Hey guys, I have a simple enough request. I'm sometimes doing stuff on my computer that might take 5-10 minutes to do, and I want something to do in the meantime while game installs/something processes/whatever happens. Generally by this stage I've looked at everywhere I wanna look at online before resorting to my stumbleupon addon (which is pretty fun at times!), and I just want a simple little game I can play in the background that'll kill some time. Preferably something downloadable and windowed, but not really fussed either way.

If you have any idea what I'm talking about, shoot me some suggestions!

I've not tried running them on a modern machine, so depending on the hassle of running it it may or may not be so good, but something like The Incredible Machine would be good for this.  I have a mobile version on my cell phone and it's great for killing a few minutes when I'm out and about.

The Incredible Machine, ffff, that's a great idea. Hadn't thought about that at all, I'll go look up ways to get it running on Vista.

ASCII roguelikes are generally good as they look like work from a distance.

You could also play browser based games like Pardus and ForumWarz.

The Incredible Machine, ffff, that's a great idea. Hadn't thought about that at all, I'll go look up ways to get it running on Vista.

It's usually my go-to game on my phone, since you can either play a single puzzle for a few minutes or keep doing them for as long as you want.  That's the mark of a great cell phone game.  But, it also works well for your situation too.  I usually just end up playing Freecell when I'm installing shit though.

holy shit pick up a book.

holy SHIT.

holy SHIT i do read very actively, but i have to absolutely sit down and just READ if i'm gonna read. like, i cannot put my focus anywhere else and idk, i also like to read in fairly long sessions AT LEAST an hour or so, if not more! this topic is not GIMME SOMETHIN' TO DO, it is GIMME SOME GAMES TO PLAY because if i wanted to read, then, uh, i would?

progress quest.

ASCII roguelikes are generally good as they look like work from a distance.

as i'm typing this post i have dwarf fortress on pause

I have that same problem, I can't just read for a few minutes, I have to set aside time for it.  If I know I'm going somewhere where I'll be waiting for a while I'll definitely take a book, but for just 5-10 minutes, I wouldn't get any reading done.

Spelunky. If you're bad at it a round lasts about 2-3 minutes.

god forbid you read a short story or a chapter of something huh. I bet you've never read anything over 300 pages.

if you are seriously browsing through all the sites you want to read in the time it takes to install or whatever you have enough time to sit down and read a chapter of a book or an article in a magazine while STALKER installs.

Magical negro what are you doing on gaming world

i know this seems like such an asshole thing to say but oh my god. read the onion. read the av club. read this: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.txt or this: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/ or a topic on gw or ANYTHING. pick up a guitar and strum a few chords for ten minutes. a harmonica. listen to an album of spoken word or a podcast.

don't look for A MINESWEEPER GAME. even games like Spelunky and roguelikes are so much better when you sit and play them, but you're asking for Minesweeper!

no game worthwhile will be over in 5 to 10 minutes. even cactus games last longer than that if you haven't played them yet. I just can't fathom the type of person that craves busy work.

games like solitaire are okay for when you have nothing else to do or that you can do, like when you're at work and internet access is blocked but you can't do another fucking spreadsheet or you'll explode. you have a world of possibility out there. I'd rather you went on youtube and looked at dumb vids than played minesweeper; at least then you might accidentally pick up something funny or interesting.

go read the archives at comics.com

try not to laugh yourself to death at the unintentionally bad newspaper strips

that's what the comics curmudgeon is for, then you just get to read the best of them instead of having to read through ALL of them

nono, i go through all of them.  they're all bad i don't need someone telling me what's worse

It makes a big difference with the soap opera strips though, because a lot of them are really boring shit most of the time, but then there will be a few great gems in them.