There was a time when I wasn’t playing any of the little time-waster type of online games. Then, I got on Facebook, and found Farmville. I am the first to admit that I am easily amused, so it can’t surprise anyone who knows me that there was a time when I was playing nearly all the Zynga games that Facebook had to offer.

There was a time when I was actively attempting to keep up with the constant addition of quests that Zynga likes to add into their various games. Eventually, this proved to be frustrating, because the only way to finish the quests, to advance in the game, or to receive a specific reward, was to spam up your Facebook page with requests for whatever item Zynga had currently deemed to be important.

Eventually, I decided to ignore most of the quests, and just make my own fun. Farmville started letting players customize the outfit that their character was wearing. To me, the most amusing ones were the Halloween costumes.

Zynga had another game called Frontierville that I figured would be entertaining. Frontierville also allowed you to customize your character. In addition to your virtual self, you also got to create a spouse, and a couple of children. Of course, these options weren’t “unlocked” until you finished some quests. I think the most fun I had with Frontierville was creating a little virtual family. I made my character look like me, my “spouse” look like Shawn, and customized a couple of adopted children.

Eventually, I found enough freelance writing work to fill my days (and nights), and shifted my focus to writing. I no longer had time to constantly check my farm, frontier, and whatever else Zynga had gotten me hooked on. There was a time that I wrote an angry, rant-filled status that announced that was through with the Zynga games forever! (Mostly because I was tired of constantly asking my friends for random virtual items).

There are plenty of quick little online games to play that don’t involve Facebook. Popcap has a bunch of games to choose from. Google + has a few games on it (but they are starting to disappear). Foxy Bingo has a variety of different versions of Bingo games for you to play. I’m sure there must be more examples of gaming sites that are not on Facebook.

I honestly believed I was through with the Facebook games forever. Somehow, I have been drawn back in. I find that when my mind needs a break, after writing several blogs in a row, I need something visual to “defrag” my brain. The Facebook games are my coffee break now. Yes, I have started playing Farmville again, and a couple of others, and a few games not made by Zynga. Everyone needs a virtual coffee break at least once a day.