In Defense of Mobile Games? | Internet Analysis
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- internet analysis: mobile games! // Download the Opera browser for free: opr.as/OperaPCbrowser & check out my Cozy Games pinboard! opr.as/COZY-GAMING
PATREON: / tiffanyferg
Full video episodes of Internet Analysis are available to watch/listen on SPOTIFY! Follow the show here: open.spotify.com/show/1lec8eA...
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TIME STAMPS:
0:00 - intro
1:33 - freemium games
2:43 - Homescapes & fake mobile game ads
6:30 - today's sponsor, Opera
7:55 - Pay to Win
10:28 - why I bought in-app purchases for Homescapes...
12:13 - what makes these games so addictive?
17:10 - gaming and gambling
19:22 - my Episode / Demi Lovato game era
24:34 - gender in gaming
30:18 - the total amount I've spent on mobile games...
33:03 - was it worth it?
34:28 - final thoughts
37:32 - a little personal check in
RESOURCES & REFERENCES:
"All Homescapes Ads 2020 (so far)" - • All Homescapes Ads 202...
"Game Ads Are Still Terrible" | Danny Gonzalez - • Game Ads Are Still Ter...
"Who Makes Fake Mobile Game Ads?" | Kyle Anderson - • Who Makes Fake Mobile ...
Those banned mobile game adverts are still appearing on twitter - www.thegamer.com/misleading-m...
"Homescapes: Mini-Game Compilation" | Just Solved - • Homescapes: Mini-Game ...
Dark Pattern Games - www.darkpattern.games/
The association between mobile game addiction and depression, social anxiety, and loneliness - www.frontiersin.org/articles/...
Zane spends $150 on Candy Crush (tiktok) - www.tiktok.com/@unfiltered/vi...
"ZANE REVEALS HOW MUCH MONEY HE'S SPENT ON CANDY CRUSH" | Zane and Heath: Unfiltered Highlights - • ZANE REVEALS HOW MUCH ...
"DEMI LOVATO PATH TO FAME #1 SEASON ONE" | KPopp - • DEMI LOVATO PATH TO FA...
163 mobile gaming statistics for 2022 that will blow your mind - www.blog.udonis.co/mobile-mar...
Liftoff: females are 79% more likely to make in-app purchases in mobile games - venturebeat.com/games/liftoff....
Tiffany Ferguson (she/her), 26 years old. #internetanalysis
Business Inquiries: tiffanyferguson@select.co
This episode was co-written by Sheriden Smith!
Captions / video transcription by: / slowxmoxpanda (She is looking for more caption work, so feel free to reach out to her on Twitter!)
FTC: This video is sponsored by Opera. Links with * are affiliate, meaning I am compensated monetarily if you join or make a purchase. 
Кино
hi hi! we had a lot of fun making this one! but I must say, Sheriden and I have reignited our mobile game addictions while working on this...
EDIT: ps, thank you all for the feedback about the format! If/when we attempt something similar, we’ll definitely work to make any interjections more smooth and add some more interesting visuals ✨
Candy Crush hive RISE UP
Enjoyed the added bits from Sheriden but I feel like just the floating audio box is a bit out of place. Would work seemlessly in a podcast format but might be better if it came with visual content for the video :)
I agree about the audio waveform popping in feels a bit out of place. Maybe a freeze frame of the image with Tiffany and the audio wave form version of Sheridan overlayed in the corner?
I personally liked it better with just Tiffany. Like the comments above - it just felt a bit jarring and especially since we're used to one voice it felt odd when someone else started talking
@@innitfam3323 Yeah and the audio quality difference was quite jarring as well.
I think that it's important to mention the faux competitive aspects of mobile gaming as well. Often, offline mobile games will simulate online play by presenting a fake leaderboard. Of course, you're at the bottom of the leaderboard, and you're incentivized to climb up to the top. However, these accounts that you're seemingly playing against are completely fake-they're created by the mobile game creator. This is often the case in casino or slots apps, so it drives a lot of in-app purchases
this is the first time im thinking about the kim k app board being fake. like why did i believe that seventh grade me was the best at that game
I remember vividly the moment I realized the competition was completely faked- I was playing against the same user twice in one game 🤦🏼♀️ Little 14 year old me was so mad.
I wonder if this happened to me in Duolingo. My friend didn't put much effort in and climbed the leagues easily, where I did a lot more and kept dangling at the bottom of the boards...
@@amara560 I have heard before that Duolingo this this, at least years ago. It made me so mad I stopped using the app, lol. I played last year again and the leagues did feel more organic and real.
@@BertaRS I have switched to Renshuu now for my Japanese lessons. So many customization options. It's what I always wanted out of Duolingo and more.
I feel like a time management game set in a hospital, where some levels are literally impossible to beat without buying boosters... There's a potential for some social commentary in there.
Oooof definitely!! It’s literally a for-profit hospital called “happy clinic” lmao I was like…. This is dystopian
As a nurse this disturbs me too 😭
the irony of playing a game on my phone while listening to this video is not lost on me
I support it 😌
Same!
this is meeeeeeeee😭
Saaame
I’ve noticed a pattern in the game ads lately, where they show the game being played poorly and failing. I think this entices a viewer who knows they can do it better and was frustrated watching it done poorly, so they download the game to prove themselves. I’m pretty picky about mobile games and have deleted some because they do not curate the ads they run and it’s essentially a money grab from all directions.
pfffffft me with all those scapes and matchington mansion game
This was so interesting! I work at a mobile game company who has projects like this. I actually started as the sole customer service rep for one game to get my foot in the door at the studio, and then later became a developer for it, so I got a very comprehensive view of how the game is setup to entice (or perhaps take advantage of) consumers, AND how that affects the players firsthand, because I was talking directly to them myself.
Funny enough, this topic is actually a conversation that even the people who work on the game have. Some of my coworkers expressed dissatisfaction/discomfort at having to develop for a game that used tactics like this. (Apparently earlier in the game's lifespan, when it was new and fresh, it did not have to rely on predatory tactics to make money, but slowly became more and more that way over time as money was needed, and product managers and such realized that more money could be made with less...savory methods of advertising new content to players.) My mentor at the company actually quit somewhat abruptly because management put him back on the project and he pretty much refused to go back.
