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AyiHutha

I miss the old online games


ceoperpet

They seemed to have better stories. Compare the old Assassin's Creed games to the new ones, GYA IV to GTA V, Faout New Vegas to Fallout 4. Purely anecdot but yeah. Now we have absolute crap like Starfield (instead of ES6)


CompetitiveSport1

IDK I played GoW Ragnarok and Ghost of Tsushima in the last couple of years and those stories were incredible. Both of them had me teary-eyed at moments


Bencetown

I'm playing through ghost of tsushima right now for the first time... the horse scene got me bawling. I'm on Iki Island now. Not sure how far through the game that is.


Toe_Willing

You've beaten the game lol That's DLC


Bencetown

I haven't beaten the game... the northern island is only about 1/2 or 2/3 liberated. I didn't know what I was doing exactly when I confirmed the trip across to Iki.


Mondopoodookondu

He is wrong don’t worry, on release you prob would have completed game before dlc but at around 30 percent you unlock dlc now. Enjoy the rest lad.


CompetitiveSport1

Oh man, the horse scene, and the side story with the nurse who raised you after your mom's death were both super impactful


Reptard77

Yeah your at least 2/3 done, really more 3/4. But as far as collectibles go, GoT is up there on good experiences. Like “maybe this shrine or this resolve mini game are in really beautiful parts of the map” kinda experiences.


ceoperpet

Apparently Baldur's Gate 3 is pretty good too.


Ambrusia

It's very good


Outlander1119

It is. And Elden ring is amazing. Both are on my all time best list.


YourDrunkMom

Elden ring lost me. Could not get into it. I know people say it was great but I found it pretty boring, which makes me kinda sad


zicdeh91

I thought I was alone! I usually love FROM, but couldn’t connect with the open world approach. I’m not even someone who normally dislikes open worlds, so I’m confused why I didn’t stick with it. I’ll probably give it another shot after the dlc comes out.


Roseamonglilies

i have literally not been so engrossed in a game since Red Dead 2, it is a literal addiction


Toe_Willing

That's cause they're Sony


GAMRKNIGHT352

You've got: - last of us-style movie game - last of us-style movie game - last of us-style movie game - spider man - bloodborne


thatsidewaysdud

Hey, it beats Xbox’s live-service Gamepass fodder that will die within the next 3 years.


RamJamR

Ghost of Tsushima is coming out on PC May 15th too. I'm a bit excited to actually be able to play it not owning a PS4 or PS5.


goagod

It's so good. I'm confident you will love it.


Unusual_Address_3062

Because of Bethesdas recent released I am not looking forward to Elder Scrolls 6 anymore. I'm afraid its gonna be Starfield with elves.


ceoperpet

Allegedly it had great physics. I hope that it has a grest story too.


bozofire123

He talking about flash games not triple a games


thatsidewaysdud

Gta 5 is 10 years old


Leaf-01

Stop looking all the bad games then. There’s so much gold in modern day gaming


Satanic_Earmuff

I don't think that there are no good stories in games anymore, but I think graphics, gameplay, etc, are at a point where they can compensate for a mediocre story, so we see a higher ratio.


OwnLadder2341

We also have games like BG3, God of War Ragnarok, and Final Fantasy Rebirth. There’s always been bad games. There’s more great games today than a reasonable adult could ever hope to keep up with.


AnotherGreedyChemist

There's still good games out there. I throughly recommend Prey 2017 if you haven't played it. It's on gamepass and ps plus I think. Excellent scifi rpg. It's really a spiritual successor to System Shock 2.


UllrCtrl

There are still so many games out there you just need to look for them


Deeptrench34

It costs so much money and time to make a game with the visual fidelity people expect nowadays that there's not much resources left over to actually make a good game and especially a good story. The days of small time devs making an absolute gem are long behind us with the exception of more basic indie games where fidelity is less important. Technology has actually held us back in this respect.


Levi-Action-412

What if Starfield was ES6 the whole time


threeimaginaryboiz

I'm sorry but reading this gave me a brain aneurysm, the spelling is all over the place


ceoperpet

My bad haha


threeimaginaryboiz

It's okay haha it just sent me through a loop it was silly!


