Amazon Mini-Games For Warehouse Workers Reportedly Expand To 20 States

Amazon is expanding its unusual social mini-games to more of its warehouses, according to a new report, giving more employees access to the 'gamification' system that has proven divisive among workers. Amazon first launched the games for warehouse workers in a limited fashion back in 2017, but has, according to a new report, recently expanded them into more than 20 states.

Put simply, the FC Games program is Amazon's effort to 'gamify' its warehouse work by enabling employees to earn digital rewards for completing their tasks. These rewards aren't worth anything except, perhaps, bragging rights; however, having a 'game' to play that lets you compete with other warehouse workers may make the job feel a bit less grueling.

According to a new report from The Information, Amazon has expanded the presence of its warehouse games significantly in recent months, adding the program to some of its fulfillment centers across 20 or more states. The FC Games program reportedly contains up to half a dozen mini-games that revolve around warehouse tasks like packing boxes.

The games are simplistic in nature, at least based on multiple reports detailing them. One game, for example, is reportedly called MissionRacer and it involves having the warehouse workers move a car around a race track by completing job tasks. The workers compete against each other for things like virtual pets.

The games are optional, meaning anyone who doesn't care about the digital goodies can simply ignore them and do their job as intended. Reviews from workers who claim to have played the games have been mixed, with some enjoying the break in warehouse monotony while others fear it'll end up being a new way to monitor human productivity.