Most of my customer service emails were bugs and such with the game, but I'll never forget that I did get one message from a player who was a long time customer of the game. (I could see his history and he had spent thousands of $$$ over years.) They actually messaged not with an error to fix, but specifically requesting that on our game's homepage he *not* be shown our daily time-limited deals. (typically 24 hrs) He told me he physically could not stop himself from purchasing them and it was causing him distress in a lot of ways. At the time I was in college for a dual degree in Game Development and Psychology, so you can imagine my sympathy and conflict I felt for him. I brought it up to my team, but it really wasn't a function that we could "turn off" for a single player, so there wasn't much I could do for him. I did sit for a long time though wondering if I should offer some personal advice (VERY outside of my job description) and tell him to stop playing our game or seek some help. Probably would have been talked to or fired for suggesting one of our top players leave the game, but I wanted to. I believe he stopped playing the game despite his heavy investment because of his spending habits. I do commend him for going the extra mile just to see if we could help him still play the game but in a healthier way.
Hope my 2 cents was interesting. :) Hopefully the industry moves in a more consumer-conscious direction soon, though profit is such a hard thing to get companies away from. Loved the video!
Casino dealers have obligations to intervene if they suspect addiction, and honestly it seems to me like you were put in a very similar position, but without the industry guidelines that casinos have (and often ignore)
I have spent several hundred dollars on model games in the 10 or so years. As a stay at home mom to multiple kids, I've had limited resources to go "out" or get time I control. Candy Crush, Mario Kart Tour, June's Journey, Pokemon Go, all of these made me feel more connected to something outside my house, they made my world feel bigger. They gave me "me time" and a sense of privacy.
I feel like if I ran the numbers I've probably spent about $10 a month for the last decade on these. And while that is a lot of money, it's also not, not when you consider the amount of joy I've gotten from them. I don't drink, smoke, and buy pretty much everything second hand, we rarely go out to eat and I cook almost every meal at home. I don't waste a lot of money and these have been a little luxury I give myself.
I have learned whenever I feel like I'm in a frustration spiral with the games I need to delete them.
They can be bad, and addictive, or they can a welcome escape. My youngest just started school, and I just joined a gym. I deleted a lot these off my phone. I feel like with more a lone time I probably won't play as much. But I can't really feel guilty about these.
i cannot possibly imagine how you have 40 minutes of content about mobile games but im more than prepared to watch and i already know i’m gonna be impressed
right?! Tiffany is so so phenomenal like… her mind 🤗
no fr thats why shes the best
When I was in college I got really into this one mobile dating sim game called Mystic Messenger, in which you would receive messages from pretty anime boys in REAL TIME. So like, if you missed a message - because you were in class or at work or asleep (some messages would come in the middle of the night!) - you had to either pay real money to see previous messages or see further messages, or just resign yourself to only getting short bits of the storyline at a time and/or structuring your whole life around participating in these “conversations” on time, lest you miss key parts of the storyline 😅 absolutely insane looking back on it
But In Mystic Messenger the Premium Currency is easy to farm for free so you could do all that for free. (Which probably wasn't great for the company despite how successful the game was).
Reminds me of tamagotchis. Yes I’m old.
So basically a sim of a toxic, abusive relationship. Whoo boy...
Oh yes Mystic Messenger, my friends in high school were so into it that they structured their day around it like you say, those were crazy times
That is wild.
South Park actually did a great episode on mobile games where they spelled out that the majority of mobile games are literally designed to create gambling/playing addictions in a sizable percentage of the people who play them. The best part is iirc Trey Parker and Matt Stone were approached to make a South Park mobile game, and instead they decided to make an entire episode shitting on the mobile game industry lol (they would later go onto create two very well-made and fun SP games for consoles/PC).
ooh what episode is this!
They did make a clash royale eske south park mobile game eventually, it was ok but had the usual issue of power creep and infrequent balance patches
@@junedaniel2981 It's called Freemium Isn't Free, in season 18!
and the south park mobile game was very p2w too lol
There are several good GDC and game-industry commentary videos examining this. Everything from the UI colors to the precise pitch used in chimes is vetted by behavioral psychologists to maximize habit-forming, and by extension, spending. If they can get you to play at least 2-3 times in 7 days, they're almost assured that you'll spend, and spend big.
It was fun to hear from Sheridan! Just a suggestion, having something visual when she speaks could be a bit more engaging than the soundwaves. She could create an avatar and have it wiggle on screen as she talks, or you could edit in some B Roll to look at :)
Thank you for the feedback! I agree, b-roll would definitely help!
Was about to say the same 😊
I like the sound waves, it reminds me of karen from SpongeBob
I had to get rid of the Kim K mobile game twice cause I couldn’t handle how addictive it was. I was spending real money just to stay on the A list and I was so ashamed 😂😭
THE A LIST!! omg the hold it had on us
If feel like episode indirectly pressures you into spending money, nobody wants to disappoint their fanfic prince 😩
n the outfits are soo ugly lmao
episode is so shameless there’s nothing indirect abt it😭😭 i had a slight issue whenever i played that i HAVE to see what stories the diamonds unlock lmao
It's sad too - visual novels are actually a really popular & high-volume genre, esp among women players. I think they obfuscate the genre terminology, i.e. "Episode", to make it harder for fans to find less predatory options.
It's extremely direct. You literally can't get the "good" outcome without repeatedly paying them money.
I used to play Episode a lot, but I only ever played user-made stories so there were no price prompts. Plus, some of them were really interactive and interesting!
Same here! I really like some of the community storied
That's awesome so like there was modded content!? That's so kool!
I miss playing Episode, but I do prefer Choices more.
Free to play/pay to win mobil games being addicting can be a big problem for anyone that is chronically ill/disabled. We often need things to fill our time when we are unable to do anything productive but we generally don’t have much money.
V good point
Yeah, that was how they got my late hubby. He had a lot of hours at home & at dialysis, and access to a bank account / credit card. Depressed people are also a major target (and of course, there's overlap there).
Holy shit this is so true. I use games to self regulate as well, so there’s a therapeutic aspect to it but not enough to keep me from feeling ashamed for spending real money on these games
Great video. As a woman, I too hesitate to call myself a gamer, even though I've been gaming my entire life. Not only do I feel like the types of games I play aren't traditional "gamer games" (Pokemon, animal crossing, sims, Mario kart...) I also feel like I'm not skilled enough to consider myself a gamer. I feel like a gamer needs to be "good" at games. And I'm certainly bad at shooters, sports games and race games. All of those feel like they're the "real" games.
I'd consider you a 'gamer' but I completely understand your hesitance to say it as unfortunately there are plenty loud ignorant people who would say otherwise, and would do it to belittle. And I don't really think skill has to do with it, I mean that's cool and all but doesn't take away from the fact you like playing games. Plus there are plenty people who play 'gamer games' that are definitely not skilled 🤣 I do understand what you mean by the term 'gamer' being associated with certain genres but from what you've said you're a gaming nerd and there's nothing you can do about it now, it's non-reversible sorry 🤷♂
Resist the gaslighting! 💜 If you play games, watch games, suck at games, or even just enjoy hearing about games, but don't have much time to play, you're also a gamer.
