Mobile Gaming is the Definition of Wasted Potential 

hey old video blowing up for no reason gang, join my discord 😈 discord.com/invite/rcnCRYB7BJ

This video got me thinking about how mobile games were like back in the day. Fruit ninja, cut the rope, angry birds, doodle jump, and Plants vs Zombies were such addicting classics without all the BS that are in mobile games nowadays. Such a shame that mobile gaming headed the direction it did. Edit: Ofc there’s still good mobile games coming out, at the time I was just referring to the industry as a whole and the games that the general population plays.

2011: the PSP phone is awful. 2021: okay maybe it wasn't that bad considering

The worst thing is that there aren’t any legal consequences for these ridiculous ads. When they’re a small mobile game company, they have nothing to worry about “It’s probably immoral and unethical, but I can get away with bc no lawsuit”

Holy crap. I can't believe I completely forgot about how I liked gaming on phones before the smartphone era. It's crazy that tou could have full arcade games on a tiny phone that had buttons on it. I remember having some LG phone that had metal slug in it. Literally a full metal slug game and I loved it.

"Who the f*** puts ads in ga- *advertisement plays*"

Those old Gameloft games from the 2000's were the shit, thanks for the nostalgia trip man.

One thing that annoys me to no end is how good mobile games will not get promoted on the app store because they make less money, wich is really sad. PS: Interstellar Pilot 2 is a good game that you can play on mobile.

I think the absolute worst problem with gaming in general is that the big companies are greedy asf and demand a lot of money and more or less use you instead of the good days of gaming which devs were more about making games for people to enjoy.

If only we can have an app store that filters this shit and encourages developers to not have ads in their games and present solid games that make you pay only once and make people consider mobile gaming seriously. Unfortunately Apple and Google won't allow it

Tbf I've played supercell games without spending money my whole childhood and it was honestly such a blast

If you want mobile games that aren't shit, look at the rhythm game scene. Just be sure to go past the piano tiles and tap tap revolutions, and go for stuff like Cytus or Rotaeno or Deemo or Project Sekai or Arcaea or OverRapid or RAVON. The amount of effort in them is infinitely more than basically all of the games on the platform. You also get incredible music.

I seriously suggest playing the game "Death Palette" for those trying finding a mobile, story-based game. You try to complete a cursed painting without dying. It can be frustrating, but I swear, there's something about the game that makes you want to complete it. It deserved all the 5 stars that it got.

funny enough, my dad asked me yesterday if i had any recommendations because all the games he had tried for the past week were making him "wait" and he was tired of being limited. The only games that went through my mind at that moment were some games i played 10 or more years ago (Kingdom Rush 2011) and that terrified me

Would have loved a take on Apple Arcade in this - removing the need to monetise mobile games creates cool stuff.

2:25 Prince of Persia 3:38 Whaling 6:11 Slot machine 6:50 Ads 11:50 Diablo 7:20 Most earning 7:40 Brain tumour

4:19 it pains me to admit that you’re COMPLETELY right. I used to think I was immune to shitty mobile games because I’m so different and smart and cool and not like other people but ive had two games over the past years prove me otherwise, and they were as shitty, overloaded with ads and microtransactions and poor actual gameplay as they can get. And i got addicted anyways… at least it was a humbling experience

Man, that last segment hits so hard. We all think shit like "I'm special, these stupid tricks won't work on me!" But later you are launching this one game, every morning, every day, to get a pittance of summoning resources. When you start to want to brag about your lucky pulls - it's game over - they got you. I learned this from personal experience.

I like the distinction of "games you can play in your phone" vs "mobile games".

I remember a mobile game I played once a couple years back, Implosion: Never Lose Hope, it was a genuinely great game, all about the story, high fidelity graphics, gameplay, and most importantly, it has no ads, it just prompts you to buy the game after chapter 1 which for me lasted about half an hour, more than enough to see if I like the game or not. It has since been removed from Google Play Store, but I still occasionally think and reminisce about those times where games like those were the norm and studios genuinely bunkered down to make art.

Thank you for calling out the irrelevant ads on mobile games at 07:30 mins in. Like you said, the mobile game industry will only change if enough users complain about the ads. I’m glad you’re spreading awareness on this topic.

A curated mobile game store is actually a neat idea! I'll have to mull that over.

"You're not immune to this just because you're a kid that didn't have to study and thus didn't develop any work ethic and now you're paying the price as an adult" I have been directly and critically attacked.