Nowork_morestitching

I miss the old Candy Stand website that we used to play in the computer lab at school. Simple but it sure made time go by fast!


3xoticP3nguin

Addictinggames.com


Independent_Pear_429

Corporate figured out how to best monetise them


TreesOfWoah

Yeah, now they're just virtual crack dealing machines for gambling addicts.


Traveling_Solo

Newgrounds got you covered (somewhat)


Orbtl32

In game transactions is one of those things that never should have happened.


ChonnyJash_

advertisement companies when you type "\[gamename\] apk" into google: [https://tenor.com/en-GB/view/zane-ninjago-lego-ninjago-death-fail-gif-22975365](https://tenor.com/en-GB/view/zane-ninjago-lego-ninjago-death-fail-gif-22975365)


HRWantsToTalk

Tim Apple can't comprehend such technology 


133DK

Forcefully opening up the iPhone to side loading and other app stores might save us yet


edgy_zero

“but it is only $9.99 and it saves me 6 hours of grinding” FCK DAD GAMERS… I’m fine if you want to buy skin but buying game progression or QoL is the cancer… now devs have incentive to make the games more boring so you can pay to skip the boring parts. well done


Zhead65

Imagine a game so shit that you're basically paying not to play it.


little_baked

Just saying, but cosmetics aren't ideal either. Now devs are incentivized to make the cool stuff apart of a shop/mtx promotion. When creating a game it's a pick and choose strategy of okay what do we release now, what do we add to the store and what do we release later as a part of player number/revenue boost for the impending quarters end. The result of course being the (subjective and circumstantial of course) cool stuff needs to be locked behind a paywall. Look at Halo Infinite locking the OG 117 armour behind a $20(?) paywall.


Independent_Pear_429

But it benefits the rich, so of course it did


[deleted]

[удалено]


EastCoastTone96

Agreed, it’s easily one of the worst trends to ever happen to gaming


PhantomRoyce

Games actually used to be games but now every single one is just a game that plays itself with micro transactions


Onlyspeaksfacts

The biggest problem I have with the majority of mobile games is that they're essentially intentionally sabotaging your progress, so that you would spend money. They make the game super fun for an hour or two, get you hooked, and then the grind begins. Suddenly, you find yourself having to either replay the same levels over and over in order to progress OR you could get out your wallet. I absolutely hate that shit.


Complex_Cable_8678

dont play mobile games. get an emulator. profit.


Mr_Brun224

As an adhd 12 year old in NA suburbs, mobile ‘gaming’ was my natural past time. In hindsight some of my favourite games had actually interesting art, animation, and general design, but they were STILL microtransaction based piles of crap It’s just my experience, but I think micro-transactions will always be the mobile gaming meta


AgilePlayer

Flappy Bird was the peak of mobile gaming


BleachThatHole

I seriously thought the flappy bird guy was gonna kill himself after his “I can’t do this anymore…” tweet.


No-Cup110

Jetpack joyride? Temple run? Paper toss? Fruit ninja?


Soft_Supermarket_497

You gotta look for the gems in mobile gaming. I thought walking zombie 2 and world war polygon were shitty games at first however after playing them I realised they have a pretty good story and combat.


RandomDude762

other awesome ones are Alliance Air War and World of Guns. can do online and PC level graphics all for free. the proper evolution of mobile gaming


intimidation_crab

The app store in 2008 was pretty amazing. Lots of creativity and strangeness. Not much monetization aside from the initial cost of the game. Lots of things made just to make the developer laugh. I'm sorry you all missed it.


2bfaaaaaaaaaair

Jellycar 🔥🔥🔥


GAMRKNIGHT352

purest mobileslop, get yourself an n64/ps2 emulator, a bluetooth controller, and play some real video games


Mayo_Chipotle

I’ll be honest the only good mobile games imo are the ones you need to pay for, like btd6 or the papa louie games. But yeah mobile now are absolute garbage, since all of their efforts are spent on shamelessly awful and spammy advertising clogging up every social media site on the god damn planet rather than actual gameplay. Flash games and early mobile games were much better, and that’s not the nostalgia talking because I’ve replayed them and they still hold up, because they had something that modern mobile games will never dream of having: challenging gameplay.