I grew up in the arcade age, before they started gendering computers & games as "for boys". Many of the games back then were designed - and played! - by women, in numbers similar to the men. Even now, US has about 45/55 female:male players across all ages, and in the rest of the world, it's equal parity, or even female 55-60% (in China, Korea, Japan).
You have as much right to the term "gamer" as anyone else who enjoys the hobby. Fly your flag proudly 😄
@@byz88 This comment made me smile! Thank you 😊 I guess I truly am a gamer and there's nothing I can do about it 😁
@@mandisaw Thanks Mandisa, your comment means a lot 😊 I didn't know that about arcade games and the divide between men and women when it comes to gaming! I always felt like the ratio would be more 20%/80%, but I guess that's just my perception. I'll do my best to keep that stat in mind!
@@AnneleenRoesems Games & computers only started being gendered in the US when the first Nintendo system (NES) came here from Japan. Before that, it was all just advertised as "for kids" or "for families". Pretty typical for girls & boys to all play games side-by-side back then, whether it was arcade/console games, or computer games at school.
Basically once they decided to put the NES in the toy aisle, as opposed to the home electronics section, they "had" to decide if it was a boys' or girls' toy. Other countries *never* did that - that original NES in Japan was the "Famicom" = family computer/console, advertised to all players, any gender, any age.
And most of the classic PC & arcade games from the 80s had women on the design & development teams - women programmers used to be a lot more common when I grew up.
I played one level of Candy crush for a whole year. I couldn’t pass it so I just played it until I passed it. For some time, I gave up for a few months and got back to it again. At the end I managed to pass the level. I have big fat patience 😂
No way I would pay for a mobile game
You just spent time, not money. That's still valued as engagement by the platform & game creators. Raises their stats, pushes them to better positioning in the Store, and improves their overall appearance to investors. If you opened the app, they've definitely gotten something out of you.
@@mandisaw Well that’s probably what they were willing to spend, it’s not like we don’t get anything out of it. Rest, distraction, escapism, enjoyment, hobby - all very important things
I’ve played candy crush for over 3 years and I’ve never spent a penny on the app. I feel like it’s one of the few games where you can truly play without extra money spent. Sometimes levels do take me a couple of days but usually you can get through them. And whenever I can’t pass one you can literally look up a lady on RUclips who helps you.
@@hypatiakovalevskayasklodow9195 True enough! My point was that "free" apps are rarely actually free - you're paying something, whether that's money, time, attention/ad-viewing, personal data, etc.
With that sort of patience and willingness to grind you should perhaps look into kaizo. It's way more satisfying when you grind out an ultrahard level in a kaizo game than some silly mobile game.
The only free to play game I've ever gotten into is a game called Good Pizza Great Pizza. They're probably as ethical as a free to play game can be. Minimal ads, extremely addictive, you don't need to pay anything to do better in the game or get aesthetic upgrades, and it's cute.
Watching this video reminded me of how good that game is
one of the best mobile games i've downloaded~!
There's also some idle games I really loved, like Cats are cute, although one gets sorta tired of them after some time
Thanks for reminding me of the existance of that game, it's so fun and cute.
That game is AWESOME
As it was repetitive, i got bored. But yeah it was a cute game
Across the board, developers have realized that the freemium model is much more profitable than the traditional $60 game. Fortnite is free, Fall Guys is free, Overwatch 2 is going to be free. While those developers aren't willing to embrace a pay-to-win model, mobile game developers are. It's only a matter of time...
100% this! Sheridan put it lightly saying freemium players may pay more, in reality paying player almost always pay significantly more then they would if it was a one time purchase!
Didn’t know overwatch 2 is going to be free. Never got to play overwatch so I’m going to glad to be able to.
@@09121964172 It's not just that a freemium player pays more, because that might not be the case with a $60 game. Instead, you're pulling from a much wider pool of players. If Fortnite was a $60 game, you wouldn't get nearly the _amount_ of players as you do with a free version. With more players comes more opportunities to purchase. But in addition, the more players a multiplayer game has, the greater the desire to distinguish yourself. If you're a default skin in Fortnite, you must be a new player. To differentiate themselves from the pack and show off to their friends, people buy cosmetics. If you had a smaller pool of users, there wouldn't be the same incentive to show off
Yeah but I've been following a lot of gaming news and there are game where you gotta pay for the game and EVEN THEN you have micro transactions, loot boxes, paid DLC (for content that should've been in the main game) etc.
It's a warped psychological game. Basically the more mental "space" you can put between the experience and the money spent, the harder it us for humans to assign value. That's also why there are so many "tiers/packages", interim currencies with oddball multipliers, sunk-cost traps like Battle Passes, etc.
Maybe TF would've been happy to spend $5 upfront for that Demi Lovato visual novel, but not $60. They don't want you to understand the value-cost proposition, because then it's easier to nudge you to pay way more than you would've otherwise.
I think the insideous ways mobile game app developers target kids needs to be talked about more. I remember as a kid playing a bakery story game and being pushed to download other games to get gems, most of which were similar games, but some which featured simulated gambling. They were literally trying to push kids into gambling
Never spent money on a free game but definitely have spent way too much of my time trying to pass the levels and have fallen into the homescapes trap of spending 3 hours playing because of all the free lives/boosters
I used to play kitchen story and now I hate when I will get to a point in which I needed to pass the level to get more gems/crystals because my current appliances just weren’t fast enough to make the orders. The previous level don’t give you what you need in the current levels in your way series at a stand still owe constantly losing until you finally do win.
I think a super interesting case study is Genshin Impact... The game operates quite similarly to the mobile games talked about in the video in many ways (free to play, in app purchases, daily quests, some time-limited ressources) but is also objectively higher quality in production value (the graphics are quite nice, the music is excellent, the world is very interesting, open world)... I feel like Genshin Impact feels much more like a "real gamer" game (whatever that means), and yet is still on mobile.
If u can resist the temptation of spending i would nearly recommend it, just to see what i mean ! Sometimes its tempting to spend on it, because you wouldnt feel quite as "stupid" as if u spent money on a mindless candy crush puzzle game, which is part of its marketing strategy.
I think spending money on games like Genshin is fine. There's obviously a lot of work that's been put into it, with the character design, stories, voice acting, etc. And there's new exciting content coming out all the time. I think the developers deserve to get paid for all the work they put into it.
