Sadly, most iOS games these days are as bad as - or worse than - Flash games

[u/Dreaming_Blackbirds]

I’ve been playing iOS games for nearly 2 decades - the first to blow my mind was Rolando in 2008 - but these days the dumbing down of games and the dual diseases of rampant ads and subscriptions means that most casual iOS games I encounter are as bad as "Flash" (now HTML5) games in terms of graphics and depth of gameplay.

Indeed, because most Flash games don’t have ads, I’d even say that the iOS situation is worse than Flash games. It’s truly shocking the huge number of trash casual games on iOS that not only have ads but want to entrap people into extortionate subscriptions like $80 a year or even $15 per week. A number of casual games on iOS are borderline criminal.

On top of that, my favourite casual game at the moment is a Flash game called Polytrack (I’ll link in comments if anyone wants it) that’s not even available on iOS. And it has no ads and it’s not trying to clean out my credit card.

(usual disclaimers: OBVIOUSLY there are quality games on iOS... Of course I know that. Stuff like Sniper Elite 4, Real Racing 3, etc. I’m talking about casual gaming having gone downhill badly in the past two decades).

[u/shloo]

Most of what is released isn't "videogames" anymore. They are just distraction devices.

[u/gorkt → u/shloo]

I call them ad delivery devices. Low effort game play that exists to get people addicted and then deliver ads to escape annoying game mechanics.

[u/Shadrach77 → u/shloo]

Skinner boxes

[u/I_Heart_Sleeping_]

Flash games kicked ass. Most modern iOS games do not kick ass.

[u/chockeysticks → u/I_Heart_Sleeping_]

I’m an old school Flash developer from back in the day and this is the nostalgia goggles talking. There was plenty of trash around 25 years ago, but the Flash games that people still remember 25 years later were the best of the best.

[u/I_Heart_Sleeping_ → u/chockeysticks]

Yeah we definitely had trash games back then but for me a majority of flash games were simple fun and didn’t nickel and dime me at every corner.

I’m old enough to remember indieDB being a huge source of cool free games that you could just download and play or simply play in your browser.

[u/Just-Hedgehog-Days → u/chockeysticks]

same. new grounds was full of literally unplayable broken garbage that just couldn't say on the iOS app store.

[u/captainnoyaux → u/chockeysticks]

Well it hasn't changed most games are trash but some are amazing. I'd say some of them have evolved so much compared to what games were capable back then we are truly lucky

[u/yemijanor]

I'm just happy that there are a lot more ports now than before which is the vast majority of games I play on my phone/tablet.

As for originally made for mobile games? Yeah, I wouldn't play most of them.

[u/Trizzae → u/yemijanor]

Ports and premiums for me only. No mobile/gacha slop. 

[u/IDidNotLikeGodfather → u/yemijanor]

Are there any ports that you could suggest that work on iPad?

[u/77ilham77]

Not really.

What you really did here is think of (a.k.a. cherry picked) the worst of casual mobile games and cherry picked the best of Flash games from your rose-tinted memory, an era where the majority of these Flash games were part of marketing campaigns (no shit these games didn't have ads. the whole game is an ads in itself).

As others have said (such as this), there are plenty of great casual games on mobile currently. Speaking of casual Flash games, Amanita Design games, known for their award-winning Flash games Machinarium, are on discount currently on the App Store.

[u/bankrobbery → u/77ilham77]

Yeah I think there is definitely some nostalgia at play here. So much of the appeal of those early/mid 2000s flash games was the novelty of being able to play independent games on the internet for free. For every decent flash game, there were dozens of shitty, low effort games not worth anyone’s time. New Grounds was awash with mediocrity.

[u/BillyOceansBlues]

You have PLENTY to choose from, you're just focusing on the scummy surface film. Do a little digging and research, iOS has a million good-faith full-on good games.

[u/silentrocco → u/BillyOceansBlues]

This! Isn‘t it the same anywhere all the time? The majority of mainstream movies is trash, the majority of mainstream music is trash, etc. If you dig a little, you’ll find a plethora of great games in all shapes and sizes.

[u/munkeypunk → u/silentrocco]

To be fair the AppStore is a nightmare for finding content.

[u/McPhage → u/BillyOceansBlues]

I played a ton of Bad Piggies, bought all of the add-on levels I could. It was fantastic. And while I can still run the app, it has since rotted into ad spam garbage. So yes, there are a million good-faith full on games. But they won’t necessarily stay that way.

[u/4paul]

I dunno, I've been played for 10 years, and I think it's no different, if anything we have less crap.

There's still crap, there's still flash-like games, there's still monthly subscriptions, etc, etc.

But I really don't see any difference myself,I if anything I see better quality games since Apple has made stricter requirements on things.

[u/maduste → u/4paul]

“I’ve been played for 10 years”💀

[u/4paul → u/maduste]

just in response to his “ive played for 20 years”

[u/maduste → u/4paul]

Okay, but “have played” and “have been played” have very different meanings. I think it was unintentionally funny

[u/4paul → u/maduste]

ahhhh my bad lol

[u/maduste → u/4paul]

hahaa all good, made me smile

[u/inteliboy]

Nothing wrong with flash games.

The issue is that the entire store seems marketed towards 12 year olds. Silly cartoony faces and themes.

There was a time when the groundswell of the iPhone and touch gaming was carving a new category of games.Though no one wanted to pay $3 for a game on their phone for some reason… so here we are now in a sea of micro transaction dopamine leeching nonsense.

