There are a couple staples I tend to hit up when passing time on my phone: Candy Crush, Farm Heroes, StarWars Puzzle Droids, and Stranger Things: The Game.

Stranger Things is great the first time through. It’s challenging, and there are a variety of things to do, and you have more access as you progress because you collect characters with special powers. But it ends there. It’s not a real repeatable game, and I found that “normal” and “classic” modes aren’t really different.

Puzzle Droids – which has the most amazing graphics btw – is approximately three planets worth of challenging game play. You revisit levels up to three times, so it can get repetitive, but overall it’s the beginnings of a good game.

Farm Heroes is my last resort for near-mindless entertainment. You match items and collect a variety of things (many unrelated to farming, imho). Some levels are so challenging, I have to take a break. Sometimes months-long because it’s so boring to play a level 100 times. Wouldn’t you agree?

Finally, Candy Crush is the long-standing work horse of mobile distractions. Hundreds of levels with constant new additions, a variety of boards to play, fun new “power candies” and a theme that is truly… “candy.” They invest a lot of effort to make it visually ‘molto bene.’ The downside is the constant pop ups for purchasing game enhancers. After every round is like 4 things to “x-out” of. But that’s what I get for trying to milk these games for free. 😬

And that’s how I see it.