The game is also available on consoles and PC, so it blurs the line between "mobile gaming" and "traditional gaming"
yeah i start to type the comment about genshin but saw yours. i play genshin from 1.0 and never in my life felt that i NEED to spend money to make the game easier or better. like all gacha games you obviously would feel the preassure to spend extra cash on your waifu, but if you would like to be kinda a casual player and you dont think about meta you can happily be f2p. i love genshin so much because it brings back to me the joy of "real" games on my ipad
Yeah genshin is a mobile game but its a Gatcha game i personally only play FE Hero’s and i dont open it that much
Yeah, Genshin is interesting because you can get plenty of rolls to get a powerful 5-star character without spending a dime. You don't even really need those, though; the 4-star characters are plenty powerful on their own, even if some of them might need more work than others. Gacha games in general can be a dangerous pitfall.... I've got several (Project Sekai, Hypmic, Mahoyaku, Love Live, FE Heroes, Idolish7, Alchemy Stars......) and some I spend more money in others.
Honestly, though, I don't spend much money otherwise. I pay my bills and take care of groceries and my necessities, and if I spend some money for a character or card I really, really want, I don't see that as a negative. It makes me happy to get that thing I've wanted, and at the end of the day, we all need as much joy as we can get in this bitch of a world.
This was really interesting and so honest, enjoyed it a lot! I’ve been playing The Simpsons Tapped out for TEN YEARS. My town is so big and magnificent. I’m proud that I’ve put zero money into it but whenever something is free you’re paying with YOUR TIME. I find it more of a task just grinding to get the new items, only occasionally it’s relaxing and fun and I can set out the town into little sections and have fun with it. They just keep churning out endless content so you want to keep up. I’ve got a whole Halloween town from ten years of Halloween content for example, it’s just insane and I’m very aware. It’s like a shameful little secret. Only a few people have seen the extent of my mega-Springfield irl.
i wanna see it, i gave up after like 7 days
That’s actually very cool. Wanna see it too.
Exactly. You're paying with your time and the game company is selling you the solution to the problem they intentionally created. It's so unethical. If you stop to think about it, it makes you question why you are even playing half the time.
I have a Halloween town too!
Is it ok to put my username here on Tiffany’s vid..?
Funkangel1 - I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. 🤣
Welcome Sheridan! Not against the new format, but I think the back and forth style works best if you have different perspectives, roles or focus. The best part about this kind of style is that one person can say: "Yeah, but I don't fully agree here, because ... " or "I think you're overlooking xyz" or "that's true, but ..."
Not to force it or anything, but it could be a good narrative device.
Love this!
The irony of my watching this video while playing a mobile game...
So funny because I wanted to go get my other phone and play a game while I listened to this 😁
Double irony if that game is Homescapes
I like Sheridan's points and her involvement in these videos, except maybe it's just me but I found the format a little jarring? I personally quite like the style of Sarah Z including 'her co-writer Emily' which I suppose isn't too different but feels a little smoother? Great video nonetheless and I'm really excited to see what you two do!
Such a good point, Mia! Honestly, this was recorded on my iPhone as a "lol let's try this format thing"... but a microphone is incoming, bestie.
Very interesting, thank you. I am a 40-ish year old female and I play a lot of mobile games. My 13 year old daughter gets sad that we started Animal Crossing pocket edition at the same time and I am way ahead of her in the game. I play A LOT. And I want to tell you why, because I think it may be relevant for the discussion about gender in mobile games. Previous note: I am the one who likes to play with our kids with the nintendo switch and I am the one who knows about computers and similar stuff. My husband just likes Mario kart. So, why do I play a lot mobile games? I've played them since I've had kids. I play them when I was breastfeeding my kids for hours, when I was staring to the ceiling waiting for them to fall a sleep or when I was awake at night at 3 checking if the fever went down. I play the games when I'm waiting at the doctor or at school. And trust me, I rather play a bit of animal crossing or candy crush or whatever than to read endless facebook feeds of people being mean and full of hate. And, yet, I dont tell people I play so much because I am being "unproductive", as if I should be reading Les Miserables or whatever every 5 or 10 minutes I wait for my kids.
Thank you for sharing your experience! That makes a lot of sense, I can definitely see myself doing the same in the future when I have kids - it’s not a total “break” because you’re still actively parenting but at least you get to do something enjoyable for a few minutes. PS I am now tempted to try AC on mobile!
@@tiffanyferg it's not just a break. I really, really like and need my sleep. That means that I tend to fall asleep easily, even when I am supposed to be watching a sick kid or something similar (I am a great mom, I just don't have the superpowers to stay awake by willpower alone). Mobile games help me to stay awake when I need to.
people are so judgemental towards mothers 🙄
@@tiffanyferg pocket camp is honestly one of the best mobile games out there in my opinion. it does have a lot of the flaws that other stuff does (in app purchases for in game money, wait times for stuff, etc), but its a lot less obnoxious about it than most games i've seen. there's no ads, and it's pretty fun. i've been playing for years and can confidently say that you can have a great time with it without spending a cent
Exactly! I have books on my phone but I can't always read while in those in-between spaces, and I also don't enjoy scrolling social media.
Even something like playing "a day"in stardew valley requires more mental attention than just tapping and merging things
Hi Tiffany, regarding new format I don't watch too closely and mainly listen to your vids like an essay, often while playing actual games! The main problem with microtransactions in games is that the developers can create an entire psychologically manipulative world designed to financially exploit vulnerable people (people with isolation, anxiety, gambling addiction, or are minors).
I was really big into the Harry Potter mobile game back in 2018, but I hated how everything had a time limit (i.e. for spells to work, quests to be completed, potions to finish brewing) and then if you missed the time window, you would have to start over, or the quest would sometimes be gone forever. Finally I realized I needed to quit, when I spent $10 to get more time on my quest and then still lost the challenge.
my bf and I started playing that together a few years ago just to see what it was like, our characters name was Bwakp Melone lol, but we stopped pretty quickly and never came back to it because of the time limits on stuff. we didn't have the level of commitment that required since we're not rly mobile game fans or HP fans, and it was just kind of frustrating not being able to just play the game seamlessly
Neko Atsume and Secret Cat Forest are my favourites. SCF has a really calming atmosphere and music. There's no pressure to pay and you can't buy speedups for construction.
Oooh I’ll look into these!
Omg Neko Atsume! That's a name I haven't heard in a while... The game itself is so adorable though! 💙
Thanks for talking about this subject. This barely scratched the surface of the manipulation tactics mobile games will engage in to absolutely ruin lives. It goes DEEP.
There to create gambling addicts: get 'em young.
My late hubby was disabled for several yrs before he passed, and he got sucked in hard. He'd always been a PC gamer, but illness kept him from playing those, so he shifted to mobile games. Caught him spending like $300/mo, and we talked about it, but I think he was still spending some at the end, just on his personal credit instead of the family account.
