I don't do much mobile gaming but I am a fan of pointless time-killer kinds of games. They are perfect for those times when you are waiting in line or just waiting for anything (I have a tendency to get a bit impatient so being able to shift my focus off of the wait helps tamp down the frustration or nervousness that I can feel). In a perfect world I would have a book handy and read rather than waste my time with more brainrot on my phone, but packing around a physical book just isn't very convenient (and no, I have zero desire to do any reading on my phone). Here are my picks for games to distract yourself from the inevitable waiting.
1.) Candy Crush
It's a classic and there's constantly some kind of in-game event to keep pulling you in. They added in a seasonal type event where you collect these digital "pins" and it's oddly satisfying to cobble together an entire set. Candy Crush is perfect because you can generally finish up a level in a few minutes and it's not particularly mentally demanding--match candies, pew pew, collect rewards. The main downside...ads. It's true that you can skip many of them but if you fail a level and want those sweet extra turns, you can expect to be wasting time with multiple ads. It's the perfect time to stop looking at your phone and see how much longer you might be waiting. At least they aren't depressing ads for medications (although I find many TikTok ads to be annoying).
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| The season of ultracite has commenced in Fallout Shelter! |
2.) Fallout Shelter
I started playing Fallout Shelter when it originally came out (like 2014-ish) and had very few fun features. Luckily the game has drastically changed since that time and there's plenty to keep you coming back. In honor of the Amazon Prime Fallout series, they recently introduced seasonal "experimental vaults." These vaults are only active for 40 days and have specific objectives that must be achieved to earn a special kind of XP that will unlock random rewards (like lunchboxes, caps, weapons, pet carriers, etc.). You start your vault from scratch and there's some kind of fun gimmick with each season--the Fallout series themed seasons (that recently ended) featured a special currency that allowed you to spin the "lucky wheel" to earn random rewards (like different tiers of weapons, outfits, pets, stimpacks, radaway, etc.). They also featured special characters from the streaming series who could be unlocked by completing special quest lines. The current season is related to Fallout 76 and features the Scorched (a kind of ghoulish-baddie) who periodically raid your vault. Killing the Scorched is much easier if you use special "ultracite" weapons that can be crafted from two new rooms--the ultracite mine (finally a place for your high endurance vault dwellers!) and the ultracite weapons lab.
The seasons feature is great because it gives you a reason to keep playing. It's fun to level up a vault over a short period and try to accomplish all the tasks that are part of the season (I can pretty consistently get all but 2 of them). There are some ads (optional though) but it's not as egregious as Candy Crush. I would also say that Fallout Shelter generally isn't as good as Candy Crush for taking a few minutes to knock out a level or objective. I find myself playing for a chunk of time (depending on the level of my vault) but it's still very casual and low pressure.
If you're looking for the perfect mobile game to offer up some minimally mentally demanding games for wasting time, these two are both great options.
Have a great weekend and find some time to do some light gaming!
