“Sheep a Sheep” goes to the top of Weibo’s hot list with over 700 million reads. This free mini game has the simplest rule, yet it is surprisingly time-killing. As a result, millions of players lose sleep for it.

The game has a series tiles (牌) of things that someone uses in a sheep farm. You are about to see things of farm tools, camp fires, milk and corns, even bell that ties to a sheep. Interestingly, as a phone game, you won’t see any single phone in it.

Though it has only three levels, it is well known for its “hard fun”. The gameplay is easy — players find three same tiles and clear them until all are gone. The real difficulty is the very testing second level. A data shows that only 0.1 percent of players have passed through.

Players are grouped by where they are from. “I’m from Guangdong. Our team is now on the top, followed by Sichuan, Fujian, Hubei. When I am playing, I feel like I’m fighting for the whole Guangdong province.” Jin says.

A．

B．

C．

D．

If you are a kid who enjoys playing video games, you must have argued with your parents at least once about the impact (影响) of gaming. Your parents might say that video games are bad for you. They may worsen your eyes, lower your academic performance, and could lead to health problems. As a kid, you probably argue that video games allow you to socialize with your friends, improve your coordination (协调) and memory, and even give you a way to make money through streaming platforms. Could you both be right?

One study of game players showed that 35 percent of high school and college students have missed school or work because of games. Some other studies have shown that playing video games leads to poor concentration in school or at work. In my seventh-grade science fair study, elementary and high school kids playing games had lower test accuracy, slower reflexes (条件反射), less pain awareness (意识), and lower response times to threatening (造成威胁的) sounds during and after having played video games.

On the other hand, a study conducted by Cheryl Olson interviewed 1,000 public school students and found that video games can help kids develop problem-solving skills, make friends, show leadership, and spark creativity. They can also be highly educational, because some games involve problem-solving skills or teach things like history, geography, or culture.

So, I bet you’re wondering...should I play video games or not? Who is right?

I think kids and parents can both win this argument. How? Most of the negative impacts of video games happen when kids play for too long, so play moderately. Here’s how to do that.

First, talk with your parents and take breaks from your gaming to help around the house get some fresh air. Second, try to find video games that are both fun and educational. Third, if you wear a headset to play, take it off every few minutes or leave one ear free so you can hear your surroundings. Fourth, there are also many games that get you up out of your seat. Finally, find some games that you can play with your parents, and you just might surprise them with how enjoyable they are. They may end up having more fun than you do!

What do you think? Are the good things about video games enough to outweigh the bad?

Nowadays, more and more young Chinese get interested in a new way of having fun in their spare time. They enjoy playing a puzzle-solving game known as “an escape room”. In an escape room, a team of players work together to discover useful information, solve puzzles and finish tasks to get out of an enclosed space.

In such a game, different modern technologies, like augmented reality (增强场景), virtual reality and 5G, are used to create a fantastic world. Live actors also communicate with players to make the experience more real. With all of these, players will totally throw themselves into a story and pay their attention to their final goal— getting out of the room in a race against the clock.

He Shu, the director of a popular escape room program, says this game requires speed, problem-solving skills, creativity and patience. It gives players a strong sense of achievement when they complete tasks and break out of a room. It needs their reasoning (推理) skills, physical efforts and good teamwork,” she said. It’s a good ice-breaking tool to make new friends as well as grow closer to the old ones.”

So why is this puzzle solving game so popular? According to a study, the young people nowadays prefer spending more money on experiences than on products. The escape room game provides them with excellent experience. The other reason is just a FOMO (fear of missing out) effect. If you see someone go to a very cool place, you will probably go to ask, “Where is it? I want to go there as well.”