‘I do most of my mobile gaming . . . in bed’

tetrisSmartphones and tablets have become major gaming platforms, and typically we think of these devices as allowing gaming on the go. I know I’ve killed many an idle minute waiting in grocery store lines while knocking out a few levels of Angry Birds.

But according to a new survey from mobile game company Mocospace, that’s not where most mobile gaming happens. As reported by GigaOM, home is where the game is, even if it’s on a mobile device. And specifically, this kind of gaming most often takes place in bed.

From the GigaOM story:

Mocospace, a mobile entertainment site, surveyed 15,000 users and found that 96 percent of them say they play mobile games from home, ahead of waiting for an appointment (82 percent), commuting (73 percent) and at work (64 percent). . . .

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. . .  When given only one choice of response, 44 percent of people said they played at home, while 22 percent said they played while waiting in line, 21 percent played while traveling and 13 percent played at a restaurant.

But what’s more interesting is that the gaming at home is taking place most often in bed, according to the Mocospace survey. When given only one answer to choose from, 53 percent of home gamers said they played from their bed while 41 percent said they played in the living room, 5 percent played from their bathroom and 1 percent played from the dining table. Nokia found similar results in a survey in January, with people saying they play mobile games most often before sleeping in bed.

I can vouch for the mobile-gaming-at-home part. Most of my play happens on the couch, often while we pause a TV show or movie so my wife can talk on the phone, or just before I head upstairs to sleep. I generally don’t do mobile games in bed, though my wife is fond of playing a few rounds of Words With Friends before she calls it a night.

The Mocospace study jibes with other surveys that found similar behavior, and suggests that mobile gaming may be challenging console gaming for players’ time. I suspect hardcore gamers will stick to their PS3s and Xboxes, but for casual gamers, smartphones and tablets are becoming the platform of choice.

For me, my mobile devices have replaced PC gaming. I used to be an avid (though lame) first-person shooter fan, but as I’ve gotten older my virtual bloodlust has waned. I pretty much stick to games like Tetris, pinball and, yes, even Solitaire on my iPhone and iPad.

When and where do you play mobile games? Respond in our poll, and in the comments.

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