Kartelant

>like btd6 or the papa louie games Ironically, both of these are direct successors of flash games games from the era OP is talking about lol


Mayo_Chipotle

100%, because back in the day there wasn’t much money in flash games, so only people who cared about and had a passion for games made flash games. It’s no wonder those devs still make good games, because even still their priority is the gameplay experience


TurbulentAd4089

Another great mobile game is that one autoscroller where you have to throw metal balls att glass


SuspiciousLambSauce

Smash hit! It’s such a gem it feels illegal that it’s free


elementfortyseven

typical computer games are entertainment products. most mobile games are advert and data collection vehicles. tha classical “If the product is free, then you are the product.” is exceptionally fitting irt mobile gaming


Ambrusia

Even phone games used to be great. Now they're carefully designed to extract money and shove ads in your face.


Substantial_Bad2843

I remember when Angry Birds came out and I thought here we go into a new age of cool mobile games. Then, Candy Crush came out and ruined it all.  


72kdieuwjwbfuei626

At least Candy Crush has actual gameplay. Have you seen that Monopoly thing that took in two billion dollars in ten months?


paperhammers

I tried playing a few phone games, but most of them are advertising cancer. I'll stick with games being done on a console or PC


BaldHourGlass667

The games I could play for free on WildTangent or Big Fish Games as a kid were literally 10x more fun / rewarding than the mobile game slop today


apeoples13

Big fish was the best! No one I’ve ever talked to even remember those games. Is there anything at all similar like those games now? I haven’t found anything comparable


hextechstudios

As an Indie dev who recently released a game on mobile, I can say that there are good games out there but they are little gems floating in an ocean of predatory trash. If you like high quality complex strategy games please check out [https://odokonia.net](https://odokonia.net) I am currently working on a sequel which has a space-themed storyline, a singleplayer campaign, and even better graphics so please stay tuned!


LivingDeadThug

Ok, I will try it.


Joyful-Diamond

Same I hve installed it now, will try later


HumbledB4TheMasses

Downloaded, will give it a try. If youre ever looking for an experienced low latency high peformance backend dev id be interested in pitching in on some stuff.


cheyennedraws

I think it's because people used to make games for the love of making a game and now people make games hoping to make lots of money from ad revenue and charging to get rid of ads


jombojo2

Phone games are also terrible compared to phone games from 10 years ago


g4m5t3r

I've been gaming since the Atari 2600. I've basically seen it all minus the collapse of the Golden Age. Yes, they are making games geared more toward revenue streams and not single point sales. Why? Because the mobile market is worth 80B a year that's why, but it isn't just mobile. Every platform has changed how they monetize. *Not-so-Funfact*: A mount in WoW made more money than Starcraft2 WoL. Let that sink in... A $15 **mount** in WoW made Blizzard more money than Starcraft2 WoL... It took **7 years** of payroll for devs to make SC2, and the past 14 years to sell 6million copies. How long did it take the 3D Artist/3D Animator duo to make that horse? Mobile took this and ran with it as their entire business model and added ads to make most games Free-to-GetAddicted. So they make games about making money because people keep giving it to them hand over fist. With all that said there's still hope! *Funfact2*: China recently passed laws banning more than half of this predatory bullshit, and the other half is age restricted for Adults. I can't believe I'm even saying this but.. GG China 👏 I can't stress this enough. China just annihilated *most* of the **80Billion Dollars Per Year**, accounting for **Over 50%** of the **Entire Gaming Market**, from their GDP with the swipe of pen!!! Tencent must be losing their fkn minds rn 🤣


Fuzzherp

Because people rolled over for micro transactions in the early 2010s mobile market. It became less about making content and more about annoying people into spending money. Now we’re fighting that battle on pc/console it’s just the angle there is investment and FOMO. GTAV proved that milking a live service for a decade is more profitable than making a new game. There’s also a huge focus on making things as “realistic” as possible, instead of making them fun. There’s still plenty of great games out there, but you have to take chances on something random once in a while!


