Tablet owners are increasingly using their devices in lieu of their desktops for activities such as video games, according to a new study from GfK MRI iPanel.

GfK MRI iPanel?s newest research looks specifically at how tablet owners are increasingly consuming more entertainment content, such as games, via their devices. Roughly 1,000 tablet owners were surveyed in the report, which was conducted from Nov. 20 ? Dec. 3, 2012.

?Tablet owners used their tablets for all sorts of games, both long and short-form, whereas they were more likely to use smartphones for quick-casual games,? said Risa Becker, senior vice president of research operations at GfK MRI, New York

?In this way, tablets seem to be more akin to computers, with better graphics and enjoyed with a larger screen,? she said.

?Consistent with this, tablet ownership appears to be affecting gaming more on desktops and laptops than on smartphones.?

Tablet gamers
According to the GfK MRI research, tablet owners are more likely to play video games on tablets than any other type of device, showing how consumers are relying more on their devices than other platforms.

In fact, 43 percent of adult tablet owners played a game on their smartphone and 33 percent played a game on a desktop computer.

This means that marketers need to not only be thinking about cross-screen games, but also think about the user experience across each screen for consumers.

Thirty-one percent of tablet owners played a game on a video game console, and 11 percent played a game on a handheld gaming device.

Twelve percent of tablet users played a game on a MP3 device.

As far as types of games that consumers are playing, 54 percent of users played puzzles, 42 percent played word games and 41 percent played card or board games digitally.

Other popular types of games included arcade games and action and adventure games. Thirty percent of tablet owners played arcade games and 26 percent played action/adventure games.

Interestingly, there are differences between types of digital games that men and women prefer.

For example, 60 percent of women surveyed said that they liked puzzle games, followed by word games, which represent 49 percent of responses. Card and board games represent 42 percent of women?s tablet preferences and arcade game represent 28 percent of games preferred by women.

Forty-eight percent of men surveyed said that they liked to play puzzles with 40 percent of men saying that they preferred to play card and board games. Thirty-seven percent of men surveyed played action and adventure games, and 33 percent of men picked a word or arcade game to play on their tablet.

Pick a game
Angry Birds remain a top-played game by consumers. Four out of the top ten most-played games measured in the study were part of the Angry Birds franchise. Angry Birds, Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Space all made the top ten games that tablet owners played.

Other popular games included Words with Friends, Bejeweled, Drawing with Friends, Tetris, Temple Run and Monopoly.

Specifically, 38 percent of tablet owners played Words with Friends, 32 percent of consumers played Bejewled and 14 percent played Monopoly on their devices.

?More than one-third of tablet owners said that they used laptops and desktops less often to play games as a result of owning a tablet as compared to only 25 percent claiming less usage of smartphones for gaming,? Ms. Becker said.

?Long form games lend themselves to different types of advertising and more product placement,? she said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York