It seems we have, as a society, completely lost the plot in regards to what makes a good mobile game. There was once a time, not too long ago, when respected people throughout the gaming industry were genuinely convinced that the ascendant Goliath of mobile gaming would put everyone out of business. In the decade or so since these proclamations, the furthest innovation the scene has gotten seems to be jiggling AI generated anime women beckoning you to play War of Clash: Clicker Origins.

It turns out the perfect mobile game was made over a decade ago. It's called Angry Birds. But Flow Free definitely fills out the rest of the elite roster. It's a commute game through and through - sitting down with it for more than 40 minutes would bore you to tears. But any less and you will certainly enter a flow state (sorry) that has had me seeing pipes for hours after I've put my phone down.

All you need is a simple core gameplay loop (connect dots with pipes), add twists on the formula (bridges, walls), and create harder levels (larger grid). Plus have enough stages to occupy months of transit, and you've got a extremely competent puzzle game.

Probably the best game to play when you just ducked the cops after getting way too high at an animal collective concert, your second ever weed moment, whereupon you blacked out, and came back awake slapping yourself in the mirror due to losing all feeling in your body for several hours, but thank god petting your wide whale corduroy pants brought your heart rate down because the line between panic attack and overdose had blurred during pre-show, which by the way, someone explain to me why the tour for Centipede Hz included Bohemian Rhapsody in the pre-show music, I mean that album is overdue for a revisit, because its more than just the "king of limbs" of their discography, but even if it isn't, it doesn't get enough love for an ambitious follow up to Merriweather, maybe it's their Kid A, not to mention the security guard making me call my mom outside the bathroom forcing her to drive out to boston in a record breaking blizzard and share a bed with me in the house of my friend of a friend and all these other kids I'd never met who needed shelter from the snow, the vacuous horror at the thought of losing my mind to the same murderous abyss my uncle did still a din too loud to ignore; a verbless enmity to an endless identity, making it all too difficult to explain to mother I'm still a good kid but a shame there wasn't a follow up with better UI.

iPhone :(

(Played in the early 2010s.)

Simple, short yet very fun puzzle game for mobile devices. Sadly rather forgettable due to its basic premise and short length. It's unique idea made it very addicting and kept me playing until I'd beat all the levels.