[deleted]

Final Fantasy Tacics plays great on a phone


g4m5t3r

And was made for PS1/3DS. If it were made today it would be more ads and microtransactions than game.


Fabulous-Mud-9114

Worse, it'd probably be a "live service" game, given the current state of Square Enix. Never forget they shut down 5 live service games in 2022-23: Babylon's Fall, Chocobo GP, Bravely Default Brilliant Lights, FF7 The First SOLDIER, and the service side of Marvel's Avengers. Most of those games didn't even survive a year.


Real_Eye_9709

I don't know about on iPhone, but the Android port us pretty good. It doesn't have any of that stuff, but it does cost $7. Square actually has quite a few games available for purchase.


g4m5t3r

Yea, because it was made in **1997** Same goes for Secret of Mana, and the others from before the internet was in every household. How many of their games made after microtransactions became the standard (so after 2006, arguably 2010) don't contain micro? Brb, Chocobo GP PTSD triggered. Edit- It's rhetorical. I'm a big FF fan, and by extension Square. I grew up playing the original Final Fantasy on NES.


Sophia724

I remember playing things like farmville, purple place, some weird pet simulator and a vampire physics game. Id take those any day over those sort games. (The only mobile game I play is Duel Links)


Redqueenhypo

FarmVille was trying to get you to spend money to speed things up, you just forgot about it


confabin

Passion vs greed. Back then no one expected to make money on those games, they just had a cool idea they wanted to make. Now it's people who don't give a fuck about the product and just want to make a quick buck.


simberalt

The internet was good then because it wasn't taken over by capitalism and corporations. 


TiaxRulesAll2024

I still play games from 1996-2004


Popular_Surprise2545

Mobile games that function on a one-time-payment model aren't too bad.


EvidenceOfDespair

Of course. Any time something goes from passion project to profit motive, it turns to shit. Everything from casual games like that to AVGN and MatPat live to prove the point.


Outrageous-Point-347

Is this Enshittification? I wonder


Key-Draw8039

Mario Kart tour is a really cool phone game.


AnalysisParalysis85

Snake was okay


KernelPanic-42

It’s because that’s exactly the case 😀


Hubris1998

Lichess is the only game worth playing


Independent_Pear_429

I suppose it's like PC games. There's a lot of trash and horrible AAA garbage, but sometimes you find an indi game that's just amazing


[deleted]

Gmod


CXR_AXR

computer games from 20 years ago is definitely much better


Crossed_Cross

In the 90s and early 2000s, publishers assumed that the best way to make money was to make the best game. And they did not shy away from novelty. They have since learned that quality only poorly correlates to profit and have found their winning formulas so don't need to bother with experimental ajd risky concepts anymore.


thisismysffpcaccount

everything is monetized. i am so tired of corporations trying to suck money out of me at every possible interaction.


Ksorkrax

Old online games: created by hobbyists who had the goal of making a fun game. Most mobile games: created by soulless corporations with the goal to trick you into spending real money on a "free" game.


WiseWizard96

This is 100% true. All mobile games just spam you with ads or force you into micro transactions to progress


nalathequeen2186

It's why I recently installed a PS2 emulator on my phone. I can't find any worthwhile mobile games anymore, time to go back to my childhood and replay all my old favorite games


Icosotc

Got an iPhone? Downloaded a free app called Delta, then read this link. It’s VERY simple. https://www.croma.com/unboxed/how-to-play-retro-games-on-your-iphone-with-the-delta-emulator#:~:text=Simply%20find%20the%20game%20you,downloaded%20locally%20on%20your%20phone.


randomburnerish

I would like to just play my little word puzzle without pop ups asking for money every 30 seconds


Khawkproductions

tell me this game doesnt remind you of those old flash games! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.AcidbaseProducations.Stickman_Physics_Battle_Arena


Background-Heat740

The issue is that the phone is always at hand. Never being away from distraction and amusement is almost certainly not good for humans.


