They usually are free to play with predatory monetization mechanics. That was especially back in 2016 when thanks to these games, the mobile gaming revenue outpaced PC and console gaming revenue.

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[–] PunchingWood@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I feel like the best time for mobile games was back around 2009/2010 when touchscreen just became good and most stuff was either free or paid and without intrusive ads and monetization or other predatory bullcrap.

I recently tried Angry Birds 2, and I was baffled it would only take a few levels before I had to buy my way to more "ammunition" to keep playing. The original used to be good, I even wouldn't have minded if there was like an ad between games, or if it was just buy-to-play, but even that isn't an alternative option anymore. And they also pulled the original from the stores, I thought they had re-released it before, but couldn't find it either. And also when I first opened the game there was so much shit on screen that it was even difficult to navigate to just even find the actual game, it's absolutely fucking ridiculous.

[–] catalyst@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

Agreed. There was a fantastic time for mobile games before things went downhill.

I have a strong memory of being in an apple store, finding a display iPad, and becoming enraptured by Plants vs Zombies. I would eventually get my own and put dozens and dozens of hours into the game.

Then EA took it over and turned it into trash.