Video games have turned my kids into wage slaves – but without the wages | Zoe Williams

Gaming is task-driven, repetitive and often frustrating - just like having a job. Childhood isn't supposed to be so serious

There are currently three computer games occupying the house: the 13-year-old (M), sometimes in conjunction with the 11-year-old (F), plays Fortnite, a game mainly about shooting people; the 13-year-old (F), also sometimes with the collaboration of the 11-year-old, plays Genshin Impact, a whimsical, open-world environment game, whatever the hell that means. Avatars dressed as pirates or fairies wander about the place, doing chores, occasionally fighting giant warthogs. Mr Z plays Hitman, another shooting game with very densely layered storylines, though he always skips them so never knows what's going on beyond that; the aim is to leave everyone else dead in a laundry hamper.

Observing all this, I feel like the manager of a hi-tech sweat shop. Everyone is locked in concentration, shouting over headphones at other people who may or may not be in the same house, a cross between high-intensity data inputting and horribly frazzled air traffic control. I know what I should be worrying about - are they getting enough fresh air? Will they become addicted? Is this a useful life lesson, to find meaning through shooting others?