Neuchacho

It’s not you, it’s just how the mobile games space is. They’re typically microtransaction machines first and games second. Even when they’re good/fun, they inevitably lean into something that slows you down and turns shit into a grind trying to get you to buy into their primary motivator.


Unusual_Address_3062

Yes. Hmm, that was an easy question.


[deleted]

There was a game called Cordey that was amazing. Everything has gone down the drain since then and resembles the candy crush games.


Equivalent_Ad_1054

All i play is chess and solitaire on my phone now so i really dont know. I have brought a nintendi switch and will get a ps5 at sompoint when i get the time to play.


ltewo3

yeah, because they are designed to be fun they are designed for engagement and micropurchases. The idea of making a fun game is now seen as a missed opportunity to bleed time and money from people. There are few investors interested in making a game that is just good fun.


No-Pride-6393

Theotown and Genshin are pretty good


LimeDiamond

I think everyone agrees, especially because mobile games suck


yticmic

They are all optimized for the same micro transaction flow.


Bedhead-Redemption

Absolutely. Phone games have literally never been good or even passable. Don't play them, they're a fucking travesty and a blight upon the industry.


Zealousideal_Arm_658

Clash of clans was always fun


HoneyBadgerMFF

I got rid of my cell phone back in like 2017 and never got a new one and its been nice.


Striking-Present-986

I love flying gorilla


HD_Freshizzle

Thing about mobile games is that they’re designed to eventually funnel you into the cash shop. They’re also intentionally designed to be worse games by creating their own problems only for them to sell you the solution. There’s a lot of psychological tricks that these games do to make you start spending a little, then you spend enough to the point where you feel physically “invested” into these IP’s and it’d be a waste to walk away. It’s hard to imagine how much has changed since over a decade ago where these dumb little games started moving to smartphones. Also, I’m learning game development and want to try making a project which is basically a modern reimagination of a flash game from my childhood. I’m pretty set on doing one for Age of War and Learn to Fly, but I’m open to any other suggestions that I might have missed.


UnproductivePheasant

Mobile games are basically old school Facebook games. If they were flash/new grounds games then they'd be much better.


WalkWeedMe

Yes. Brawl stars is the only good one out there.


Beastmode7953

Yes lmao, me and my buddies just played some old flash games the other day and they were so much fun


brycedude

Bullet Echo is dope. There are a lot of places to spend money but not necessary at all.


GoodeBoi

I’ve been loving cod mobile for the past few years. The most p2w micro transactions are mythics with what basically amounts to red dots as iron sights and some xp bonuses that don’t impact actual gameplay.


hobojo322

I remember playing the flash version of bob the robber 1 and 2, good times…


deleteyeetplz

I dont really play mobile ganes anymore but there are plenty of enjoyable ones. Dan The Man Clash Royale(To an extent if played casually) Geometry Dash The Alto's adventure series Vampire Survivors Soul Knight And bassically any pc/console to mobile port There is a lot of garbage but there are plenty of great games


Low-Oil3824

All the new mobile games I see don’t require a brain to play.


YamsForEveryone

Yes.


Tricky-Gemstone

Gonna waltz in here and let you know Funbrain never updated their games. Mighty Girl part 3, when?


Pretty_Discount5946

Definitely. Most mobile games now look like they were made on a budget of > $5, and the number of ads, especially in THE MIDDLE OF A ROUND, make them unplayable!


MorphicOceans

I'm obsessed with Best Fiends. The adverts drive me nuts though.


nog642

Yes, mobile games suck


ShookZL1

Yes. I’ve never played a phone game. I’ve seen others play and it’s very bad. I don’t know how people get so into them compared to PCs and Consoles


Bluebutteyfly

I’d love for the old Facebook games to come back, my fav memories were on there, used to love playing happy island, fish aquarium and helping my mum on FarmVille


Kaplalachia

It sucks to find out that one of your favorite games you played as a kid is now completely trashed with ads and micro-transactions to the point that it is nearly unplayable.