Not immune myself - during a long stint of unemployment & depression, I tried out a web MMO (Disney!) and poured all kinds of time into it. Then later, had to hard-quit Fire Emblem Heroes when I felt myself succumbing to its gacha mechanics.
These games' pernicious tactics specifically prey on people when they're feeling down - it's the opposite of what entertainment ought to do.
Massive recommendation for Jim Sterling's videos. They make really good videos about the exploitative and predatory practices in video games, whether mobile or otherwise.
Their video "The Addictive Cost Of Predatory Videogame Monetization" is a fantastic place to start.
29:43 Personally for me I never got into gaming, telling myself I'd get addicted... and now my phone analytics are staring at me yelling about the hours I spent playing mobile games.
Same here. That's why I tend to file it more in the entertainment category, and not let my phone dictate what an appropriate amount of interaction with any particular thing is. I always reference back to how I feel and how it's affecting other aspects of my life. Just because I spent 2 hours playing a game, doesn't reflect negatively on me. If everything else in my life is good and if I don't feel like I have to be glued to the game to the point where other things are neglected, indulgence is fine as long as it's within the framework of balance. Balance doesn't always mean equal.
I play mobile games while watching RUclips videos so that I'm forced to leave the game to deal with RUclips ads or switch videos when they end. It helps me not feel as sucked in because I'm dealing with more than one source of entertainment. If I run out of lives, that's OK, I can finish this internet analysis video and be done.
Also I think having multiple of the same type of game is helpful - I have 3 candy crush style games on my phone exactly so I can switch between them if I'm still in a gaming mood after running out of lives in one.
Those are great strategies! Having something to force you out of the loop is super helpful
Omg I played Demi Lovato’s game years ago. I stopped playing when I got tired of the “emotional manipulation” - I didn’t want to let Demi down anymore haha
As someone with an addictive personality, I've gotten addicted to a lot of mobile games. Knowing this fact about myself, I try to choose ones with minimal in-app purchases and also make placing a purchase on my phone as difficult as possible to discourage that sort of mindless purchasing that games often encourage.
On gaming and gambling: developers refer to rich people who spend a lot of money on games as “whales”… sound familiar? Game studios see these big spenders as high limit gamblers and mimic the tactics of casinos to get them hooked. I learned this from a few of my former schoolmates who ended up as app developers.
i really love sheridan’s input!! they are so smart and it is clear why they are your co-writer. i think they compliment you very well and i’d love to have more of them in upcoming videos :)
it especially warms my heart as a person who has video essay ideas and is a good writer, but i’m not a huge fan of filming myself. it’s nice to see someone who i enjoy so much even when i don’t see their face - it encourages me to pursue what i want to do despite my personal insecurities.
Awww this is so sweet. And YES!!! Pursue your goals and write! It's been such a fantastic outlet working with Tiffany and I can point to so many awesome (and faceless) commentary/essayists.
It's so nice to hear about someone having the same experience as me. I have anxiety and depression, and these games have been such a crutch for me for as long as I can remember. It's escapism and relaxing for me. It turns off my brain when everything else is too much. The more mindless the game, the better. I think I've only spent a few dollars on a game or two, years ago. I'm a college student and I don't have any extra money to spend, so I have the control to not spend. It takes up hours of my day though. I used to sit there playing games in class when things were really bad mental health-wise. Thank you for sharing your experience.
See, this is why Candy Crush is the perfect game. Some games are made so that you can't fill up your lives by forwarding your clock on your phone, but they made it so that you can, and thus get stuck into an endless cycle of playing through all 5 lives, resetting the timer and filling it up, and over, and over, and over again, for all eternity until your life is consumed by candy.
Are you ok?
A couple of years ago I got a Gameboy Colour and a bunch of games for free because the charity shop I worked at couldn't sell it. I realised that I got the same kick from playing pokemon, tetris and Mario etc on the gameboy as the puzzle games I play on my phone. It made me realise just how much hassle, pressure and stress the in-app purchases or ads every 3 seconds can give you when you're just trying to relax and play a simple puzzle game. Playing on the gameboy is so much more relaxing
Oooh I would love to play a game boy again!! So much nostalgia
I personally like your regular format
I’ll be honest I did not like having the two narrators, what the second one said sometimes made me loose track of what was going on and what Tiffany was saying. Of course she had good things to say but the format just wasn’t for me
I've been playing Homescapes for about 5 years now and I'm on level 6059 lol it started when I got into a long distance relationship and had to kill 7 or 8 hours on the train thankfully I never spent any money on but I'd lie if I said I wasn't addicted at one point or another... loved the video and the new formatting and I hope we'll hear more from Sheriden in the future :)
I think there is one more thing worth mentioning. By buying "gems" to bypass levels impossible to complete without them, or those premium choices in Episodes, we allow the companies to continue with their predatory practises. Moreover, we show that predatory practises = profit. Then, those practises migrate from mobile games to other types of media, like console games, and we end up having to pay for "upgrades" in Assasin's Creed games to avoid unfun and tiresome grinding, without which we cannot progress the story. I believe this is one of the main reasons why computer and console gaming community hates mobile gamers - mobile games make soooo much money on predatory practises, computer/console gaming companies realised it and now we get products, which are of lower quality or much higher price.
The only cars I’ve ever owned is a PlayStation one and I realized extremely quickly that with the landscape of the industry changing they were trying to turn out as little contact as possible before the same price or more. I could’ve been a true gamer girl because I did see gaming is a lot of fun. But now I see it as an expensive sinkhole where a lot of gamers have to justify their purchases especially when the pre-order bonuses are absolutely laughable.
The editing was a little odd but I LOVED hearing Sheridan's takes on this topic! Would definetely love to hear more combo Tiffany/Sheridan videos! I had so many thoughts on this topic, and you two talked about them all and more
Yah it would be better if they were in the same room
yeah like i like the new input but why not go full in and have it be a collab sytle video where they both have high quality mics and set ups and graphics etc.
@@karil6461 yeah or not even in the same room if that's not possible, but something like seeing her face or at least some animated character would help.
@@coscorrodrift Thanks for your feedback, y'all! DEF on the high quality mic train as a priority... showing my face... not so much LOL!
ooo animated character is a good idea actually if u don’t want to show ur face
Loved Sheridan in this video! Her voice is very pleasing, my only complaint is that it felt a bit jarring when switching between Tiffany and Sheridan
Very fair! In the future if we try this format again we’ll test out other ways to make it smoother
Watching this caused me to look up how much I've spent on mobile games. In 12 years, I've spent $156 on games, and a large portion of those purchases have been for more indie mystery box games. And in months where I spent any money, I spent usually at least $10, in several shots of $2 each. So interesting! I've never thought of myself as a gamer, but I have been consistently playing phone games for as long as I've had a phone to play them on.
