Hmm I'm not sure using gacha games which are designed for addictive gameplay loops and predatory monetisation being the games that your kid prefers over standalone experiences is a good argument to make

Who would've thunk, young people with brains that are not fully developed tend to prefer games with addictive elements.

Why? Because her Android has Genshin Impact, Fortnite, Roblox, Candy Crush, Wuthering Waves, and Sky: Children of Light.

These games are all great examples of everything I hate about mobile gaming: full of incessant ads for microtransactions. Literally every mobile game I've ever played (outside of FDroid) is this way.

Plus you need a controller anyway, at which point you might as well just carry a handheld ging system.

You could buy whatever your favorite Anbernic device for $50 and have access to a library of thousands of fun ad-free games.

Jesus. People get big mad about this stuff.

The problem isn't mobile games, and it's not console games, and it's not PC games. It's the profit motive and corporations and enshittification. And there's plenty of that going on in games for mobile, console, and PC. (And, for that matter, TTRPGs. And it's not like the 300 different collectors editions of Monopoly released every year aren't enshittification at play.)

Addictive gotcha mechanics are shitty when they're tied to microtransactions. Even when not tied to microtransactions, I think they can still be shitty depending on the specific circumstances, and it's definitely wise to responsibly manage your (and/or your children's) engagement to not cause other problems in your(/their) life. But is addictiveness in a video game inherently a bad thing? I don't think so. All games cause dopamine squirts whether it's Pong or a slot machine. That's kinda the point of games. There are plenty of Open Source games out there that cause big addictive dopamine squirts. (Mindustry, anyone?) And such games aren't made to milk whales. They're made because someone wanted to create and play such a game.

Don't be talking too much smack about shovelware! Low-quality games create their own vibes. Some are accidental masterpieces. Both of my favorite two YouTube gaming content creators do a lot of their content on really low-quality games. This series got me to buy Radiation Island and I had a great time playing it. And here is a great video on all the shitty official games based on the movie Avatar.

"Gaming is as much about socializing as playing" is an awesome outlook to have on gaming! Addictiveness in games can be... concerning. But sometimes particular games are the key by which your kid can be involved in peer group. I'm not saying that automatically trumps any downsides and you should let your kid spend $∞ on Fortnight skins or whatever. But I think probably in most cases a balancing act is superior to a hard "yes" or "no".

I should probably specify that I'm admittedly an old fart who doesn't know shit about mobile gaming. (The only mobile games I play are Open Source ones on F-Droid.) And the only modern console I have is a Switch, and I don't have any plans to get one soon. I've played a lot of Breath of the Wild, though. And a fair amount of Tears of the Kingdom.

Some final thoughts:

• Open Source gaming is awesome.
• The way they're doing anti-cheat on PC is fucked-up.
• But so is the way they lock down consoles and phones.
• Hack your games. Hack your consoles. (If you don't hack it, you don't own it.) Get your kids interested in hacking stuff.
• ...responsibly, of course.
• Play games with your kids! (And not just the ones you want to play.)

I'm not sure why you're on a crusade to convince people to like mobile games. I've always got my phone on me, and I frequently find myself on a subway ride that's too short to bother with a Steam Deck. Mobile games would fit in great there. My options are pretty terrible. For the kinds of games I like to play, the only ones that actually have mobile versions are basically digital versions of board games and a small handful of roguelikes. I tend to just read on the subway instead. It's not for lack of trying. The library just sucks, and it offers less value than other places I can buy games. Your daughter is playing games designed to keep you "engaged" and addicted with all of the greatest tricks of the gambling industry; you can find the GDC talks with a quick search on your favorite search engine.

I just feel bad for a lot of kids because maybe their phone or tablet has the game they want but often they are playing using just the touchscreen and that interface sucks for anything that requires joystick or button controls (where the touchscreen just has vague areas with pretend joysticks and buttons).

It just does.

