Temple Run

If you tell us didn’t get addicted to Temple Run circa 2011 and again when Temple Run 2 was released in 2013, we’re just gonna go ahead and assume you’re lying. Everyone had this on their phones and maybe some still do to this day. The fast-paced game features an explorer with an ancient relic running away from demon monkeys. Temple Run has taught everyone that we can lose many times (sometimes even 10 seconds in the game), but once we decide to get back up, we’ll get the hang of it and eventually win. Or something.

Subway Surfers

Here’s another endless runner game everyone absolutely loved. Subway Surfers had you choosing characters to run on train tracks dodging obstacles while collecting coins and mystery boxes. You couldn’t put your phone down. It was *addicting* especially when things speed up and you have to have an impeccable reaction time to avoid those trains. How many times have you outgrown and re-downloaded this game over the years?

Fruit Ninja

The year is 2010 and you’re just discovering how awesome touch screen phones are. One of your first game downloads is Fruit Ninja and you loved playing it through your device’s heavily scratched-up screen protector. It’s nothing much — just slicing fruits and avoiding bombs — but the *chokehold* it had on kids, teens, and adults! It also once became everyone’s babysitter since you can put this in front of kids and they will play it for hours on end (not recommended parenting though).

Flappy Bird

Everyone had a love-hate relationship with Flappy Bird. It was addicting, frustrating, fun, and it never let you have peace because you just have to win. Care to share your absolute highest score? You deserve bragging rights if that’s in three digits. You’ll find versions of Flappy Bird on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store but the original was actually removed years ago. The creator said that the game was “too addicting” and that it “ruined his simple life.” And that, folks, is why we make sure we don’t get addicted to games.

2048

The chokehold 2048 had on your classmates was so tight, they played that game every chance they get. During class breaks, at lunch, going home, and sometimes even through a boring lecture. Playing 2048 was actually a subtle flex especially if you keep successfully figuring out the levels because mathematics. The brains on this player! Your other friends could never. *Hair flip*

Tetris

If you hate abstract reasoning portions in exams, you most likely hate Tetris. Or, looking at the bright side, you used this game to hone your non-existent abstract reasoning skills. Figuring out how to fit the blocks together is fun until you make one mistake, everything is piling up and now you’re panicking. Did you know Tetris was released in 1984 by a Soviet software engineer named Alexey Pajitnov? Since then, the game has had a lot of versions and has proved how it’s one of the best mobile games of all time. Tetris continues to be a classic though, something you’ll miss playing from time to time.

Candy Crush

While only select millennials and maybe a handful of Gen Zs are still playing this game, we bet our left kidneys their moms and titas still have it installed. Candy Crush was addicting at first. It was a mindless game where you had to swap candies so you get rows with at least three of the same kind. But then many quickly figured out it isn’t as exciting as Temple Run or Subway Surfers. That’s when it went from a crowd favorite to something a mom would play to while away time falling in line at a grocery store.

Plants vs. Zombies

Brainz! Can you believe Plants vs. Zombies was released in 2009? If we’re being completely honest, sometimes we still download this game from time to time — it’s one of the best mobile games of all time! It transports us to the Good Ol’ Days where everything was simpler, adulting was a “dream,” and the pandemic hasn’t tainted the world. It’s a relaxing game now too since you know your way around — you need two rows of sunflowers at the back, followed by Peashooters or Threepeaters if you’re fancy, and then top it off with a row of Tall Nuts and Wall Nuts. Crazy Dave would be proud of your work.

Which other games once had you on a chokehold? Share the nostalgia with us in the comments!

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