Great video. Another point about micro transactions in games is that you're often buying an intermediate game currency that you then use to buy the items you actually want, say using money to buy gold to buy energy, so it's more difficult to keep track what you're spending compared to of you just bought the item.
I'm sure other people will have said it already but James Stephanie Sterling has some great videos on their channel about micro transactions in gaming, and other shady practices.
I'm sure
Yes!! Love the Commander Sterling shoutout-they’ve helped so much with breaking down these tactics and destigmatizing the victims
I feel like this is a good time to confess to you guys that I'm currently at level 9971 on Homescapes + a bunch of old levels because that's the last level they have right now. Because of this game I can literally not play any other match 3 because my eyes cannot differentiate the puzzles/I've gotten used to the visuals, colours, animation of this game that I literally cannot play anything else.
Homescapes is my jam. I’m on level 4574. I don’t play as much as I once did, but I still keep up with it a few times a week
I only got to about 5000 on Gardenscapes and the game started getting boring and too bloated, now I'm on 3000 on Royal Match and like it more 😆 You get used to others quickly.
I realized recently that I’ve been playing homescapes for two YEARS now.. I started playing other game bc I also finished all the levels and I haven’t touched home scapes in a few months bc of it. I’ve spent so much damn money on that game that it makes my stomach hurt
@@YarnAndy ugh unfortunately I've been playing for 5 years and even when I was on "breaks" from playing HS I still could not get visually used to other games, even sticking with them for months. Kinda scary the way my brain has adjusted to Homescapes
@@evelynolson5731 wow, OK, maybe it's time for a permanent break. Something less colorful or animated. For me it's all about patterns, I enjoy finding the patterns that lead to "special" items. Maybe figure out what it is about this game that you really like and how that translates into other activities.
I like the new format, it feels more conversation, but I think you should include b-roll when Sheridan is speaking, rather than the audio waves, because it can feel a bit jarring
Thanks for the feedback! I'm a bit camera shy, so we will see if I'll ever ACTUALLY get on screen. Also investing in a better mic, rather than just using my lil' ol' iPhone.
@@sheridensmith Of course! I loved what you added to the video, and I think that you could just use footage of the topic you're covering to avoid being on camera. For example, you could have b-roll of World of Warcraft gameplay when you said that making in-app purchases is just like buying new skins in WoW
24:20 as someone that plays anime mobile dating sims on a regular basis since almost a decade: Mystic messenger, My candy love, Episode, MeChat, Obey Me, Love Unholyc, anything made by Genius Inc, Dangerous Fellows, and that has fallen into 🏴☠ ... almost all of those games are 100 times more enjoyable when you don't have to worry about getting diamonds/coins/rubies/tickets. You can actually enjoy the characters and the stories and actually makes you want to play more
Great video!
My game of choice is Zoo Tycoon 2 for PC, and sometimes I feel a little ashamed because I subconsciously think it's childish because I played it as a kid. But then I remember that (a) It does bring me joy so it's a fine hobby, and (b) Since it is a design/architectural type game I view it as a creative outlet that allows me to flex my spatial reasoning muscles to place objects, exhibits, plants, etc.
Plus as a kid, it was insanely educational because every animal came with a biological info page and the game also came with a National Geographic DVD about cool animal facts!
Zoo Tycoon 2 is timeless! It's awesome that there are still people enjoying it
We love to an Opera sponsor!!! A classic browser over the decades!
I'm a mobile game player, for sure. I like the Two Dots series, the Flow Free series, Sliding Seas, and I use an ad blocker for others. I heard that Evony: The King's Return is a game that actually features the pin-pulling, coin-dropping gameplay.
hi! maybe you already know this but just in case you didn't since you didn't mention it in the video, dark patterns is user experience design terminology, it means that an app (or website) is trying to actively make the user do something they wouldn't normally want to do, it's not limited to games, it's also fairly common in for example ecommerce when they bombard you with discounts, it's an interesting thing to look into
I like hearing Sheridan's thoughts but I feel like it would be more cohesive with different editing, like if you guys were in the same room or smth. Great video though!!
I like the new back and forth with the editors voice! Maybe having opposing sides of an argument would help bring new ideas
LOVE this idea!
It's great hearing from Sheridan and I honestly didn't notice the reading from the laptop. It doesn't take away from the quality of the video at all and if it means you're able to produce more videos, or that making them is less taxing on you, it sounds like a great idea.
Can you do an analysis on parasocial relationships? The try guys/mulaney got me thinking how we feel “betrayed” by people who we don’t truly know
LMFAO please end more videos with goodnight that was so sweet. I love the new style, I usually crochet while I watch RUclips so it wasn’t a huge deal for me because I wasn’t even looking at you!!
30:00
Another factor for me is my abilities. I don't have full sensation in the fingers in my right hand, which makes doing things on controllers difficult. I don't have that problem on mobile games.
After watching the video I gotta say I absolutely loved it. It sucks that it's a shared experience for many of us, but it felt so validating watching this. I'm already looking forward to whatever you'll post next.
i'm less than 3 mins in and i already LOVE the commentary format on your commentary! i could get used to this. 🥰🥰
Playing Mystic Messenger was like a full time job for me. You have to be ready any time of day (or night) if the character you were trying to pursue was in the chat so you could get hearts. (Or to get invites for the party at the end). And if you missed a chat they were in, you didn't get those hearts. One day I forgot my phone in my car and I had to use so many hour glasses (yes I paid for them) to replay old chats so I could get the hearts I wanted. I don't know if I could ever extend that much energy to a mobile game again but I loved that game so much and still have such a fondness for the characters and storylines. I have played all character routes, including when they added new ones a while after I initially stopped playing 💀
I don’t know about any “select the right icon to save the person” games, but the “pull the pin puzzle” game actually does exist. It’s called Hero Rescue, it’s free to play, and I’ve never needed to spend money on it to progress (I don’t even know if you CAN spend money on it. I don’t remember there being an option to do so)
I think the developers don't make those simple games from the ads because people who saw the ads probably keep playing out the real game of anticipation for the mini games from the ads. I'm sure those games from the ads would get old quickly as well, which means less time to drive in-app purchases
There are some pull the pin kind of games, I've played one, but true, it gets boring and repetitive quite quickly.
@@adelest9500 My mind immediately goes to "Where's My Water?" and its Phineas and Ferb-themed spinoff
1- The ads and the games are often just made from templates, based on what performs well in tests. A high-performing ad is evaluated completely separately from the actual games it may be associated with.
2- They actually put *a lot* of heavy-duty behavioral psychology and statistical analysis into what kinds of gameplay, UI, colors, sounds, etc will trigger you to keep coming back, day after day, playing for hours, cumulatively. Like with the visual novels, or house-decorating game, you've got something "sticky" that keeps you invested in seeing it through to the end.
But with the ads, they want the opposite - something that quickly makes you feel smart, like you solved something complicated. That's why a lot of those ads are like "1000 people can't solve this! Can you??". So you get that little dopamine hit, and then clickthrough for more. Doesn't matter what's on the other side, once you click, they know you're receptive.
@@mandisaw That's so interesting! How do you know so much about it?
I just want to say thanks for having Human-Made captions. I watch a lot of vids with captions on and it is comical to see how off computer-generated captions can be, so I appreciate you going out of your way to have good captions❤
I'm about 10 minutes into the video right now and I agree with you on a lot of points that you've already made. Especially with how intense and isolating the past two and a half years have been, the changes in the political environment, etc, people are more willing to spend money, if they have it, on immediate satisfaction items which includes games. Games are also a lot more interactive than paying to watch a movie. From my personal experience, especially being ADHD, these games help to keep me entertained and get the dopamine that I need in order to feel like life is mildly survivable. I'm also disabled, so I don't have an option of doing physical activities like hiking or rock climbing, and oftentimes I'm in so much pain that I can't do art related activities that will require sitting up. Sometimes the pain is so bad that I can't even look at the screen on my phone, but fortunately, thanks to an extra dimmer filter, that doesn't happen very often.
In my opinion, there's no difference between playing a game on the phone and playing solitaire in real life or playing a board game with other people in real life. The transition just made things more accessible for a lot of us.
A couple of things I don't like about games is ads, so I often look for things that can be played offline because I hate non-consensual indoctrination and sensory input. I've had an on and off affair with words with friends for the past 11 years and I don't think I can play it anymore because they have ads that have movement above the board while I'm trying to concentrate on the board and lay down tiles. It's too distracting and it's frustrating instead of rewarding. I also don't like how a lot of games which involve characters, often have majority white characters. You don't have an option to pick a non-white character unless the game involves off-world aliens or something like that. A lot of the games also involve developing and cultivating never before touched land, and I think that further contributes to the mindset of colonization which I'm not a fan of.
Just my few cents as a neurodivergent disabled cult survivor. Folks may not agree with me and that's fine. Spend your money and your time on what you wish. This is just what I do with mine.
Stay safe.
"I think that further contributes to the mindset of colonization which I'm not a fan of."
Please educate your self about the history of colonialism. Colonialism is stealing land and resources from indigenous people. Building on "untouched" land isn't colonialism unless that land was stolen from someone else.
The best way to steal land from indigenous people and still paint the colonizer in a positive light is to pretend that they didn't exist in the first place. It's to assume that the land was not previously occupied by anyone of significance, to usurp it, and cleanse it of all previous inhabitants, including memories of them..
Maybe it's just me. But the countless unmarked graves being found in Canada along with the true history of the founding and development of the United States just has me second guessing everything.
And I honestly think that's better than living in ignorance, ie assuming that land was never settled in the first place.
@@worshipcatalyst1 If what your trying to argue is that playing a fantasy game will make people forget real world history. Then your an idiot. There is no way people are going to forget real world history because they spent too many hours in minecraft. On the other hand if what your saying is that playing a fantasy game won't teach people accurate history. Too bad. It's not the job of a person making a fantasy game with dragons and zombies to educate people about history. If their making a game based on a real world setting. Then they have more of a obligation to have the setting be accurate. But if its a speculative setting. They are under no obligation to educate people about the particular parts of history you have arbitrarily chosen the game should be about.
Finally if you play a video game were you build things. And the first thought that comes to your mind is that the land your building on is a product of genocide even when nothing in the game indicates that is the case. Then that's a you problem. It is not normal to assume everything is connected to genocide.
Just a warning, but the predatory behavior patterns in these games are explicitly designed to appeal to people who are 1) disabled/homebound, 2) depressed, anxious, etc., 3) have ADHD or various other neurological conditions/situations. From your post, you may be their "perfect" customer to try to bleed dry.
Love this video Tiff and Sheridan ❤ also feel extremely validated that I’m not the only one who was obsessed with episode
*me watching this while literally switching between playing two mobile games*... Thank you for making this! I started downloading and playing a few mobile games in March 2020 and I think it really brought me a level of comfort to feel like I could control this one small (fake) thing when the world around me felt so out of control. One game in particular is a farming game and damn it feels so satisfying to know that all my stocks of plants are high and my animals are fed and my materials are being made in the factories. Lol. Now I still play them, less frequently, mostly out of habit and/or when I'm anxious. I wonder if others had a similar experience, though, of seeking out that aspect of feeling like some small part of your life can be controlled and maintained when the real world feels too unbearable.
As someone with chronic illnesses, I definitely use mobile games to help me self regulate. There are small scale studies about home playing smth like Tetris can activate your brain in a way to help you process trauma, so I try to justify it to myself. My mobile game use definitely went up as my chronic illnesses got worse
Thank you for sharing your actual struggle with them. It affects a lot of people, but I haven’t seen anyone talk about it before.
tiff you’re one of my favourite commentary youtubers!!! no matter what you talk about, its always so interesting and entertaining and informative..
it made me laugh so much when you said "good night" at the end 🤣 PLEASE make that a regular thing hahahah, cause often when I can't sleep, I just put one of these videos on as background noise and drift away 😴 in the best way possible! 😁
+ I found Sheridan's input quite enjoyable, many interesting points!
‘’Courage taught me no matter how bad a crisis gets ... any sound investment will eventually pay off."
Making it out at a young age is quite difficult. I started a side hustle at 17, saved up and made some good investments. l'm 28,live on my own and having a good life for myself. Big ups to you and everyone out there trying
How do you do that?
Yes it sure is. I put in money in investments and get profits. That 's how I make more money without working. This does not sound new to you right ?
Thanks for replying me, I've heard so many people talk about investment but none had said how to do it right.
Am hoping on you can explain more on how you make extra income from investments
I agree with most of what you've said here except about mobile game ads primarily targeting women. I've seen soo many ads on RUclips for mobile games that are super sexualized or degrading toward women, clearly targeting men. So much so that it's turned me off from all of those types of games.