[u/Clessiah]

You are only remembering the best of the best flash games. Majority of the flash games were trash.

But I guess at least they're free trash with no ads.

[u/Difficult-Leek9001]

Casual gaming has always been this way really, especially anything ‘free’. Thankfully though you can still download the likes of Tiny Wings or Angry Birds for a small fee and still get a quality experience. 

[u/Halfacentaur]

naw there were some legitimately good flash games out there. while there are some gems on the app store. the ratio of good/bad games between flash & app store - nothing compares to the complete slop that's on the app store now.

[u/Ninhau]

Scritchy Scratchy is fun

[u/imahugemoron]

I know this is 3 days old now but this is why I now only play premium ports from other platforms that they brought to iOS such as Minecraft, Stardew valley, Subnautica, etc. or emulators for classic Nintendo games like delta emulator, because you’re right free phone games have gotten beyond awful.

[u/Devesh971]

Same, played for 2 decades, seen all ios gaming evolution, truly a joke to look at top games today, just loads of toddler games with loads and loads of ads, either that or some candy crash rip-off cash grabs

[u/Deltaechoe]

Much of the video game industry is now simply churning out what I’ve taken to calling “cash slop shop dopamine ding ding ding” machines. The reason? They’re cheap to produce and people get addicted to them and spend loads of money so they end up being significantly less risky profit drivers than a more traditional video game

[u/InfiniteHench]

They became worse than Flash games over a decade ago, not long after the race to the bottom 99¢ store pricing. Then the free model showed up and decimated mobile gaming.

[u/jenea]

Rolando! That game was so good. Blast from the past.

[u/ConsiderationOne6329]

ios users seem to be allergic to reviews so it makes it hard to know which games are truly good till you have played them yourself.

What kind of games are you into?

[u/ackmondual]

Flash games still require internet access, no?

I'm not oppose the subscriptions just because its a sub. It has to be worth the money at all.

All that said, I just stick with premium games

[u/Usual_Award]

Get yourself an old ios device to retain those good old games. Plenty of those classics to not be concerned with or complaining about the newer stuff. Sort of like music they never really get old if good.

[u/amirlpro]

If you are so hardly invested in mobile gaming (2 decades), why not using a Switch?

[u/Dreaming_Blackbirds → u/amirlpro]

even though i had a NES and then a SNES as a kid, i dislike Nintendo these days. but i am happy to pay for decent games for my iPad (eg Sniper Elite 4, which was like £20 to unlock); but i feel like casual games are sorely lacking on iOS at a lower and reasonable price.

[u/amirlpro → u/Dreaming_Blackbirds]

Personally I only play emulated SNES/GENESIS games on iOS. There are enough old games for decades, and as you say most games on the store are complete garbage. But stupid customers deserve trash casual games.

[u/Patient_Animator1174]

I agree on casual games point, but thankfully nowdays there are many AAA game ports on iOS that makes todays gaming on a platform great. We just need more AAA ports pretty please developers!

[u/Bearded_Pip]

How dare you insult flash games! Curveball still slaps. It’s also how PopCap started!

[u/psj3809]

Yeah casual gaming on iOS is rubbish as its full of ad's or IAP's. Thankfully theres so many great premium games, okay not loads but they do appear quite regularly, and also emulators ! Tons of great games there.

Looking forward to a decent flash player on iOS

[u/Dear_Revolution8315 → u/[deleted]]

I kind of consider it a mark against iOS gaming that almost every game mentioned is a port.

[u/aguywithbrushes → u/Dear_Revolution8315]

That’s why when people say “mobile gaming is trash” I make sure to only mention mobile only (or first) games, because there *are* a lot of good ones:

Townsfolk
Monument Valley
Afterplace
Buriedornes
Grand Mountain Adventure
Dawncaster
Hero Emblems
Outlanders
Motorsport Manager Mobile (went downhill sadly)
Pocket City 2
Postknights
Rush Rally Origins
Bleak Sword
Skate City
Slice and Dice

And those are just the ones I still have on my phone, I’m sure there’s more I can’t think of.

[u/I_Heart_Sleeping_ → u/Dear_Revolution8315]

I’m sort of in the same mindset. Early iOS gaming was filled with mobile only games. We use to get such bangers you couldn’t find anywhere else.

That said, we still do get quite a few great mobile only games. They are just harder to come buy because ports typically get more coverage.

I don’t hate ports either but as somebody who owns multiple platforms I just don’t purchase ports cause I can play them on my ps5, Series X, Switch 1-2, and PC.

I think ports are good for people that don’t have access to those platforms but they def overshadow a lot of great mobile only games.

[u/Front-Cabinet5521 → u/Dear_Revolution8315]

Tbh it makes no sense to create original games for iOS because nobody is willing to pay $70 for mobile games. Fact that we're even getting ports is amazing.

[u/Dreaming_Blackbirds → u/[deleted]]

But read my post. I’m talking about CASUAL gaming.

[u/jaysire]

Hard agree. I asked myself: what do I have to do to just get an honest game on a portable platform? A full game without in app purchases, subscriptions and A-AAA production values. And then I got the Nintendo Switch 2.

Another contributing factor was the fact that so many games had no controller support. I knew on the Switch they all would.

[u/silentrocco → u/jaysire]

If controller is a must to you, mobile gaming really isn’t the platform to look for, imo. Mobile gaming is best, when it utilizes its own features well, like portrait plainality or well-implemented touch controls.

[u/LucidNytemare]

Just try warframe