I get that kids get used to it, but it's like getting used to being kicked in the nuts when you have the option of not being kicked in the nuts.

I don't think of gaming as socializing - that's your daughter's metric.

Not all game players are the same, which is why there are so many different categories of games.

My 13 and 15 year olds are PC first gamers, then consoles, then mobile. I raised them that way on purpose because I wanted to avoid tablet and phone screens. I could control access better that way.

And yea, also because I’m a pc and console gamer and wanted to play my favorite games with them.

The older one has started playing mobile games more often and yea, it’s Genshin and Honkai. That kid was always in love with Fire Emblem, so Honkai makes sense to me. The stories are all kind of the same.

A friend stayed with us for a few days and they have a 12 and 10 year old. I have every console imaginable, PCs on big screens, and they never left their tablets.

I think once kids get on the tablet/phone/mobile games, they don’t really leave. I don’t know that I would have either.

Sky is fun but you know it hooks you with those candles. The only evolution you make clear here is they've gotten better at disguising the loot boxes and cash grabs.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm sure you're a loving parent and just want what's best for your daughter. But what you're essentially doing, is giving your kid pocket money to go play slot machines at the local dive bar.

The reason why mobile phone gaming is so bad, is because there are barely any actual games. The reason your daughter thinks it's fun to play candy crush is not because the game itself is good, it's because the game makes her addicted to it. This is bad. Really bad. This will have consequences on how her brain handles dopamine. Please, for the love of your family, get her off that shit immediately.

Honestly, we all had ‘our thing’ growing up that our parents thought was silly or a waste of time. It’s just the circle of gaming life.

If the Candy Crush is a quality for you, I feel sorry for yourself. Also comparison to a console is flawed.

Mobile gaming, on Android, is an interesting space right now. I used to buy flagship phones exclusively, as high spec as I could just...because I could. I played a few emulated Nintendo Switch games on them, as well as the odd Game Pass title (with a telescoping GameSir Xbox mounted controller thing) and then I realized I really had no use for them. I rarely played, and my most recent phone purchases have been mid-range.

That said, so much is now possible on Android. You can emulate everything from Switch to PS3, use pretty front-ends to use as a launcher station (a quick note of appreciation for the totally FOSS option - Lemuroid), and as unbelievable as it still is to me, you can even play full PC games like GTA V using winlator

The scene for Android emulation is incredibly dramatic with frequent in-fighting, but also pretty impressive from a technical standpoint. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea - and that's fine, but the mobile scene which isn't just gatcha games hooking kids on the Play Store is so varied. Then you've got actually impressive games like DREDGE getting a Android release, replete with custom builds and changes for the Android system (no lazy ports!). Heck, even No Man's Sky is coming to Android soon!

Super fancy shinny quad AAAA game with photorealistic (2025 edition) graphics that You can talk about on dedicated forums, that maybe 5 other persons in Your area ever heard of.

vs

Common, whatever graphic, cube themed, low poly game with music in midi... that whole school talk about and every yt influencer too.

It's all about blindly following the fashion. Again.

The potential has always been there for phone games, but its far a few between that are worthwhile. Touch screens suck for controls, really limits to a few good genres, but the stores suck too for any form of support. I'm still bitter that they updated iOs and not xcom so I lost that game and couldn't get a refund. Most good phone games are ports though, and otherwise so riddled with poor design and mtx its not worth the time. Honestly, the buggest disappointment with phones is that games could be awesome on them and they're not.

Kids are easily entertained by all kinds of arguably crappy things. Similarly mine has access to tons of great games but will spend weird amounts of time on some janky web based crap. Its not a sign its good, he just has no taste cause he's an inexperienced kid. I similarly wouldnt look at his choice of mismatched clothes and chicken nuggets for every possible meal and think "wow that stuff's great!" Maturity and judgement take awhile to develop, so I dont think its bad that he does that, but roblox is still utter garbage no matter how much him and his friends love it. A lot of people love garbage - it doesn't make it good.