Why Most Mobile Games Are Trash | Bones That Rattle
But not every mobile game wants to rob you blind
My Past With Mobile Gaming
We go way back!
It’s really easy to say that all mobile games are bad. If you’re like me, you’ve at some point asked yourself, “why are mobile games bad?”
Actually, I’m confident in saying that most non-casual gamers believe that most mobile games are cash grabs. Whether they have gacha mechanics, time barriers (energy), or constantly push you to spend that well-earned dosh, you can actually spend less buying a mobile game than committing to free ones.
Of course, tons of purchasable phone games are ports, but there’s still validity because—I’m assuming—porting a game to a phone isn’t just dragging and dropping the game.
What Ruined (My) Mobile Gaming: Monetization
And maybe, gacha. Maybe.
When I was much younger than I already am, I went through many free-to-play games on my laptop, and I went through my many downloads—and getting my email hacked, I realized that they all had a problem: problematic monetization tactics. Well, looking back now, at least.
People were able to buy their way to victory, whether it was literal gear, a magical stone for upgrades, or to increase their chances. The purpose was to make progression slow to a snail’s pace, to just nudge every so often into buying that “obsidian stone +7.”
If we fast-forward to today, mobile games are the same, aren’t they? I don’t know how long they’ve been like this, but it feels like most mobiles follow these monetization tactics:
Gacha Mechanics (Loot Boxes): Usually a box, but not always. It contains items, each with its drop rate.
This could be the least harmful one, such as tying that super cute or cool skin for your character to a 0.0050% drop rate, or tying it to your best in slot (BiS) weapons.
Time skips/speed-ups: Seen a lot in games like Clash of Clans, where you have to wait for buildings to finish, you can spend money to skip the wait, and have your building now. Or in the case of my wife, who plays Baker’s Story, finishes baking her cake.
Kind of sucks that you have to wait for your barracks/school/soldiers/hospital or any other structure to finish building in twelve hours. But, if you spend the cheap price of five dollars, you skip through it!
Video ads: Ads will run either somewhere on the screen, after finishing a level, or as an opportunity.
We all hate watching ads. They just want to sell us something, and they’re getting paid to show us that. Oh, but what if you get an extra life if you watch an ad? Or duplicate your reward? Now we’re talking!
Energy System: Your actions are tied to a limited resource, which needs time to recover after being depleted. In some games, it can be actions like talking, going through dungeons, or playing a level. After it’s depleted, you can’t do anything, unless you’re willing to spend money.
We don’t want you to finish the game too quickly or get your gear too quickly, so let’s throttle (slow) your playtime.
Way back when, when I used to play phone games like Blood Brothers, Brave Frontier, and others that I forgot—I never gave a try to Clash of Clans, Candy Crush, or any of those rising stars at the time—it never clicked on my brain that if I spent five dollars, I’d become a champ.
During some downtime, I remember I saw one of my soldiers playing Monopoly Go, and playing is a term used loosely here. The man was just slamming the Go button, prompting him to go around the board, and for bells and whistles to go off, and god knows how many effects popped. But I really can’t blame him.
My favorite rising super star genre is Bullet Heavens/Survivors-like, and those are all about the bells and whistles; presentation is everything in those games.
But I can’t say all mobile games, of course—but it’s daunting how many of them have sketchy practices. To me, battle passes aren’t necessarily sketchy, although most of them bank on F.O.M.O. (Fear Of Missing Out), and some don’t—Outlast Trials being an example.
It’s also surprising how many of the top-grossing games in the Google Play’s charts are those building games, I’m sure you know the one. Those games where you have to wait four hours to upgrade your barracks, invade people, and they all play more or less the same way. I think what sets them apart is the aggressive monetization and visual art style.
Also, I discovered a new genre, Casino-Adventure.
There’s Still Hope!
Some games I still like
Entertaining phone games still exist—and you know I can’t leave you without suggestions, so here are some mobile games that deserve your attention, at least to me:
Loop Hero
Developer: Four Quarters
Publisher: Playdigious
Price: $6.99
The world has been thrown on a loop, a never-ending time loop, to be exact. Become the hero who must regain his memory, bring back inhabitants, and defeat the evil Lich in this deckbuilding roguelike RPG.
Deckbuilding games aren’t usually my thing, but I’m a sucker for minions, the looks, and the concept, and not just narratively. As the title says, you go on a loop, over and over again, and place cards that will buff you, and also spawn enemies, and in a way, rebuild the world. After that, you expand your camp with rewards you gain, build up your character, and continue the loop.
Dicey Dungeons
Developer/publisher: Terry Cavanagh
Price: $4.99
You’re gonna have to test your luck to beat Lady Luck’s dungeon and gain your wish in this deckbuilding roguelike game.
The art style is very charming, your characters are dice and have their own playstyle. The replayability lies in unlocking the characters, unfolding their stories—which isn’t much but humorous—and simply doing your runs.
Magic Survival
Developer/publisher: Leme
Price: $0/Free
The one who started the Bullet Heaven / Survivors-like genre, all for free and on your phone.
It’s a very simple game, and you can expect everything common with the genre. The meta-progression, the spell evolutions, the timed level, all that good stuff.
Cytus 2
Developer/publisher: Rayark International Limited
Price: $1.99
A rhythm game with great art style, great music, and a mysterious legendary DJ.
I’ve been playing this game on and off, and it has been a fun and satisfying experience, especially thanks to its bumping music. I will say, you can buy other characters, which will come with their music, but you don’t need to.
Unless you really want Miku, which I get… I get it.
Bloons TD 6
Developers/publishers: Ninja Kiwi
Price: $6.99
Pop those dreaded balloons! They’re after your bananas in this tower defense classic.
I’ve been playing these games since the second entry, so I am a bit nostalgic. But it is a solid tower defense with its unique art style, theme, neat music, and features. The heroes are also cool, and you can purchase skins without spending real money, unless you don’t want to play the game.
Why You Gotta Make Things Complicated?
It gets me frustrated
As one of—if not the most popular and accessible gaming device, there are bound to be many bad actors. Kind of rough that anyone can have a casino that is accessible—even if they disguise it as something else.
But as a person who can afford a couple of bucks here and there, I won’t lie—I’ve fallen for these practices, and I’ve thrived because of them. It takes a while for someone to realize that if you have to spend money to enjoy or be good at a free-to-play game, you might as well buy a game.
The mobile gaming space is flooded with predatory practices, but if you practice discipline or purchase some instead, you can get tons of value and protect your wallet.
Pokémon Go To The Comment Section
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I've been playing Pokemon Shuffle which is a port from a 3DS game. I have spent real money on this game because it's faster for me to advance the stages. I don't know how other people manage but I honestly think most people are lying if they say they don't spend money on these types of games (ie Pokemon; all of em!).
I love deck building games. I may want to try one of these at some point.