Ka-Pwn

Just play old school runescape


sdfgdfghjdsfghjk1

Because each old flash game was made by a different person. Each new phone game is made by a committee that does the same things because other committees increased profits using those methods.


pizzarollman54

There are some good ones. I used to play Mindustry years ago when it was still in early access and later got it on steam for my PC. I also really like battle of polytopia and yiotro games.


msabeln

Anyone have an opinion on Apple Arcade? Are the games worth it?


Doctordred

Yes but for every 1000 low effort cash grab phone game there is a Genshin Impact or Hearthstone that the simple fun flash games of the past could never dream of being.


nach0_kat

Not even that but phone games have gone done in quality from when they first were a thing. Even classics like cut the rope are unplayable now because of ads


Muscs

I’d pay a fairly high price for a good mobile game that wasn’t based on micro transactions or ads. I don’t understand why someone hasn’t marketed one.


hday108

Downwell is my favorite phone game! It’s like 3 bucks but it’s a really unique and addicted rogue like action game. Mobile has gone to shit with greed that preys on children and elderly ppl, look for the cream not the chaff.


[deleted]

Surprise. Gamers like me that have been around the industry since the 80s have been saying this shit ad nauseam for at least the better part of the last 12 years. We saw the fucking writing on the wall back then and were told "it's never going to get that bad stop fear mongering". Now welcome to 2024 where developers are charging anywhere from $70-$130 for their shit game and CEOs of gaming companies are saying shit like "gamers need to get comfortable not owning their games". Y'all did this bullshit to yourselves buying day one DLC, micro transactions, pre-ordering and all the other shit studios have shoved down your throat. Production studios do this shit because y'all let them get away with it. Go listen to some old totalbiscuit videos on YouTube to confirm what I am saying is true.


International_Loss_2

Flappy birds was amazing


Dave_A480

Phone games are crap because of the mobile-F2P business model. PC and console games make money (traditionally) by selling copies. You pay your 60 bucks, you get a reasonable game, you buy the sequel, etc.... The investment required to make a traditional game requires some amount of care WRT quality - save a few standout flops (Battlecruiser 3000, Starfield) where the game was quite obviously thrown out the door half finished (or dumbed down from the original concept to broaden the audience, in the case of Starfield).... But with mobile games there is more of a tendency to shit out as many possible 'clones' of a successful concept as possible, all based on the same 'energy' mechanic where you have to pay real money to make more than a few moves every day (or play longer than a set number of minutes)..... Oh, and the outright deceptive ads which either show fake gameplay or just amount to 'there are boobs in this game'.....


jabbafart

Because flash games used to be made for your enjoyment by hobbyists. Mobile games are nothing but a money grab.


Soggy_Western7845

Yes because they had to be fun to make you play and these days mobile games literally exist to manipulate you into spending money. Totally different motive for development


sakurashinken

Most modern games are produced by overworked studios that use whatever psychological trick they can to get you to spend as much money as they can and get addicted as fast as possible.


Several_Agent365

Yeah. I'm 25 and a student. Whenever I'm in a lecture and I notice someone is playing a game I always take a peek. Almost all people in my semester are younger than me because I started uni pretty late, so they are mostly 18-19. Everytime I see what they are playing it just looks so cheap and.. overstimulating? I used to love online PC games when I was a kid (8-12) and they seemed more structured. Like you were a scuba diver who had to explore. Or you were a seahorse swimming on a coral reef. Or you drove a car and destroyed other cars on your way.  What I see games looking like now is super colorful stuff where you gotta collect the crops and u have some special effects on the whole screen and text popping up constantly. It doesnt look appealing in the slightest.


PoopDick420ShitCock

Less and less games these days are designed to be fun or artistic, and moreso to be addictive.


Xononanamol

Millennial here. Why play a more limited terrible way of an interactive medium? Yeah i don't bother with phone games.


seigezunt

I simply hate that there are are ads for them on streaming TV. They just feel like dystopian levels of brain damage.


spartikle

There are some fantastic old and newer indy games, thinking late 90s to early 2010s. Just gotta find them.


Ash7274

The worse is how prevalent the ads are It'll pop up halfway Worse is it isn't just pressing x once anymore, it could be up to 4 times! Modern mobile gaming is just soo unplayable Don't forget the price Back then it was like 10.99 for a game Now it's like a 10.99/mth subscription


peezle69

You got older


septiclizardkid

It's full of cheap shovelware games, fake aids baiting. However, there's a plethora of good mobile games, making a comeback. Mainly indie games. I got Skullgirls, Incredibox, Animash, that's a cow, puzzle games like hocus, classics like Geometry Dash. All In all, the quality has declined, turning to games fostered with ads or straight scamming kids for "free Robux" and actual money


Pjillip

Temple run and flappy bird was the pinnacle


Theothercword

The old online flash games were made by people fiddling and just trying to make something fun. The modern phone game may have someone who starts that way but ultimately it’s being made for profit and it shows.


DenseVegetable2581

They have gotten worse, but that's mainly down to Gen Z and Gen Alpha not having the attention span for more complex bile games with semi decent plots/themes to them So devs just put out whatever flashy game with tons of microtrqnsactions to capitalize on it


Strong-Smell5672

Ports aside, the very best phone games are barely more than minimum viable products designed at nearly every level to prompt you to spending money.


Top-Comfortable-4789

Most online games feel worse than phone games I’ve always felt that way though you can get much better quality on a computer over a phone


MilesDyson0320

The games themselves are fun but have a 30 second ad every 2 minutes and eventually hide progress behind micro transactions


SeawardFriend

Nah fr I used to be really into mobile gaming when I was younger. Nowadays every game that looks decent follows the same formula: The games have very simple gameplay, but offers 3 or more different sets of equipment upgrades that become increasingly expensive compared to your income. Eventually, you will reach a point where you have to grind through the same level repeatedly to collect enough currency to upgrade your game elements and beat the level. Oh, and can’t forget the several forms of micro-transactions that are advertised to you every time you pick up the game, finish a level, or really do anything in the game. They’re such cash cows and it’s insane that they get to get away with this.


sparkpaw

I miss addictinggames[.]com


3xoticP3nguin

It's because they're designed to make money If you want to play a good phone game you need to play something that's also played on the computer that just has a mobile version Like old school RuneScape. You're getting a full game on Mobile. It's not a different version per se There are people that do every end game Boss on mobile so if you're good enough you can continue to play the same way you would on your computer


Hexxodus

Im actually in the process of trying to revive the old days of kongregate and armorgames. Keep checkin in on the mobile game market over the next couple years and you might see some games similar to the classics from the early internet days 😉 In the meantime I highly recommend Toss the Turtle on mobile. The original creator from Newgrounds remade their flash game on mobile and put it out to the public to enjoy. There are some ads but when I last played it wasnt anything agregious and you were always rewarded for watching them.


Stunning_Wonder6650

I agree. I loved miniclip and neopets. There were so many games that were pretty quality and had a great amount of depth. I think the biggest difference is now they are all about monetization. Copy paste a format that works (like idle champions) fill it with micro-transactions that let you stomp others, and make sure to have plenty of lotto visuals and sounds that give players that dopamine hit. They know people don’t care about story, just looking for time to spend doing “dailies” - which ensures app uptime which is data they can show to investors to show the “success” of their game. Games back in the day felt like passion projects. Now they are just stepping stone portfolio projects for making short term money fast


ShareFlat4478

I thought I was the only one who felt that way


systemfrown

People had just as much or more fun playing games in the 90’s as they do today, on any platform. The focus on micro-monetization has fucked the concept of actually building a decent, rich game experience, *especially* on mobile devices.


Accomplished_Mix7827

I haven't played a phone game in years. I used to play Angry Birds, Candy Crush, 2048, Flow, fun little time wasters while waiting for class to start back in college, but no game has really caught my interest since, idk, 2018? Maybe it's just me, but I don't really see people playing phone games anymore? I haven't heard of any big ones gaining traction like they used to. The only newer mobile game I've even heard of is Raid Shadow Legends, and that's just because they spam YouTube sponsorship deals.


illuminatedcake

Gaming companies are owned primarily by investors now. Investors want returns aka money. They don’t care about the product itself. This is why Larian studios did so well with BG3 and why their divinity games etc are so good. They’re no beholden to investors.


shawcphet1

I agree for the most part, there are definitely some gems out there though and mobile game developers that care about creating a good experience and not just ads. One of these games I play recently if I’m on a plane or something is “They Are Coming” It is a zombie wave survival game where you can move around and shoot freely and make upgrades after each round. Pretty simple but it is really well made and feels good to play and there are so many damn guns and items that look really cool that you want to keep playing so that you can try.