The problem with manipulation is that even if you're (short term) rational, you can still be affected by manipulation. The difference is that some manipulation causes you to feel worse off if you don't do the thing (click on the sexy add or buy an item or log in to the game), which is much more unethical than a product that makes you feel better by playing the game. With the first type, even if you optimize for happiness, you end up worse off than if you never learned about the game.

A mobile game was actually what scared me of addiction for the rest of my life. It was one of the better ones with rpg elements and after creating my own guild I became hopelessly addicted. I had to always be online doing all the important stuff to not lose the high ranking members of my guild to the point where I neglected a lot of stuff like family and responsibilities and spend a whole bunch of money (at least for that time, I was a kid) until it finally cumulated in the top member of my guild leaving because I was a week on vacation. I had a mental breakdown after that and never touched anything highly addicting ever again, not even alcohol or any other drugs

Im actually glad you showcased Sky: Children of Light It’s one of the few mobile games that’s incredibly fun and even got ported to Switch

That small section at the end, where u revealed that u were sucked into one of the lusty anime games, had me dying 😭💀

Had no clue about that presentation, genuinely some really interesting material. Love the vibe, the entire presentation viewing experience is joyful - will be here for more!

I grew up with Mobile games. No console, no handhelds and no PC. Holy Wars, Gangstar2, Asphalt 4 and Alpha Zone. It was good. They inspired me to be a game dev. I do it as a hobby and released my first game on mobile. My policy is no ads, no data collection and demo available. The game is only a demo, and its called Astro Impact! De_Make

The developers are so scummy. I remember having a chat online with one who tried to justify why they had to use predatory monetization and I just lost hope for games getting better. Are people really that entitled to make money for the least amount of effort? They are borderline criminal. And shame on people who think paying for any mobile game is unfathomable. Consumers really enabled this practice and they continue to.

Mobile games back then : have an actual gameplay and short but really makes you like playing a game. Mobile games now : daily chores > get more currency > get more rolls in gacha > get more boobas or things > get more dopamine. It's like trying to make me a wage slave.

As a game development enthusiast, I will strive to make good mobile games, probably stuff that can run on both pc and mobile with cloud save, if I can manage it! That's the goal.

After their recent releases, I realized that Apple Arcade actually kinda tackles this issue. It’s a separate menu where you know you’ll find games ranging from decent to great while paying a subscription. I still feel the influence of mobile game design, like the extremely simplistic gameplay loops or assists up the wazoo, but there are definitely gems in there.

Funny enough, I completely agree with all the points in the video, and I also have Idle angels installed as one of the very few games on my phone. In the case of that game, it's so ridiculously over the top in all it's predatory cash grabs, fiat currencies and constant "quests" to keep you invested, that's it's just too confusing to figure out anything else and you can just focus on the core "game play loop". This isn't a defense of it, just a funny observation, it's basically so terrible it keeps everything else in check. *Play clip from the Simpsons where Mr. Burns is explained he's kept alive by all the diseases balancing each other out*

A few years ago i downloaded a game called idle skilling, i started playing it because it had a ton of unique content, but one of the main reasons i kept it was that it had no ads, a few in-app purchases that were tucked away nicely in one corner of one shop, and an 8-bit figure representing the creator saying random stuff to me. Its different to play a game someone made that a product an organisation provided you with.

THANK YOU SOO MUCH! I’ve been preaching this for years, I hate the app store soo much. There are a few good games out there but they become so hard to find in this sea of hyper casual games.

When you realize the #1 selling mobile game, Clash of Clans is literally a clone of a Facebook game called Backyard Monsters…

Almost guaranteed those ads are designed purposely to trigger any emotional response, whether it be anger, sadness, disgust. Anything to get you either talking about it or downloading it to see if its what it says it is. I think handheld gaming consoles like the Switch, Steam Deck, and others are the saving grace for the hardcore console players wanting to take something on the go with them.

The only mobile gaming I do is emulate classic Gameboy or NDS games. Great video, it certainly got me thinking and re-evaluating my thoughts on mobile gaming.

The worst part about the super sexualized ads is that it's target audience which would fall for it are kids... this shouldn't even be legal

4:28 why you dissing me like that?!

