Suggest me a Mobile Game

What this tool does

You are on the bus, in a waiting room, or lying in bed, and you want a game on your phone. So you flick through your home screen, open and close a couple of apps, and end up playing nothing. This tool gives you a target. It pulls a mobile game at random from a large list, so you have one to try instead of doom-scrolling your own apps.

Press the button for a game. Press it again for another. Ask for a few at once if you would rather pick from a short set. It is built for those in-between minutes when you want something to do and cannot be bothered to decide.

How to use it

1. Number / Quantity. How many games to pull at once, from 1 to 100.
2. Generate. Pulls a fresh game, or a fresh set if you asked for several.
3. Starts with, Contains, Ends with. Optional filters that trim the list before it picks. Leave them blank to draw from everything.
4. Copy. Copies the game, or your shortlist, to the clipboard as plain text.

A game is on screen the moment the page loads, so there is always something to react to.

How it works

Behind the tool is a fixed list, and each press draws a game at random, never repeating within a single set.

The filters let you aim. Contains keeps any game with your text in it, so typing angry birds brings up the four Angry Birds titles on the list, while typing a word or series narrows it the same way. Starts with keys off the first letter and ends with off the last.

What is on the list

It is a list of around two hundred mobile games, from quick time-killers to deeper ones you can sink hours into. The light end has the likes of Subway Surfers, Candy Crush Saga, and Angry Birds, while the heavier end runs to Genshin Impact, Clash Royale, and the gorgeous puzzles of Monument Valley, with plenty in between.

Because it mixes casual and committed, a pull might be a two-minute filler or a game that wants a real habit. Take it as a shelf of ideas to spin, and use the Contains box when you already know roughly what you are after.

Why the app store leaves you stuck

App stores hold millions of games, and that abundance is exactly why picking one is so hard. When the options are effectively endless, we tend to stall and reopen the same app out of habit rather than try anything new. It is the freeze Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper found in a 2000 study, where shoppers offered two dozen jams were far less likely to buy one than those offered six. Too much choice, and we default.

Barry Schwartz tied the rest together in The Paradox of Choice, that more options often leave us less satisfied and more likely to second-guess. A random pick cuts straight through it. It hands you one game to try, and if it is not for you, deleting it and pressing the button again costs nothing but a few seconds.

Matching it to the moment

If the first pick is not it, a couple of quick questions help. The biggest is how much time and attention you have, since a quick puzzle suits a five-minute wait while a deeper game suits a long quiet stretch. Then think about whether you want something free or do not mind paying, and whether you will have signal, because an offline game is the safe pick for a commute through tunnels. Match the pick to where you are and what you have, and another press is quick if it misses.

Questions people ask

Is it free, and does it save anything?

The tool is free with no sign-up, and nothing is stored. The picks run in your browser, so copy a game if you want to keep it.

Can I get a few options at once?

Yes. Set the quantity to the number you want, up to 100, and press Generate for that many different games in one pull.

Are these games free to download?

It is a mix. Many are free with optional purchases, some are paid, so check the price in your app store before downloading.

Are these on iPhone and Android?

Most of the well-known ones are on both major stores, though a few may be on one only, so a quick search in your store confirms it.

References

1. Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper, "When Choice Is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000, the study behind choice overload. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11138768/
2. Barry Schwartz, "The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less", his talk on how more options can lower satisfaction. https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice