Everyone loves getting something for free. However, when it comes to free mobile games, we all know that they aren’t really free. They’ll cost you so much time, money, and/or frustration that you’ll realize you should’ve said no before installing them.
This is why many people don't play free mobile games anymore!
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The most obvious annoyance with free mobile games is the endless and often annoying ads. When you’re not paying for something, ad revenue is the most obvious way to make money off of you. And to be fair, the same criticism can be made of websites.
However, the number and placement of ads is what makes mobile games a bad example. Ads will interfere with the game you’re trying to play and will fill your screen for 30 seconds at a time. And there’s not much you can do about their presence unless you’re willing to pay to make them go away.
Another obvious annoyance with free-to-play mobile games is constantly asking you to pay for everything. Developers know that you're getting the basic experience for free, so their focus from that point on is to entice you to pay for something.
Ads will be intentionally more intrusive to annoy you into paying to remove them, wait times will be intentionally added to whet your patience, and exclusive modes, items, or other elements will be locked behind paywalls. All designed to make you pay for everything.
Loot boxes are starting to pop up everywhere – and free-to-play mobile games tend to have a lot of them. They’re used to keep you coming back again and again, with developers using your own brain chemistry against you. Often, loot boxes will also be tied to daily login rewards or quests that players have to complete.
That “task = reward” cycle keeps your brain flooded with dopamine, keeping you coming back again and again. Positive feedback loops are created, and before you know it, you’re hooked, spending hours a day playing a pointless game.
If you skip this article and choose to continue playing free mobile games, I recommend that you consider the permissions you grant to the next game you install on your phone. The list is likely to be long and includes data collection that you really shouldn’t ignore.
If you don’t believe me, check out the app listing page for the free game you play and find details about what data is collected and how it’s used. While not all free mobile games cross the line here, there are quite a few that do. And there’s no real excuse for it.
Every time you play a free mobile game, you have to fight the nagging feeling that you might be scammed. Not necessarily by illegal means, but just the risk of clicking on the wrong thing at the wrong time and then panicking as some money leaves your account.
If you accidentally pay for an in-app purchase or find out that your child made an intentional purchase against your will, unfortunately, getting a refund is difficult. Most developers will refuse to do so, and menus are even arranged in a certain way to trick you into clicking on things you didn't mean to.
All mobile games, whether free or paid, drain your smartphone battery quickly. So always make sure to only indulge in games when you are not too far from a charging point. However, free games can drain your battery even faster than paid games.
Unlike paid games, free mobile games come with ads and analytics trackers, which can drain your battery at an alarming rate. So the whole point of a mobile game is to be able to play it when you’re not at home, but the way they drain your battery defeats that purpose.
Last but not least on the list of reasons why people don’t play free-to-play mobile games anymore is the fact that they’re generally not very good. Too much development time is spent manipulating players to come back every day or pay for microtransactions that hurt the original game.
If you don't believe me, compare a game that was developed from the ground up to be free to play with one that the developer has always charged for. The difference can be huge, with the paid game offering better visuals, better gameplay, and a story that actually makes sense.
This is why people choose to pay for mobile games instead of playing them for free. It’s better to pay a small amount for good mobile games that don’t try to frustrate you to the point of having to pay for upgrades. There are a few exceptions, but they’re few and far between and not really worth hunting down.
Take advice and stick with paid games from developers who are open and honest about charging you up front rather than tricking you into spending more money later. Just make sure to read reviews and be a little more selective about the mobile games you choose to play.
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