I am a prisoner of my own micro-boredom
April 27, 2010 7:03 AM   Subscribe

What are some good one handed games/distractions for the iPhone?

I am spending more time on the subway and am looking for some games or other distractions I can enjoy one-handed (as I hold on with the other hand). There is no cell service in the tunnel so I can't read metafilter or whatever.

So far I have a texas holdem game, which works pretty well.
posted by shothotbot to Technology (24 answers total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
Solebon solitaire? More variations than you can shake a stick at.
posted by jquinby at 7:06 AM on April 27, 2010


Very addictive.
posted by applemeat at 7:07 AM on April 27, 2010


Also.
posted by applemeat at 7:08 AM on April 27, 2010


Seconding the Solebon solitaire. I am totally embarrased when I look at the stats and see how many hours I've spent playing that one.
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:10 AM on April 27, 2010


Doodlejump
posted by dfriedman at 7:11 AM on April 27, 2010


Doodle Jump. The subway movement would probably make it more challenging.
posted by acidic at 7:12 AM on April 27, 2010


Doodle jump on the subway actually isn't that bad.
posted by dfriedman at 7:14 AM on April 27, 2010


Also: Bejeweled 2
posted by dfriedman at 7:15 AM on April 27, 2010


Longform + Instapaper iPhone app
posted by casaubon at 7:26 AM on April 27, 2010


Best answer: Instapaper is amazing.

You make a Read Later bookmarklet. When you come across a web page you'd like to browse later, you hit the button and forget about it. Then when you're about to head to the subway, boot up the app and hit refresh. It'll download all the saved pages onto your iPhone to read when you're offline. They're all formatted for easy reading and one-handed operation is trivial. There's a Lite version, and the Pro one includes tilt scrolling and pagination for easier one-handed operation.
posted by Magnakai at 7:29 AM on April 27, 2010


Backgammon, chess.
posted by callmejay at 7:30 AM on April 27, 2010


If you like puzzle games, check out PicGrid.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 7:32 AM on April 27, 2010


Angry Birds! I've gotten about 5 people addicted to the thing. Best 59p I ever spent.
posted by like_neon at 7:36 AM on April 27, 2010 [1 favorite]


Flood-it! and Lineup keep me pretty occupied on subway rides.
posted by General Malaise at 7:36 AM on April 27, 2010


Best answer: I have become absurdly addicted to Strategery, which is basically the same thing as Risk. (The paid version is excellent, with lost of customization for your gameplay, but the free version is plenty to let you figure out if it's worth the investment for you.)

Less thinking-intensive but still strategic is Flood-it. And that same company also makes Line-up, which is a bit more brainless and fast-paced.

Also, I have gone through periods of being inseparable from Drop 7, although that's a bit older.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 7:36 AM on April 27, 2010


Gotta give a shot out to Boomshine, one of the simplest, most addictive games I've ever played. (Link goes to flash version, but there's an app.)
posted by mrsshotglass at 7:40 AM on April 27, 2010 [2 favorites]


I got addicted to Sword and Poker, but after you beat it after many, many hours of utter enjoyment, you've leveled up your character so much that the dungeons pose no challenge. It's great with one hand though!
posted by yeti at 7:44 AM on April 27, 2010


Compression is a vaguely tetrisy game that can be played one-handed. It's imperfect, at first I didn't like it. But then something clicked and I've been playing it for a while now. Droplitz was sort of the opposite but anyway both have free versions so you can try before you shell out the big bucks.
posted by Wood at 7:55 AM on April 27, 2010


I was hooked on Doodle Jump for a short while... but soon I discovered Orbital and was addicted for months. Played thousands of times. It shows up on lots of list of best apps ever. One click.

Canabalt gets a lot of good reviews too - another one click game. I think it's boring.
posted by kdern at 12:08 PM on April 27, 2010


If you like sudoku, there's a free version called "Sudoku Unlimited" that will generate new puzzles, and works pretty well one-handed. I don't ride a subway, but I do spend a lot of time walking around the house trying to calm our 5-week-old daughter down, and I occasionally play sudoku while doing that. (Sorry I can't provide a link; I'm at work, and can't get to the app store.)
posted by CMcKinnon at 1:43 PM on April 27, 2010


I like Drop 7 - test-play it on chainfactor.com (flash version) to see if you like it. For me the big draws are that it loads fast, saves state, and I don't have to remember anything between runs, so it's a perfect game for filling the 3 minutes I have to wait for a meeting to start because I showed up on time, etc.
posted by DaveP at 1:47 PM on April 27, 2010


I use the Kindle app to read books I have purchased from Amazon.
posted by elmay at 2:30 PM on April 27, 2010


Response by poster: Good ideas, thanks everyone.

Does anyone have recommendations for a chess game?
posted by shothotbot at 9:02 AM on April 28, 2010


I hear that Deep Green is beloved.
posted by Baldons at 7:12 AM on May 18, 2010


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