Both are pretty awful.

But they are also the best selling handheld consoles. Clearly most people would disagree with you.

Well, at least your hands aren't blocking the screen on a handheld. I'm sure that's gotta count for something.

Ah, I see, sorry, I just didn't pick up on that from your last post ;)

As I keep saying, the main problem for me with mobile games is that they would have to be simple and "casual" enough to pick up and play only for 5-20 minutes at a time, yet at the same time they should be complex enough to be interesting. The touchscreen user-interface of course causes limitations too to what kind of games one can play, and also personally I am mostly restricted to either the hundreds of Android games I've bought from Humble Bundles over the years, or free-to-play games on Google Play (I don't care to actually buy games from Google Play, only HB as they are supposed to be DRM-free apk installers).

A long time ago I started playing "Avadon The Black Fortress" (a RPG) on Android, but quite soon decided the game is just too complex and "deep" to be played on mobile (those short gaming sessions here and there, while on the road).

Then I tried some Android-native, Asian themed "RTS" game I had bought from HB, but I found it boring in its simplicity and linearity. It didn't scratch the same itch as playing proper RTS games on PC does.

Then there is of course casual games where you just slice flying fruits with your finger (boooring) or Candy Crush Saga, but they are a bit like watching some stupid sitcom on the TV, you really do it out of boredom because you don't have anything better.

Two (HumbleBundle) Android games that in my opinion got it right pretty well between simplicity and remaining interesting were Plants vs Zombies, and Little Inferno (albeit I started getting bored to the latter one, trying to just figure out the correct item combinations to burn based on vague descriptions, it started becoming too much of pure trial and error, and finding the correct combinations accidentally...).

Oh right, and from before the smartphone times, when I had my old trusty Nokia E66 phone, I actually played loads of Zuma games (Zuma's Revenge etc.) on it. They were quite addicting games, I really enjoyed playing them back then. Not sure how good the Android versions are, I'm pretty sure I have tried some Android Zuma games too (but I presume many Zuma-clones are nowadays infested with micro-transactions without which it may be almost impossible to finish the game; the Nokia version was free of such).

If you want a 4x turn based strategy which isn't just some dumbed down cash-grab, you can try Birth of the Empires , though on smaller screens it might be a bit uncomfortable. On the other hand you can start a game on the phone and continue on the PC for example.

That's one of the reasons I've bought Humble Bundle Android games, as they are supposed to be free of such crap.

When it comes to totally "free-to-play" games, then unfortunately I think it is usually unrealistic to expect them not to have microtransactions or at least lots of online ads, as the game developers want to make money some way (fully understandable).

The bad thing about microtransactions is that they change the gameplay quite a lot (the gameplay is optimized to bug you as much as possible to buy stuff with real money). That's why the first Plants vs Zombies' gameplay rocks (no microtransactions), while its sequel's gameplay suck (in PvZ2, they have increased the amount of "luck factor" to the game a lot, and made sure you WILL keep failing in the more advanced tables, and if you don't pay up, you have to wait hours upon hours for the game to unlock again).

To me the point would be those times I am not at home, without my PC (laptop), and have to wait for something. Say, being in an airport, waiting for your flight which is two hours late, or being on a train for hours; what can you do? Go to the toilet and jerk off? Done that already, can't do it twice. Drink more beer? My bladder will explode already.

So for cases like that mobile games might be suitable, as long as you don't drain your battery or know you can recharge somewhere. That's the theory, but as said I also have had problems finding mobile games which are both simple enough to pick up and play and drop shortly thereafter, but still interesting to play. When I had one long train trip and my tablet with me, instead of trying to play something, I watched a couple of Farscape episodes on it.

Some older adventure games are playable with ScummVM. The low resolution of those older games goes actually quite well with a small mobile screen, which can be a problem with HD displays otherwise.

As long as the games don't require right-clicking or keyboard input, they should be playable in most cases.

Otherwise mobile gaming doesn't offer me much. Some titles are good for very short time playing, such as Lovelive! School Idol Festival or Pokémon GO!

The reality is however that mobile gaming is worse than real gaming no matter how you look at it, and the worst part is that many games are designed today to be mobile compatible, which means that even if they are available on PC from day one, they are seriously hurt by mobile design methods.

Hey, that's a fun game. Thanks for the suggestion, got 3 blessings already.

Onirim. This one is good too, and the iaps are for expansions, I think.

Never bothered with them, not really interested in casual games and I am not a fan of touchscreen controls, if a mobile game is good enough, it will probably get a PC/Console port. I was really interested in playing Romancing SaGa 2, but it's now available on consoles and PC, so I don't have to play the android version.

I've never owned a smartphone... but if I ever come across one, thanks for the list.

I'd probably play games like Botanicula or Sokobond on it, although something like Civ or MoO would be cool too (for looong train rides), if the small display can handle the complexity somehow.

The first MoO should work fine but I have heard mentions of a clone made for mobiles but cannot remember its name. It probably is simplified.

As a regular city commuter, people who have to dig out their phone or tablet to play a game of Candy Crush or similar on a cramped 2 minute Tube (Underground) ride makes me question my sanity. The amount of times I am walking to work and encounter a mobile zombie and a quick glance is either social networking or crap game. I start to question humankind.

The only games I would purchase for a mobile device is essentially a classic PC game conversion. However, gaming on a mobile device leaves me frustrated! I have picked up a few but just ended up with another list of unplayed games to compliment my Steam/GOG collection.

Never got on with touch screen games, so essentially given up. Only recently spotted Chris Sawyer's Rollercoaster Tycoon (a game I adore) which is available on the app store and a couple of years ago, would have been an instabuy. Now just passed over.

The only game on an iPad I play, which works brilliantly, is Legend of Grimrock.