Reminds me of my particle physics professor lamenting that we played Skat or Doppelkopf (trick taking card games) during coffee breaks..

What he didn't see is that those who engaged in a few card games would also collaborate much better back at the desks and I would say the friendship formed over the games gave a real boost to the productivity of the whole research group.

I think when I spent a day at a conference listening to talks etc. I am not in a state of mind for productive hacking. Forming relationships on the other hand may be able to advance a community much more (the hacking can be done at home).

That is an unchairitable reading, the question is are they happier after having played the game than they would have been if they had hacked on something?