Here are some mobile games that don't suck. Most are paid. Most have no advertisements or in-app purchases. Some offer to remove ads for a fee, which I recommend paying.
Not everyone can buy games, yet we all pay eventually, either with our money or with our attention. We buy the product or we are the product. This list is for those who would rather buy the product.
DATA WING (iOS, Android): A free racing game with high production value, a great story, and fantastic music.
Lifeline (iOS, Android): Text with a stranded astronaut in real time to help him find his way home.
Space Marshals (iOS, Android): A top-down space/western shooter with stealth mechanics.
The Room Two (iOS, Android): A 3D escape room. The other games in the series are great, too, but The Room Two is my favorite.
Nowhere House (Android): A 2D escape room with a cartoon style. The other games in the Dark Dome series are also great.
Rusty Lake: Roots (iOS, Android): Unravel a family's history by solving escape-type puzzles. Profoundly weird. Some have compared it to Twin Peaks, which I've never watched. The other games in the Rusty Lake and Cube Escape series are also great, especially Rusty Lake Hotel, Cube Escape: The Lake, and Cube Escape: Seasons.
Super Mario Run (iOS, Android): Mario with a single button. Some complained about this game, but I found it satisfying. It has that classic Nintendo polish.
Plants vs. Zombies (iOS, Android): Defend your garden by using your plants to fight off zombies. The sequel should be avoided, in my opinion, because it's ruined by mechanics that manipulate the player into purchasing power-ups.
Why compile this list? I'm hardly a gamer. I just want to highlight games that offer exceptional experiences by avoiding ads and in-app purchases. The lesson? Choose a business model that supports your art, rather than ruining your art to make money.
As a rule of thumb, I try not to get worked up about people I haven't met in real life. “Supporters of Political Candidate Want Toast Banned,” a headline might read. Well, I've never met anyone in the real world who wants toast banned. Until I do, I'm not going to worry about it.
Of course it's important to notice and criticize bad ideas before they take hold. At the same time, with social media and the lazy, clickbait journalism it fuels, every bad idea now has a moment in the reactionary spotlight, and most will never affect much. Let's focus on the big problems of the day, the ones we'd notice with or without sensationalism.
A film’s need to entertain has obscured the reality about change. Montages set an expectation that personal transformations are practically microwaveable; just find the right mentor, find the right program, make the perfect plan, do it a few times, and you’ll reach your goal. I call this the montage fallacy.
[…]
The truth to personal transformation is much more boring—and ugly—than a montage will let on. You show up every day. You mostly make small gains, and experience the occasional leap—and persevere through setbacks. You have to choose the things you prioritize, which means you’ll decide to give up things you want to do.
If I'm wrong about the dangers of social media, so be it. In fact, that would be a good outcome. We would need to find another cause of the discord and the weird rebellious conformity of our time, but they wouldn't be caused by the tools that are now so intertwined with society, and that would be a good thing. On the other hand, if I'm right about the dangers of social media, popular opinion will inevitably come to understand that harm more clearly over time. There will be many casualties along the way, but learning the hard way is sometimes necessary. Either way, it will be fine. I don't think I'm wrong, which I why I continue not to use social media, but it will be fine.
A fatal bicycle accident recently caught my attention. I truly don’t know what happened, so please don't take my advice as evidence that one thing or another happened. Nevertheless, some basic advice may be worth repeating. As usual, I’m writing this partly to remind myself.
Please don’t text and drive. Please don’t drive recklessly in public; your fun is not worth another person’s life. When bicycling, please wear a helmet and reflective gear. For sufficient protection, be sure to replace your helmet from time to time or immediately following an accident, as recommended by Consumer Reports.
One of the trickier aspects of digital life is the constant pressure to opine. To have a strong opinion on a subject, and to share it with the world. It’s literally baked into the design of the most popular platforms… ‘What’s on your mind, Jamie?’ wonders Facebook. Some of the finest minds in the world work extremely hard to encourage you to tell everyone what you’re thinking and feeling. No wonder it’s hard to resist.
[…]
If I am honest, I know very little about most bad things going on in the world. Certainly not enough that sharing my view will inform or educate or enlighten. Yet whenever I see a news report, an urgent need rises up: what shall I say about this? I have a feeling about it – which must be shared! (And ideally in emotionally charged language, since that will receive more interactions).
[…]
What social media has done is to make silence an active – rather than the default – choice. To speak publicly is now so easy that not doing it kind-of-implies you don’t know or don’t care about what’s going on in the world. Who wants to look ignorant or indifferent? And besides, who doesn’t want to appear kind or wise, or morally upstanding in front of others?
But the result is an undirected anger from all sides: frenetic, purposeless, habitual and above all moralising.
I agree. Of course we should criticize wrongdoing, but knee-jerk, impersonal, emotionally-charged reactions are sometimes profoundly counter-productive, and that's precisely what social media selects for. I actually wrote a blog post in August expressing very similar concerns, and I wish I could have quoted Jamie in it.
When people complain that baseball is slow, I wonder if they really mean that defense is boring. The best a defending team can do is prevent their situation from getting worse, and unlike some sports, baseball does not have turnovers. That does feel slow!
I also like to joke that being slow used to be the point. “Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks, I don't care if I ever get back.” Somehow, that has become, “Put a runner on second, I've got places to be!”
Certainty is impossible. Show me someone who's certain, and I'll show you someone who's underinformed.
Am I guilty of overconfidence in my views? Of course. I think many people are. It's something I'd like to continually, imperfectly correct for, however.
edit (2026-01-27): I later deleted these chatbots. I wrote about the decision to do so in a blog post.
I created some chatbots which pretend to be historical figures. They respond to messages based on the knowledge, values, and personality of the people they represent. To use one, simply click its link and follow the on-screen instructions. None of the money currently goes to me.
I'm sure there will be hiccups, as there always are, but I'm proud of them. I think they'll be especially useful in education. What better way to learn than by talking to the topic of one's studies?
Abraham Lincoln (link removed)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (link removed)
Frederick Douglass (link removed)
George Washington (link removed)
Jesus (link removed)
Moses (link removed)
Rosa Parks (link removed)
Socrates (link removed)
Susan B. Anthony (link removed)
The Buddha (link removed)
Thomas Edison (link removed)
The GPTs are built on top of ChatGPT and will launch with the GPT Store some time this week. To use them, one must sign up for ChatGPT Plus, which currently costs $20/mo. None of that money goes to me, and there's currently no way for me to charge an additional fee to use one of my GPTs. OpenAI may adopt a revenue-sharing model in the future, but it hasn't been rolled out yet. I have opinions on that (“Let's make the marketplace less like the App Store and more like Spotify!”” —No publisher ever), but there isn't much I can do about it right now. If I become annoyed enough by the enshittification, I'll consider removing my GPTs in protest. Besides, I don't honestly expect I'll make much money (or any money) doing this. It's just fun.
I have to share credit with my dad, who expressed an interest in chatting with an AI version of Abraham Lincoln. Now it's possible! I'm sure I'll add more historical figures in the future, so keep an eye out. When the GPT store launches, perhaps you'll be able to search my name or otherwise search for GPTs made by me.