‘Watch Dogs’: Six Fun Things To Do In Your Spare Time

Here are six things you can do for fun in Watch Dogs on the side.

One of the almost mandatory parts of any sandbox-style open world title is having things to do when you just don’t want to take on the plot missions. Assassin’s Creed has always been full of them, at least starting with AC2, and it may have started way back in Grand Theft Auto 3.

When you’re just not in the mood to run around chasing your targets or running guns or what have you, sometimes it’s just fun to see how much trouble you can cause and still live with the consequences.

Watch Dogs is one of those games that promises you’ll have plenty to do on the side, with its emphasis on hacking the world around you for personal gain or just general mayhem.

Take over a communications building – At one point during the demo at E3 2013, Aiden Pearce infiltrated a building by climbing a fence, climbing up the side of the complex, and attacking guards with an assault rifle, all while using his mobile device to hack cover. This can be done with stealth or all-out Rambo style.

Profile citizens – This is basically high profile stalking the likes of which Facebook won’t even allow. You can look up anything on anybody, including favorite foods, musical tastes, fetishes, etc.. Ubisoft is even working on allowing players to create their own profiles, possibly making for some hilarious times.

Play an in-game ARG (alternate reality game) – This could make for some YouTube hilarity in future “Let’s Play” videos. You can find NPCs walking around bobbing around with their phones in the air and hack into their phones to control the ARG they’re playing, and make flying monsters appear for them to zap away at.  Just watch people in Watch Dogs act like they’re crazy.

Use webcams to spy on people – Again, high-level stalking time. You can hack into people’s personal wi-fi networks and use cameras around their homes to see what they’re doing.

Play with traffic – For those in need of widespread mayhem, here’s your chance. You can initiate police chases and create traffic jams just by controlling the city’s electronics. Just imagine, you find someone doing something you know they don’t want anyone to know, so you activate an APB and watch them panic as they race into an intersection that just happens to be jammed up, and you watch them drive off the side of the road and straight into an oncoming big rig. Who knows how much trouble you could cause?

Hack into local radio stations – Do you want to hear something in particular but don’t want to use your phone to play it? Easy peasy, just hack into other people’s radios and force them to listen to what you want to hear.

Watch Dogs comes to PC, Wii U, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 November 19, with next generation titles soon to follow.

Are there any fun ideas you have in mind for your free time with Watch Dogs?