1:42 damn man so much nostalgia, I remember staying up til 3am as a kid playing prince of persia, assassins creed on my phone, it was THE SHIT, bouncy ball slapped hard too. Thanks for taking me back

Ironically the line "You're not immune to this just because you're a kid that didn't have to study and thus didn't develop any work ethic and now you're paying the price as an adult" could have been me if not for games that encourages you to play daily with the scummy daily system because a huge chunk of my teenage life was spent on basically what amounts to a part time job so in the end I became a workaholic who has a hard time idling Still very predatory tho and has ruined me permanently

Thanks! you brought in light so many concerns It's very helpful

A game I've recently started playing is Limbus Company, which takes place in the same universe as it's prior predecessors: Library of Ruina and Lobotomy Corporation (Lobotomy Corporation had fallen to ruin by the time of Limbus Company's story). Its surprisingly F2P friendly and the gameplay, despite being turn-based, is actually really tough the more you progress, which means you'll have to level up your characters to stand a chance

I remember almost a decade ago when I discovered Shadow Fight 2 and Vector. Man it felt like the universe was revealed before my eyes and I've just never seen anything like it at the tip of my fingertips no less. How far it has fallen from grace. Also Sky is honestly a miracle to me. The optimization of that game must be ahead of its time because it ran on my obsolete af phone with those beautiful graphics

The best mobile game I could find is one called "Soul Knight". It's a retro roguelike where the gameplay strongly resembles "the binding of Isac", so you can already imagine why it's good :^V I by playing It you will noticed that the team behind It made It with a lot of passion and heart, since It is a game that has a Nice sense of humor, challenging dificulty and a great ost (the final boss theme is too epic for it's own good), and that's why It is a ABSOLUTE GEM and I definitely recomend It. It's basicly the only game I have and need in my phone, because why botter digging If I already found the treasure? Please, check out this gem, you will not regret It.

15:04 Go watch porn .. uninstall this .. I choose to be immune. ..

In my experience, as I was younger I played many mobile games and most of them I started playing because of wanting to compare with my friends. As I grew older and played mostly on Pc, I learned to appreciate games more and didn't just play them for that reason. When I was 16 I was able to spend money digitally and started to appreciate the premium category on the Playstore because most games on there don't try to scam you and are made to be played occasionally. So I guess the only games that have any chance to be popular with younger audiences and therefore the main players of mobile games need to be for free to play, with all that entails, to remain profitable.

Holy shit the assassin's creed game at 2:12 sent me on a whole different type of nostalgia. Back when the only internet I ever knew was a weird looking flash drive that had like 200 megabytes and I downloaded those old Java games and played on Nokia phone (even before touch phones where a thing where i grew up). I thought those old games where forgotten by everyone but you just unlocked a whole ass memory for me. Thank you for this video man!

I must know if anyone here remembers infinity blade. PLEASE tell me someone does, that game and its sequels were insanely high quality games only available on the app store and they got removed a while ago, it's so sad.

I remember the infinity blade series. I played all of the games and absolutely loved it. Damn shame it’s not up there anymore.

7:03 Omg how dare they I love Yeti sports. Such a childhood classic. It has a special place in my heart, they can't do this.

A list of some cool mobile games I found over the past years: Free Games: - Sky: Children of Light (Yeah, it's on the video, but it's really great, free and you only get cosmetics with money, kinda like Journey, really fun) - That Level Again (I think I played the 1 and 2, it was pretty cool, don't know about 3 or 4) - Cat Bird (Kinda if a plataformer about a flying cat) - Super Cat Bros (Another plataformer with some main characters, pretty cool too) - I Am a Brave Knight (A history game, not much gameplay, you literally just write on the screen, but it is interesting) - Bad Land (There is tha 1 and 2, kinda like flappy bird but if it was more advanced, like, there is a really greater ambience, sounds, some powers too, even multiplayer) Games to Buy: - The Room ("Escape Room" type of game, really great quality, there is 3 games that I played and liked) - Dark Echo (A game seen from above where you "see the sound", every sound, step, claps, rocks, becomes some "rays of lights" that you use to see the wall, pits, enemies and more, really good game) - Agent A (A cool point and click game about some spys, I think it was fun) - Monument Valley (It's good, didn't remember it very well, but it's kinda a puzzle history-oriented game I think) Cash Grab (but kinda good) games: - Zooba (Battle royale with some fun gameplay) - RoyalRevolt 2 (Clash of Clans but you are a king that actually goes in battle, it's a cool mechanic) - Last Day On Earth (Survival game where you construct a base, get resources, kinda fun) - PostKnight (I liked it, you kinda just walks foward, pass some levels, get some ranks, better equipment, some relationships, cute and fun game) - Tentacle Wars (You are a cell that extends it's tentacles to dominate other cells, a bunch of other made game like this, but was the first of the kind that I played and I fink it's a cool mechanic) Edit: Now a list of all the games recommend in this thread (I didn't played most of then, just putting together so it's easier to see the list) Also, I am surprise with this list, it's really longer than I expected lol Sky: Children of Light That Level Again 1 & 2 Cat Bird Super Cat Bros I Am a Brave Knight Bad Land 1 & 2 The Room Series Dark Echo Agent A Monument Valley Zooba RoyalRevolt 2 Last Day on Earth PostKnight Tentacle Wars Botworld Adventure Postknight 2 Kitty death Room Soul Knight Hang Line Pocket Trains Day R Survival Candies and Curses Election Year Knockout Otherworld Legends PVZ2 Dead Cells Data Wing Space Expedition Alto's Odyssey Color Splash Fastar Baiko Hue 2 Green the Planet 1 & 2 Atti Land Colour Pixel Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Space Fractal Color Switch Patience Atomas Cosmic Challenge Racing Mandora Lucky Luna ProgressBar95 Seedship SuperCell games in general Mini Metro Stardew Valley Fly Corp Combat Master Labyrinth Legend 1 & 2 Train Conductor World Theo Town Epic Conquest 1 & 2 Guardian Takes Mindustry Rocket League Sideswipe Nobodies: Murder Cleaner Nobodies: After Death Exiled Kingdoms Simulacra 1 & 2 Pascal's Wager Leo's Fortune Vampire Survivors Shadow Fight 2 World Flipper Stickman Project Dan The Man Swordigo Space Marshals 2 Azur Lane Cats Are Liquid Marvel Snap ReversEstory Geometry Dash Asphalt Nitro Transformers Forged To Fight Castlevania Downwell Nameless Cat Fancade The Battle Cats

