twice as big as it should've been, while simultaneously reducing the opponent's box to half its size.]]

!!Examples

* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': Mordecai and Rigby do this on an very frequent basis, much to the frustration of their boss.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'', when Hiro leaves a police office after unsuccessfully trying to convince a bored policeman about a supervillain being about, a game of Solitaire can be noticed on the policeman's computer screen.

* In issue #227 of ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', while TheTeam is infiltrating the Egg Base, they move into view of a security camera. Luckily, the SurveillanceStationSlacker in charge of it is playing an (unidentified) game and thus doesn't notice. Later, when one of the two [[DualBoss dual bosses]] of the base discovers this, she says that [[NotSoAboveItAll if he's going to slack off, he needs to at least beat her high score.]]

Many people tend to slack off on their jobs, at least occasionally. For people who spend their workday at a computer, this can take the form of secretly (or not so secretly) playing a video game.

The most common choice is ''TabletopGame/{{Solitaire}}'', which is frequently used as a visual cue for the audience that the character is bored out of their mind and has nothing more interesting to do. A good reason for this might be the fact that the UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows systems (the older ones, anyway) come bundled with Solitaire and a couple of other games, meaning that it is, or at least was, one of the few games that could be played on a computer without installing it first and regardless of Internet connection. [[note]]Older versions of Windows came with pre-installed Solitaire, but newer versions make you download and install any games yourself.[[/note]]

* "[[http://cantyouseeimbusy.com/ Can't You See I'm Busy!]]" is a website with games specifically designed to look at the first glance like normal Office programs, allowing one to play them without being detected (as long as nobody is looking at them too closely).

* In ''Disney/BigHero6'', when Hiro leaves a police office after unsuccessfully trying to convince a bored policeman about a supervillain being about, a game of Solitaire can be noticed on the policeman's computer screen.