Does anyone game on their phones anymore?

[ZLoth]

I wonder if anyone really game on their phones anymore. From my perspective, I am totally turned off by the "freemium" titles which dominate this segment where the title is "free" but to really get ahead and not wait for a refresh, you have to spend money to avoid the wait or to get premium items. To make matters worse, some of the advertising for these freemium games are deceptive. (Candy Crush, anyone? How about those casino games?)

And, before anyone mentions the monthly subscription fee of World of Warcraft, I actually stayed far far away from that time sink and it's addictive nature when it first came out because I had another, more important goal in mind: Getting a business degree.

[Max Rockatansky]

I never did to begin with.  I still occasionally use my Game Boy Advance and library of games from the original Game Boy on longer road trips.

[JayhawkCO]

I have some random card games, dominoes, and a couple app implementations of board games on mine.

[Rothman]

Ballz

[Molandfreak]

I mainly use Bloons Tower Defense when I'm bored or waiting in a line.

[elsmere241]

I used to play solitare a lot on my phone.  Eventually I got tired of it and stopped.  Especially, I don't miss all the ads for "Download our better app for the game!"

[ZLoth]

Some YouTube videos about misleading mobile ads:

[formulanone]

Once most games required an active internet connection to play or sucked down batteries, I mostly stopped...10-12 years ago? Most of that gameplay was when I was on an aircraft.

One last holdout was Wordscapes, which I haven't played in about six months once the ads became longer and more nauseating. Every so often I'll play Wordle and Quordle while waiting to depart or land; not as regularly as 2-3 years ago, but they're web browser games.

[CoreySamson]

I'm a pretty avid player of Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, which is a free hero collector turn-based game that's been around for 10 years (which is wild for a mobile game). The game is kinda cool in that it both manages to be free and not have any ads, but this is only possible because of the paid microtransactions that EA put in the game. Nevertheless, it is still possible to compete if you pay the game without them, as I do.

I used to do a lot of Bloons Tower Defense and Hill Climb Racing 2 as well, but I don't play those games anymore.

[NE2]

Yes, I do sudoku all the time on websites (mainly sudoku.coach and logic-masters.de. I also played and loved Baba is You.

[Roadgeekteen]

I occasionally will side load an old Angry Birds game from my childhood onto my phone and play it for a bit but I haven't seriously mobile gamed since 2020-2021ish.

[epzik8]

I've picked up my mobile gameplay in the last couple of years after playing basically nothing for several years.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Not really.

[WillWeaverRVA]

I have a few mobile games I play on a regular basis still.

[Scott5114]

Whenever I play mobile games I put the phone in airplane mode so it can't load any ads.

[Bobby5280]

I played the Angry Birds game for awhile when I got my first Android phone. Got bored with it. Didn't do any phone gaming since then.

I'll still fart around with some games I have on an old yet still working Playstation 3. I have Steam versions of all the old Quake games from the 1990's. Those are still pretty fun to play.

[I-57/Route 66 Fan]

Yes, Pop Star Classic.

[apoginors]

I completely feel your pain with mobile gaming lately, as almost every app store hit feels like a giant paywall masked as a free download. I used to love casual phone sessions during my commute, but the constant energy timers, predatory microtransactions, and misleading ads completely killed it for me too. Now, if I am going to play anything on my phone that involves actual stakes or micro-purchases, I refuse to touch a game unless I know the terms are completely transparent up front. That is why I always tell people to do a proper background check using https://holyspin-bonus.com/ to read through straightforward breakdowns on active licenses, real wagering rules, and actual withdrawal conditions before spending a single dollar. Taking two minutes to check an objective breakdown lets you avoid hidden cash traps, verify payout limits, and know precisely what you are signing up for instead of getting scammed by fake mechanics. Honestly, treating mobile play like a calculated decision with clear rules makes the whole experience way less frustrating and much more worth your time.

[ZLoth]

[Quillz]

I play Pokemon ROM hacks and other older games on my phone, so yes. Even have a dedicated mobile controller.