The peak of mobile gaming was when they were just starting to play round with the tilt mechanics on the iPhone and iPod touch. My favorite mobile game is still Bounce On, which I doubt you can even find on the app store now! Other ones I loved were Doodle Jump and this one Ninjago game where you could tilt the screen to move your character's spinjitsu tornado around an arena and smack into an enemy as hard as possible. Honestly, I miss that experimentation and I wish any mobile games would bring back that control feature.

Great video! Spoke from my heart

What makes me even sadder is that many of the old mobile games that were legitimately good aren't even playable anymore. Games like Cartoon Wars 2 and the Infinity Blade trilogy are completely gone from the app store, while other good games like Head Soccer and Pixel Gun drank the scummy mobile game kool aid and are virtually unrecognizable now

As a main mobile gamer....I approve these messages haha luckily I don't play mobile games with ads. I hate them. keep it up.

This is one of the channels where I can wait for months until the next video comes. I really appreciate your high quality videos.

that line is exactly me, I got goosebumps as he slowly. word. by. word. described every thing "You're not immune to this just because you're a kid that didn't have to study and thus didn't develop any work ethic and now you're paying the price as an adult"

I think the epitome of mobile gaming was Vainglory. However that game was ahead of its time 😔. The sad thing is, the reason the game died was because they were too generous in giving the players free stuff and not being hella monetized.

I remember when I first got my iPod touch as a kid there was still a lot of fun stuff back then, but it had all the predatory crap still even on some of the fun games. Luckily I was never given access to mommy's credit card so I had no way to pay for anything, I actually had a lot of fun seeing how far I could get on the worst ones without paying a cent and so have grown very resistant to microtransactions as a result

8:34 The second you said the company was based in Cypress I was like "ah, so it's a Russian shell company for money laundering" Glad to know you're also not immune to thicc anime girls. I'm not alone!

OMG you actually talked about everything I feel about mobile games, I always go to the play store in hopes of finding a decent game that's ACTUALLY FUN and I always fail at that, I seriously gave up on mobile gaming at this point.

Glad you showed Botworld! The gameplay is awesome, the fighting mechanic is designed with unique functions. Plus, the graphics quality is very vivid and actually beautiful! It was one of my favorite mobile games, but the IAP are practically inevitable since you can't loot games and just buy them at the store, forcing you to make a purchase. I never paid a single cent, but I can say that I've come so far into the game and get actual lore

Well I’ve been playing clash of clans for the past 4 or 5 years without ever spending a single penny an it’s more fun this way, I guess sometimes I’m tempted to buy a little thing here and there but it just feels like cheating to me, I think it’s actually pretty satisfying to reach high level playing the normal way lmao

This was informative and so was the let's go whaling talk. Another point worth emphasizing is that anger toward something offers no protection against it. I know this first hand. It seems like a core piece of being human.

Supercell was the first to include the "main troop/hero screaming at the camera" thpe of app logos and they cursed us all

12:35 Ayyy Im SOO HAPPY you talked about that, i wanted one ever since the ROG 2 and now i have the 6 and im Very Happy with it!