True! I don’t think mobile game ads in general target women (though certain games / genres do) - but yes that entire type of ad that’s like weird / “sexy” / destroyed woman trope?? Very strange
@@tiffanyferg thanks for the like! I love your videos!! Always very thought provoking ❤️
My husband was looking at my phone over my shoulder while one of these ads started playing and he laughs & goes “oh yeah, the ad with the girls with huge boobs” and I was so confused because I had seen this ad multiple times and there’s not even a female anywhere in my version of the ad 😂 that was the day we learned exactly how targeted ads are
I get you girl! I know that I can become addicted to mobile games, which is why I havent allowed myself to download any in the past years. Last year however I was sick, couldnt get out of bed really and downloaded Gardenscapes after seeing the Ad. Ended in me playing it everyday for MONTHS. I definitely wont be making that mistake again. Its crazy how addictive these games are.
There's this game called Evony and I downloaded it bc of what the game play looked like. Lil puzzles where you have to get a guy to the r treasure. it turns out it's this whole elaborate map with multiple servers of many players who all have a city they build up and protect and attack other players. I wanted the mini game :( but now I'm addicted and I must protect my troops at all costs lol
honestly the amount of enjoyment i get from a $5 purchase in a mobile game here and there is worth it. I've spent more on worse or on fleeting experiences so...or at least that's how I think of it.
I agree! I'll spend 5 bucks on an iced latte that I enjoy for an hour or two before it's gone. Why not a mobile game?
fabulous video, and very cool of you to be switching up the format! i've also been struggling to find a sustainable balance with my wee little channel, the push and pull of how to regularly have creativity/content creation in the schedule but in a way that will fit within the overall structure of life and accommodate for the human things like pets and marriage and moving... thanks for setting the example that it's okay for that process to involve some time and trial & error!
I like the new format and im happy that its much easier on you! :)
great video and takes but the editor segments were kind of offputting tbh
Thank you for getting hooked on mobile games just to bring us this neat content!!
Haha I loved this! Great analysis as usual and loved the honesty about how much you've spent.
i had a HUGE episode phase as a teenager, i played through so many different stories for almost a year straight i think. i never spent a single buck for diamonds but god did i wish i could at the time. i actually tried getting back into it at some point last year but it lost its spark... i still remember some stories though, i look back on them fondly. it was a good time
one summer I was working a LOT so I fell for the ecapism and downloaded the Kim Kardashian Episode game and I got SO addicted that I JAILBROKE MY PHONE SO THAT I COULD CHEAT bc I didn’t want to/couldn’t spend money
Great video!
By the way, another cool concept would be adult board/card gaming. I feel like when I was growing up, board games were either very childish (Ants in the Pants, Don't Break the Ice, etc) or if they were for adults, they had been around for years (Monopoly, Clue, etc). As an adult, the industry of board/party/card games specifically marketed for adult game nights seems to have boomed!
Do I just think this because when I was a kid I didn't notice what adult games were out there? Or else if there has been a boom, what has caused adult gaming to become so popular/profitable? And how pivotal was the release of "Cards Against Humanity" in this whole story?
I love love loveee the new format!!
Tiffany, you should get the game "My Child Lebensborn". It costs very little money (which goes towards a good cause), there are no in-game purchases, the gameplay of the mobile version is good, and, most importantly, it might remind you of what is really important in life. (Also, the free version goes pretty far into the story as a whole, if I recall correctly. Represents the whole thing really well.)
I really really really needed this video now. I don't pay for micro transactions often and the few times (more like, many times few instances) I've done it... I've felt soooooooo ashamed. Part of it was what type of game it was. I couldn't quit a mobile game for MONTHS, I kept playing out of embarrasment - of how much money (~300 USD) I had spent on the game, I didn't enjoy the game for months.
I have recently spent money on a mobile game. As in... Kind of a lot. Last time "just uninstall then" worked, maybe this time too. What's the worst outcome? I will get a bit more bored? Lol.
Thank you for the video and opening up like this 💙 it really really helps me.
This reminds me specifically of when I downloaded one of those episodic like anime prince games and I could not play it without spending real money. I couldn’t advance in the story without having to wait absurd amounts of time to get gems or whatever the currency was.
I finally just deleted it because there was no point-I couldn’t advance since I wasn’t willing to spend money to see if my character would fall in love with one of the like 4 harem boy options. 😅
i spent like 70$CAD+ in the span of like 2 days on mystic messenger in 2020. like it’s not even a game u “need” to pay for it, u make enough hourglasses in regular chats to make up for the like 3am 5am whenever chatrooms you miss. i spent that much money so i could play through like 3 play throughs (like 6 weeks) in two days😔
Informative video! I don’t comment too often on videos but I wanted to say I feel called out for falling asleep to videos. 😅 I’ll rewatch part of the video in the morning if it’s a video I didn’t want to miss 😂
my game of choice is project makeover, but i also am the type of person who doesn’t spend a CENT on these games. when my lives are gone, i close the app. i’ve gotten super far without spending a singular dollar
Samee!! That game is definitely one of the ones you don’t need to spend money on
The only mobile game I play atm is "adorable home". It's a really passive game, you earn tokens by taking care of your cats and then you can use the tokens to buy cute furniture for your house and food to pack in your in-game significant other's lunch. A really basic game but honestly kinda relaxing, besides the ads once in a while. I used to play the apps like harry potter where you need to finish a task in a certain period of time but those just got too stressful and time consuming when it's literally just an app, so I never consistently stick to those ones!
that game was cute as hell, i stopped playing it when i found a different cat themed game though
@@pleuriglosse8198 Right, it's super cute!! What cat themed game are you using now? I'm always looking for some new cat games
@@Chelsea-jv7fb furistas cat cafe! i really love it, you get to like pair cats with customers and stuff and decorate a little cafe :) its got some nice piano music and is overall just really lowkey, no storyline or anything.
I work at a game studio and work on a mobile game. I'm watching this video at work for "research" so thanks for making a video relevant to my work hehe
Love the new format ❤️
I really enjoyed this video! I’m so glad I’m not the only person who has struggled with mobile games and finding myself in that loop. I cannot play episode I WILL spend money for the cute outfit that brings the better outcome.
Same QwQ especially the Event Outfits... I had to delete AND block it from my apps store :[
I feel like a dog given a treat when tiffany uploads
I’d prefer if Sheridan’s input was closer to your “editing me” clips. Love hearing her input though
I really like the games by Hyperbeard bc they do give you the option to buy game currency w real money but also give you several other ways to obtain the currency that don’t involve spending money (like watching ads or playing mini games). The games have a cutesy aesthetic and are extreme low stakes, like decorating a house or having a spa. They’re really refreshing and actually fun compared to the usual mobile games we’ve become accustomed to