Mindless iphone games?

May 21, 2016 7:14 AM

I'm looking for a truly mindless game or two to pass the time. Low stress, quick play, no major commitment. Examples within!

Most games have the tendency to make things harder or more complex pretty quickly, so the relaxing feeling that you start with quickly gets destroyed.

I've tried Osmos, and it's ok (great vibe to it), but the complexity quickly gets annoying. Color Zen is good, it seems to slowly get more complex, while the color matching tends to be mindless fun. Tried Blendoku and it enjoys making things super hard, so forget THAT.

The card game app Splendor works pretty well, as a game doesn't last too long, there's numerous ways to win, and you can even vary the intelligence of the AI if you want to make things more tricky for a bit. I still play Doodle Jump occasionally for its goofy, mostly mindless fun.

Suggestions for iOS mindless games?

posted by Brandon Blatcher to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (37 answers total)

Slotz Racer 2. One button play, short play options. Once you figure out how to keep your car on the track (basically don't accelerate into the turns), put it on Kids Mode and enjoy.
posted by Ampersand692 at 7:25 AM on May 21, 2016

PIYOMORI is a little game about tossing chicks at each other on top of food and you try to stack as many of them as you can until they all tumble down. Also when you lose you can make them explode into a confetti cloud, the chicks sometimes wear cute outfits, and it's free.
posted by Mizu at 7:31 AM on May 21, 2016

Neko Atsume is really scarcely a game, but that might fit the bill. Definitely low stress and you can basically pop in and out whenever you want.

Bejeweled has a setting called Zen where it just continues endlessly so you can never lose.
posted by holborne at 7:57 AM on May 21, 2016

Yahtzee, Blast Solitaire, Ruzzle and Big Fish Casino.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:58 AM on May 21, 2016

Dots. I just play the (free) one-minute version over and over, but they also have an "endless mode" for $2.
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 8:12 AM on May 21, 2016

Hex FRVR is my go-to for a train commute. Utterly mindless, very satisfying, and any increase in complexity is barely noticeable. You pick up and place pieces and rows disappear when they are filled it, no timers, no things moving on their own. It's like an extremely chill Tetris.
posted by Miss Matheson at 8:13 AM on May 21, 2016

Supertribes is my go to mindless relaxation. Like an early civ with simple gameplay, free to use with no annoying in app purchases or adverts. You can buy extra tribes (but don't need to).
posted by Gilgongo at 8:15 AM on May 21, 2016

I like Cookie Jam. It gets harder as you go along, but you can keep replaying the easy lower levels.
posted by kevinbelt at 8:23 AM on May 21, 2016

Loonacy by Looney Labs. A card game like War, only better. Now available in Retro and Ugly Doll variants.
posted by Rash at 8:34 AM on May 21, 2016

http://cyberzhg.github.io/2048/

This is like 2048, but the goal is 2,147,483,648.
Save the board every time you play, and make up your own little goals. Like "fix this line," or make another 4096 block.
posted by SLC Mom at 8:34 AM on May 21, 2016

You Must Build a Boat is quick and easy but not dull. You match tiles to pass through dungeons, adding rooms to your boat as you go.
posted by Francolin at 8:37 AM on May 21, 2016

Threes is my go to. It's the original 2048. I find it very relaxing, as there is no time crunch. Plus the little blocks are adorable (especially with the sound on!)
posted by bluloo at 8:40 AM on May 21, 2016

I've never needed anything more than Doodle Jump. Doodle Jump is my religion. Doodle Jump is life.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:04 AM on May 21, 2016

Drop 7 is the best dang game ever.
posted by Charity Garfein at 10:47 AM on May 21, 2016

Desert Golfing
posted by isauteikisa at 10:59 AM on May 21, 2016

Crossy Road is entertaining silly fun that never gets more difficult.
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:12 AM on May 21, 2016