Thank you for saying everything that you said in this video. Simply knowing that there are people that are able to see and point out the mutated parasite that has grown into these games... changes my world. It truly changes it, thank you for changing the world.

Ah mobile the glitchy controls, the micro-transactions at EVERY corner and can't forget the ADs that fuel all my nightmares.

6:19 cheeky little ad when u said about ads in games kekw

I think this whole video was a giant advertisement. "Look at all these terrible game..... except this one! This one is lit!"

6:14 was actually genius

I like some gacha games but I deliberately do not allow myself to spend money on them. Trying to beat the system that wants you to spend real money is the challenge for me.

Surprised you used a Genshin song at 11:53 without mentioning the game! Despite all the exaggerated or outright untrue "mobile Chinese gacha weeb game for p3d0s" stereotypes, it really is a quality game and you can see the sheer amount of effort gone into the overworld, lore, music, and characters, especially with the newer update of Sumeru that kicked it up a notch. I've played it F2P for one and a half year now.

1:06, Phones were cell phones (ether was a brick one or flip phone) what i can remember. People online talking about smartphone games than cellphone ones.

This is why i love geometry dash. You pay 2$ to get the game and thats it. No ads, everything in the game is obtained fully through gameplay and experience, it’s always super rewarding, and is just something that has so much love put into it by the developer and the community.

Dont forget, back in the days (pre iPhone) the mobile games might not have been predatory, but the distribution. Often by bundling games into a subscription service, forced onto phone users without them asking for it.

13:20 I hear you, mondstat city music

I've been wondering about this lately. With new laws and regulations forcing Apple to not be a GateKeeper and allow third party stores (side loading), technically someone *could* make a curated games store that *only* features "real games" with no in-app purchase bullshit. Obviously it wouldn't be for money as IAP are so profitable, it would have to be a project of passion for "true" gaming.

This video seems so relevant, almost prophetic even when you consider all the news about Diablo Immortal over the last few days.

Man your video is 10/10, from the script to the editing, and you spoke facts. Reminded me of colossatron, a halfbrick classic, that has been removed from the app store for whatever reason. It was so different from so many mobile games ~~minus the microtransactions for some upgrades (which you can still get through just playing)~~ and when i looked it up on the app store recently, it was gone. Really good video!

so sad , ilove the game gunz and find it sad ill have to go to your patreon to check it :o bless up , good video

Great video btw i was expecting sponser from raid shadow legends

Supercell is one of the few mobile game companies who makes genuinely fun games that aren't designed to squeeze money out of people. Of course there are in app purchases, but it doesn't make it unfair for free to play people, and recently Supercell removed boxes from Brawl Stars, effectively removing any form of gambling within the game.

Surprisingly how this outpouring of mobile games hasn't led to a 2nd video game crash Just goes to show how integral video games have rooted into our society and minds.

Very chill vid, will sub

"Who tf puts ads on games" And an ad plays😭

I feel you in the ad shit definitely. it's rare to see an add for a mobile game ,that actually works like the game does. it's so baffling that it's even allowed ,but I'm sure the market is too large for anyone to actually hold people accountable. I do play certain games tho ,that I enjoy very much but ,the market as a whole is fked up .

This is very intelligent and you seem to have a good wrap on how the gaming industry comes off as. I have been trying to find a place where someone sees what I see. There was a great philosophical post I read on how people are not putting their soul into it art, they aren't toiling away and suffering for their it, so we the people suffer as we consume this perspective of life. This keys into the industry that I am most interested in, gaming.

0:57 GAH THE NOSTALGIA. I remember playing The Sims on my family’s old flip phone. We only had the demo but it was still.

Besides supercell. Half brick just made classic versions of Jetpack Joyride and Dan the Man which are both amazing games and there’s no ads.

6:22 Even worse, the "real" mobile game has nothing to do with the ad they're showing you

Not specific to the video but just in general; your editing in combination with your sense of humor is fucking hilarious and great to watch; and it really does build upon your commentary. It never feels overwhelming to the point you're trying to get across, and I find myself rewinding your videos a lot because a joke made me laugh so much. I look forward to more of your work!

Great video 🔝👍

I’d recommend Simon Tatham’s Puzzles if you enjoy puzzle games with lots of options and do not want to deal with any ads or micro transactions.

That Diablo Immortal clip hits slightly differently now that we know how predatory and super hot trash it is.

Bro i just discovered your channel and it somehow feels you are repeating my own thoughts to me in a better way with great editing

6:15 "who the fuck puts ad in--" *disruptive youtube ad literally appears out of nowhere*