I started playing Super Auto Pets 'cause a friend on here reviewed it. It is a very fun and addictive mobile strategy game. You slowly build your team of animals (Pets) every round, each with their own abilities, to try and win against each opponent you face. Think rock, paper, scissors but with 30+ more choices. The matches are automated (Auto), based on the numerical outcome of each team's stats. I've retired the game because I was having an addictive level of fun and I need to try and limit the amount of screen time on my phone. The game is definitely programmed to hold your attention and drip feed the serotonin. I did VERY well my first couple matches, then lost the next few, and by the end was slowly getting closer and closer to perfect games. Partially because I was getting better at strategizing, but also because it felt like the "RNG" was pairing me against the right people to make sure I neither lost or won too much at once.

Haven't played this in like a year but I played it enough back when it was first blowing up (due primarily by Northernlion, which is pretty funny) to get the golden poop hat, which was my main goal, so I feel pretty good about that.

This is basically Dota 2 Autochess / Teamfight Tactics but with the minimalist design ethos of Hearthstone. Like Auto Chess, you roll an inventory of characters every turn to most efficiently stack units together and build a team that synergizes well enough to beat another player's team. And like Hearthstone, there's an emphasis on small numbers, a clean minimal interface, multiple called instances of rng only a computer could comfortably simulate in quick succession, and several small effects that chain together and stack in unexpected, interesting ways.

The brilliance in this particular packaging is the asynchronous multiplayer. Whereas Auto Chess had a limited amount of players in a lobby taking simultaneous timed turns, Super Auto Pets lets players take their time and fight the whole player base whenever it's convenient, perfect for mobile and way less stressful too. Add the colorful emoji graphics and you got a perfectly wholesome looking, but powerfully addicting and surprisingly deep strategy game that's fun for the whole family (I'm aware they recently changed the emoji graphics to their own original style. This is a misstep imo, the emoji graphics were great).

Apparently they're still updating the game, adding new animals and food and game modes so that's cool. The core design is honestly pretty impeccable so I'm happy to see so many people enjoying it so much.

Wonderful to pop onto now and then and get my brain just activated enough thinking about synergies and how to pivot between different strong combinations to let the time pass without feeling a strong compulsion to play a ton. I'm not very good, but the extreme depth is evident and if I ever felt like it I'm sure I could get really into improving my skills. There's a special kind of richness to rolling with the punches of RNG or exerting your will over it that is very enticing to the TCG player part of my brain.

You piece.

Don't get tricked by the cute exterior, this is one of the most infuriating games ever conceived.
Essentially a slot machine that tricks you into thinking it's more skill than luck because you'll see the community throwing around fancy words like "current meta" and "viable build".

Trying to have fun with the billion different pets the game provides you with? Get fucked nerd, "The Wet Aunties" summon a 50/50 Rhinoceros that one-shots your entire squad. Back to the mosquito dimension with you.
It doesn't even feel good to win, since it usually ends just before you finally manage to create a satisfying team.

File under "Games that are actually just fidget toys for when you want to listen to a podcast" along with Vampire Survivors and all that other brain slop.