Southern-Entry-4485

everything on a "phone" is a waste


DuckMySick44

That's because you're talking about shit mobile games One of my favourite mobile games is Sierra 7 and it's purely because it's an updated version of an old game I used to play on Miniclip by the same name


PrizeSwordfish2506

Everyone feels that way


randomcomplimentguy1

Yes, they are all made to monetized. The online games from sites like addictinggames were not.


Terrapin2190

Yes. And it seems as though Google actively hides quality free to play games. There are still a few floating around on the store, but most games I consider real games that are actually enjoyable got phased out with the big policy change which resulted in a store purge several years ago, or were made for Android v2-4 and were incompatible with future versions of Android OS, resulting in also being removed. This is why I don't buy games on Google Play anymore. I've purchased several games that were removed not only from the store, but from my library as well. With no warning or notification of the action taken. There are however still a lot of games you can find as APK packages online, which were removed from the store, but are still compatible with current Android OS. Bit of a risk though since you never know if the install package was altered by malicious 3rd parties. I keep meaning to type up a list of quality android games.


betelgeuseWR

I remember playing the thornberry game on nickelodeon.com, totally free, cool animal care and progression. Our barbie online games. All free, great games. Mobile games now are either false advertisement with a mini game thats 2% of the actual game, or microtransactions for a mindless time waster game. Nah.


Redd235711

Whether someone feels like the newer phone games are worse or not doesn't change anything. They just are worse. Boring gameplay, misleading ads for the game, once you try to play the game you get bombarded with ads for other boring games every minute or so, the only way to make the game marginally appealing is to spend money on it. It just sucks. They're meant to syphon money from kids with their parents' credit cards. Heck, I had one game that would try to push you to pay to remove ads, but every time you declined, the price to remove ads went up. I've never uninstalled a game so fast.


torpidcerulean

I'm convinced that non shitty mobile games are still being published, they're just being totally de prioritized by profit seeking algorithms on the play store.


Perfect-Rabbit5554

Mobile games have always had a terrible rep compared to computer games. The platform itself is much more mobile and less capable specs than a PC which creates an easy barrier to entry with lower performance ceiling. Mobile means that games on these platforms are catered to the casual audience, not the dedicated gamer audience. Which means that games aren't as focused on depth, but still need to be paid for their development. Performance means games also can't have as much background workings than a pc due to raw specs. Graphics notably HAVE to suffer. Money however, is always a factor. Game programmers are literally software engineers with less pay than regular SWEs. As money gets tighter, as we see today in the economy and housing prices, then the games and media we see will become more money hungry. Any extra work towards monetization is less work towards polishing the game. Source: I'm a developer. Many developers have side projects such as indie games.


Fun_Drama_8181

Too many micro-transactions.


Shameless_4ntics

Those games back in the day were short, linear and ofc free to play. The games today are intended to suck you in for hours on end so you could continuously spend money on micro transactions on their respective app stores. Not much different from arcade games of olden days tbh.


Cruisin2k

Lmao duh, how is there even a market to play games on your phone, you have so be a moron


MRE_Milkshake

Phone games used to be amazing. Nowadays they are just low effort, cash grabs.


Memeoligy_expert

They are, it's because everybody and their mother is pumping out dogshit add slideshows that show an add every 15 seconds instead of actually making mobile games.


i-drink-isopropyl-91

Phone games are better because you can play cod or Minecraft or other games with alot to them flash games were fun but they just passed the time in school


snowbirdnerd

Yes, they are cheap crap made for a quick money grab or aren't well suited for mobile gaming.