The need for frequent and brief practice in deep breathing presents challenges in maintaining motivation and consistency. While persuasive technologies have been shown to improve engagement in therapeutic exercises, there is a lack of insight into specific motivational strategies for such intermittent activities. We investigate how idle games can incentivize behaviors like deep breathing and identify specific mechanics for fostering an optimal practice cycle. We illustrate this approach in a game called BreathPurr-suade. After validating the physiological efficacy of the embedded breathing guide, our four-week study revealed idle games are more effective in maintaining deep breathing adherence than a standard breathing guide. Our work highlights the capacity of idle games to foster deep breathing, revealing their efficacy in subtle persuasive game designs that encourage intermittent therapeutic practices.

Peripheral breathing guides – tools designed to influence breathing while completing another primary task – have been proposed to provide physiological benefits during information work. While research has shown that guides can influence breathing rates under ideal conditions, there is little evidence that they can lead to underlying markers of physiological benefit under interrupted work conditions. Further, even if guides are effective during work tasks, it is unclear how personal and workplace factors affect peoples' willingness to adopt them for everyday use. In this paper, we present the results of a comparative, mixed-methods study of five different peripheral breathing guides. Our findings show that peripheral breathing guides are viable and can provide physiological markers of benefit during interrupted work. Further, we show that guides are effective – even when use is intermittent due to workplace distractions. Finally, we contribute guidelines to support the design of breathing guides for everyday information work.