Mobile gaming isn’t quite as niche or unexplored as it once was, and in fact, it’s possible to play many of the same games you can find on home consoles thanks to the improvements in hardware. However, when you’re trying to kill time on a journey or a particularly boring wait, it might not be these high-budget, long-form games that you want to take your mind off things – it could be something simple, easy, and quick.
Fortunately, that still leaves you with a myriad of options, as this is much closer to what the mobile genre started out with in this regard.
Roguelikes
Of all the games that have been ported to mobile platforms, you might find that the genre of roguelikes might best appeal to this ambition. These are games where individual playthroughs (or ‘runs’) generally last from half an hour to two hours, your completion of these often awarding some sort of progress on the overall list of unlockables before you start again. These runs are generally randomized and, as such, feature a lot of variety and replayability. The Binding of Isaac, Slay the Spire, Faster Than Light – these are all games of distinctly different genres in regards to how they play, but they fall into this category and could provide you with a lot of convenient ways to pass the time.
Online Casino Games
There are also games available through online casinos that you might be drawn to. When you think of games with fast gameplay loops, it’s difficult to think of any that better fits that description than slot games – spin the reel and watch where they fall. Thanks to the digitization of these activities, these kinds of experiences are readily available through French online casinos – and you’re not limited to slot games by any means, meaning you could explore alternatives like roulette and blackjack, too.
It could also be that you don’t have any interest in gaming as a medium – but if you’re coming into this from the perspective of someone who has played casino games before, you might find that this more convenient way to interact with them can make them more accessible. However, with that accessibility, it’s important to be aware of how to engage with them responsibly.
Reaction Games
Many of the games that were prevalent in the early days of mobile gaming were simple in nature. Fruit Ninja and Temple Run were historically popular examples, and these were so because of how engaging their rhythms were. While the way that they play might seem somewhat simple by modern standards, they can still be an effective way of passing the time – and that might be best seen when you turn your attention toward reaction-based games. These can often be musical – such as those featuring piano keys – where the goal is to touch the right part of the screen at the right time. It takes time to master and fast reflexes, but the challenging nature of these games can help to make them more engaging.