Slither.io
posted by candyland at 11:30 AM on May 21, 2016

Seconding Neko Atsume. Best game ever. Alpha Bears is fun, too.
posted by sarcasticah at 11:32 AM on May 21, 2016

I really like Alto's Adventure. It's an endless runner, and it can be as deep or as shallow as you want (there are level goals but you can ignore them.) It's also really pretty and the music is nice and sort of soothing.
posted by littlerobothead at 12:26 PM on May 21, 2016

/looks at Games folder

I have similar needs to yours, so here's what's worked for me: Dots, 1010!, Switch&Drop, Two Dots (gets hard after a long time, I'm stuck at a level that I'll never beat so just do the side adventures now), Dotello (took a really long time to get too hard), Hex FRVR, Can You Get to 11, Three Dots, Merged!, and Merged++.
posted by General Malaise at 1:08 PM on May 21, 2016

Thirding Neko Atsume. And seconding Merged! (which I learned about from a 7 year old).
posted by snaw at 1:27 PM on May 21, 2016

Seconding 1010!, which is a little like untimed Tetris. It's my go-to when I can't sleep.
posted by mishafletch at 2:35 PM on May 21, 2016

Crossy Road?

its basically never-ending fogger.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 2:52 PM on May 21, 2016

I've had Solebon Solitaire since I had an iPhone 3. Can't beat solitaire for mindless fun. This app has 50 different solitaire games, is quick and clean to play. Some customizing available in backgrounds and card images. I have something over 500 hour's worth of accumulated playing time. I win around 20% of the times I play, and arbitrarily refuse to play a game longer than 6 minutes, even though I might win a small percentage more if I didn't do that.

the free version does not limit play in any way that I can tell. Paying for it gets rid of the add that pops up after every game.
posted by qurlyjoe at 5:30 PM on May 21, 2016

> Loonacy by Looney Labs. A card game like War, only better. Now available in Retro and Ugly Doll variants.

Is there really an iPhone/iOS version of this? I love many of their games, and would play the heck out of them on my phone, but don't see a phone version at that link or elsewhere on their site.
posted by gingerbeer at 7:48 PM on May 21, 2016

Smash Hit is pretty brainless.
posted by nicwolff at 8:10 PM on May 21, 2016

It's been mentioned, but Alto's Adventure is as close as I get to zen. Great for what it does.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:12 AM on May 22, 2016

Colors. You can just play the first level over and over if you want.
posted by Room 641-A at 3:23 AM on May 22, 2016

Relaxing iOS game? Get a copy of ZenBound (any version). Low commitment, easy engagement, super chill
posted by NotAlwaysSo at 5:38 AM on May 22, 2016

PIYOMORI is frigging perfect, thanks!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:06 PM on May 22, 2016

Desert Golf would be perfect if it had a way to turn off in-game sounds.
posted by rmd1023 at 7:19 AM on May 23, 2016

Doug Dug. is my mindless go-to.
posted by Ridiculous Dolphin at 3:09 PM on May 23, 2016

I like Jewel Mania. It's a less annoying Candy Crush. Some levels are timed, some are not. I like that I can only play for five lives at a time, and that each life takes an hour to recharge. It helps me to not accidentally play for ninety minutes straight.
posted by kidsleepy at 10:24 AM on May 26, 2016

I just want to mention that thanks to this thread, I am now obsessed with Piromori.
posted by holborne at 1:19 PM on May 26, 2016

...and also thanks to this thread, I've been spending way too much time playing Piyomori and Smash Hit.
posted by bookmammal at 5:58 PM on May 26, 2016

I have 0h h1 and 0h n0 and they're great for just killing time or kind of blocking out the world. Once you get very experienced with them you can fly through levels (especially with 0h n0) and get in a zone.
posted by numaner at 12:00 PM on September 21, 2016

Rings is really fun, my go-to train ride game.

Hoplite is very simple but endlessly fun.
posted by Cranialtorque at 2:43 PM on January 9, 2017