All posts tagged: mobile games

Pokémon Cards Are Back—No Binders Needed

Pokémon Cards Are Back—No Binders Needed

Published by skeptic

In the mid-1990s, the masterminds behind Pokémon were building a powerful trifecta: a handful of role-playing adventures for Nintendo’s Game Boy, a physical card game, and an animated kids’ TV show following the adventures of a tween and his best friend, Pikachu. It was the early days of one of pop culture’s most beloved and enduring franchises, an intoxicating combination of cute, colorful creatures and the jingle-friendly demand to collect everything. “Gotta catch ’em all” remains a powerful mandate, even as physical media has fallen out of style. As a kid, I kept my Pokémon cards in carefully preserved laminate sleeves. Today, they live on my phone, thanks to Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, which lets players collect digital cards and use them to battle, just like they used to with physical cards. Pocket, released October 30 for iOS and Android, ditches the physical binders and booster packs in favor of a slick, mobile version that can sink its fangs into your wallet faster than you can finish a match. Like Pokémon Go, a hit …

10 Best Mobile Games for iOS and Android

10 Best Mobile Games for iOS and Android

Published by skeptic

Don’t doomscroll more depressing news, use that phone to lift your mood instead. The best mobile games will bring a little joy to your day, whether you’re killing time on the commute or chilling on the couch. And these games are all addictive slices of gaming pleasure that we have been gorging on for years. As smartphone screens and processing power have grown, the lines between mobile gaming and just gaming have blurred, and you can find tons of great mobile games that have been ported or adapted from other systems (Minecraft, Call of Duty, Fortnite, Roblox, Stardew Valley, Grand Theft Auto, and the list goes on). But all of these titles are best enjoyed on other platforms. Our picks here are games that work especially well on your phone. Snag one of the best mobile controllers to level up your smartphone gaming. You may also be interested in subscription services like Google Play Pass or Apple Arcade. You can even play some Android games on your PC now. Power up with unlimited access to …

You Can Clamp Your Phone Into Razer’s Fancy New Game Controller

You Can Clamp Your Phone Into Razer’s Fancy New Game Controller

Published by skeptic

Given everyone’s sustained interest in playing games on their phones, companies are eager to offer an experience that works better than just jabbing your fingers on a touchscreen. Razer, the maker of unapologetically robust and garish gaming devices, has a new offering that does just that. The new Razer Kishi Ultra is a souped up controller that adds pro-level thumbsticks, buttons, and triggers to just about any mobile device. It’s the latest in Razer’s Kishi lineup of portable gaming devices, which launched in 2020. The two handles pull apart, allowing you to slide your phone in between them. Let the spring-loaded clamp grip your phone, and you’ve got something like a DIY Nintendo Switch. It uses a USB-C port to connect to the phone. In addition, it can handle an iPad Mini and any Android tablet measuring up to 8 diagonal inches as long as it has a USB-C port. The Kishi Ultra only works with USB-C iPhones, so it’s limited to iPhone 15 and beyond. (It can even handle some folding phones.) The Kishi …

The 6 Best Handheld Gaming Consoles (2024): Switch, Steam Deck, and More

The 6 Best Handheld Gaming Consoles (2024): Switch, Steam Deck, and More

Published by skeptic

It feels like a distant memory by now, but right before the Nintendo Switch launched in 2017, it seemed like portable gaming was on its last life. Mobile games had gobbled up huge portions of the market, and most modern games required a lot of power to run on devices like the Nintendo 3DS. Fast-forward to today, and there are more ways to take your games outside the living room than ever. This is a bit of an odd category because, to be quite frank, many of the devices currently on the market aren’t very good. Valve’s Steam Deck kicked off a wave of manufacturers looking to compete with the Nintendo Switch, but many of their offerings are rushed, buggy, or just not a great way to play games. A few have risen to the challenge, and I’m comfortable saying that there are finally some good options to choose from. I’ve spent hundreds of hours testing as many gaming handhelds as I could get my grubby hands on—these are the best. Be sure to check …

Mobile Gaming is Having a Moment—and Backbone Wants to Unite It

Mobile Gaming is Having a Moment—and Backbone Wants to Unite It

Published by skeptic

Other perks to being a Backbone+ subscriber include game capture, recording, and editing tools for folks who like to share content on social media. There are promotions, like free months of Apple Arcade or Google Play Pass, in-game content for titles like Diablo Immortal, and 30 percent off new Backbone products and accessories. Unfortunately, this convenience comes at a cost. Yet another subscription is a hard sell nowadays. As nice as it is to have a single portal, shelling out for Backbone+ may not be worthwhile for everyone. If the one-stop shop interface for all your games is included as part of the free app, it would be easy to recommend, but $50 a year is too much to pay for folks who don’t care about the other functionality or promotions. That old expectation that mobile games should be free is persistent. Most folks are yet to be sold on alternative models to in-app purchases and advertising, like Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass. The latest rumors suggest Apple Arcade’s future is in doubt. That …

Vertex Is the Last Good Place Online

Vertex Is the Last Good Place Online

Published by skeptic

OK, look, I know how it sounds when I say that I wind down from a long day on the internet by playing a game on the internet. I’m a freelance journalist writing a book about private equity, which means I spend my working hours toggling between half a dozen Google Docs, twice as many academic papers, and enough Chrome tabs to regularly crash my six-year-old computer. And when I’m not writing (which, let’s be honest, is often), I’m toggling between Instagram, Bluesky, and X (yes, still). Were I a well-adjusted person, I would close my laptop at 6 pm and practice piano or knitting or, hell, poker—literally any hobby that allows me to detox from the many species of brainworms I contract online. I am not, however, a well-adjusted person, and I fear it’s too late to become one. So instead of knitting, I have Vertex. Vertex is the New York Times game you’ve probably never heard of and almost certainly never played. The crossword, Spelling Bee, Wordle, and Connections are household names, and …

ChatGPT’s FarmVille Moment – The Atlantic

ChatGPT’s FarmVille Moment – The Atlantic

Published by skeptic

ChatGPT has certainly captured the world’s imagination since its release at the end of 2022. But in day-to-day life, it is still a relatively niche product—a curiosity that leads people to ask questions that begin “Have you tried … ?” or “What do you think about … ?” Its maker, OpenAI, has a much more expansive vision. Its aim is seemingly to completely remake how people use the internet. For that to happen, the bot needs to be more than a conversation starter: It has to be a functioning business. The company’s launch of the new GPT Store on Wednesday was an ambitious step in that direction. Initially announced two months ago, the GPT Store allows the product’s business and “ChatGPT Plus” users—those paying $20 a month for an upgraded version of the service—to create, share, and interact with customized AI agents (called GPTs) that are tailored to specific tasks. The company claims that its users have built more than 3 million of these custom bots since they were granted the ability to do so …