Originally published at: Mobile games with no ads, upselling, in-app purchases or other horrors | Boing Boing
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I strongly recommend The Room if you like puzzle games. Got the first in a Humble Bundle, bought every one since. Recently finished “The Room VR: A Dark Matter”.
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This is fantastic. Exactly the sort of consumer protection site I’m always looking for but which never seems to exist. There are so many products besides mobile games which also could use a site to sift out the few bullshit-free options.
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Word. The fucking torch app on my phone wanted access to my purchase history… 
Searching for ‘[$app] open source no permissions’ kinda sorta works.
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WTAF. I though flashlight functionality got baked into the base android and IOS image several versions ago.
(That’s the other reason I don’t like the wifi LED bulbs and other home automation things- they require a shitty app in order to configure it and connect it to whatever you are using or to control it directly, and I have a profanity-filled rant about that. 
)
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It’s a cheap chinaphone from Amazon, is why. I had an older model (Blackview bvsomethingorother) and it was great;10amp battery, stock android, built like a tank, but I lost it and so ordered the new one, which is pants. No more only having to charge it twice a week, horrible, bloaty spyware and a crappy UI.
Shame, as I’d had 2 previous phones from them that were great. I won’t be getting another one.
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This is off topic, but warranted. I recently bought a wifi enabled light switch, but part of the reason I chose this particular brand is that it did not require an app on your phone to work. It still has a physical switch. You can get the hub and app in order to do home automation, but I bought it because it also comes with a second remote switch which can either be mounted permanently on a wall somewhere, or just used like a remote. I got it so the woman I’m a caregiver for could turn her lights on and off in her room without getting up, as that has become difficult and dangerous for her, and she didn’t like having to call me just because she wanted to turn off her lights to take a nap. Anyway, it does use wifi, but it does not require an app, and I didn’t download it. So…good wifi home lighting products do exist.
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related, while we’re on the subject:
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This is great! Thanks!
One of the Pixel Dungeons variants is my go-to mobile game time waster… it’s fun, and as long as my phone isn’t connected to the internet, no ads or other nonsense.
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If you don’t consider $5/mo bullshit, Apple Arcade is very much worth the price. I was so happy when an update to Ridiculous Fishing showed up on there!
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80Days is really really good, and worth the price.
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Seconded!
Apple Arcade is really hitting the spot for me, and Mini Motorways (sister game of Mini Metro, called out in the blog) is probably my favorite game ever.
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Indeed - came here to say just this. Apple Arcade is awesome for just this reason. Playing a match-3 or merge puzzler or a Dr. Who themed search puzzler without any timers, currencies or other bullshit is absolutely worth the $5, especially because they require publishers to add new content regularly to keep the game in the store, and it has to run on appleTV/phone/ipad/laptop, and they enforce that games can’t collect any identifiable data from you. It’s really the best of all worlds for casual games!
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My only complaint is that there needs to be more of it. By which I mean there’s plenty of content already, but I didn’t want it to end.
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If you’re into the Room, then I also recommend anything by Rusty Lake. They are escape room-style, and very atmospheric. They all fall vaguely in the same world with some recurring characters, even though they are separated by generations.
Their recent game, the Past Within is multiplayer, done in such an ingenious and simple way. So much fun.
ETA: I just saw that they’ve got a new game out, Underground Blossom, which I bought and looks great.
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