hi hi! we had a lot of fun making this one! but I must say, Sheriden and I have reignited our mobile game addictions while working on this... EDIT: ps, thank you all for the feedback about the format! If/when we attempt something similar, we’ll definitely work to make any interjections more smooth and add some more interesting visuals ✨

the irony of playing a game on my phone while listening to this video is not lost on me

I feel like a time management game set in a hospital, where some levels are literally impossible to beat without buying boosters... There's a potential for some social commentary in there.

I’ve noticed a pattern in the game ads lately, where they show the game being played poorly and failing. I think this entices a viewer who knows they can do it better and was frustrated watching it done poorly, so they download the game to prove themselves. I’m pretty picky about mobile games and have deleted some because they do not curate the ads they run and it’s essentially a money grab from all directions.

I think that it's important to mention the faux competitive aspects of mobile gaming as well. Often, offline mobile games will simulate online play by presenting a fake leaderboard. Of course, you're at the bottom of the leaderboard, and you're incentivized to climb up to the top. However, these accounts that you're seemingly playing against are completely fake-they're created by the mobile game creator. This is often the case in casino or slots apps, so it drives a lot of in-app purchases

i cannot possibly imagine how you have 40 minutes of content about mobile games but im more than prepared to watch and i already know i’m gonna be impressed

This was so interesting! I work at a mobile game company who has projects like this. I actually started as the sole customer service rep for one game to get my foot in the door at the studio, and then later became a developer for it, so I got a very comprehensive view of how the game is setup to entice (or perhaps take advantage of) consumers, AND how that affects the players firsthand, because I was talking directly to them myself. Funny enough, this topic is actually a conversation that even the people who work on the game have. Some of my coworkers expressed dissatisfaction/discomfort at having to develop for a game that used tactics like this. (Apparently earlier in the game's lifespan, when it was new and fresh, it did not have to rely on predatory tactics to make money, but slowly became more and more that way over time as money was needed, and product managers and such realized that more money could be made with less...savory methods of advertising new content to players.) My mentor at the company actually quit somewhat abruptly because management put him back on the project and he pretty much refused to go back. Most of my customer service emails were bugs and such with the game, but I'll never forget that I did get one message from a player who was a long time customer of the game. (I could see his history and he had spent thousands of $$$ over years.) They actually messaged not with an error to fix, but specifically requesting that on our game's homepage he *not* be shown our daily time-limited deals. (typically 24 hrs) He told me he physically could not stop himself from purchasing them and it was causing him distress in a lot of ways. At the time I was in college for a dual degree in Game Development and Psychology, so you can imagine my sympathy and conflict I felt for him. I brought it up to my team, but it really wasn't a function that we could "turn off" for a single player, so there wasn't much I could do for him. I did sit for a long time though wondering if I should offer some personal advice (VERY outside of my job description) and tell him to stop playing our game or seek some help. Probably would have been talked to or fired for suggesting one of our top players leave the game, but I wanted to. I believe he stopped playing the game despite his heavy investment because of his spending habits. I do commend him for going the extra mile just to see if we could help him still play the game but in a healthier way. Hope my 2 cents was interesting. :) Hopefully the industry moves in a more consumer-conscious direction soon, though profit is such a hard thing to get companies away from. Loved the video!

I have spent several hundred dollars on model games in the 10 or so years. As a stay at home mom to multiple kids, I've had limited resources to go "out" or get time I control. Candy Crush, Mario Kart Tour, June's Journey, Pokemon Go, all of these made me feel more connected to something outside my house, they made my world feel bigger. They gave me "me time" and a sense of privacy. I feel like if I ran the numbers I've probably spent about $10 a month for the last decade on these. And while that is a lot of money, it's also not, not when you consider the amount of joy I've gotten from them. I don't drink, smoke, and buy pretty much everything second hand, we rarely go out to eat and I cook almost every meal at home. I don't waste a lot of money and these have been a little luxury I give myself. I have learned whenever I feel like I'm in a frustration spiral with the games I need to delete them. They can be bad, and addictive, or they can a welcome escape. My youngest just started school, and I just joined a gym. I deleted a lot these off my phone. I feel like with more a lone time I probably won't play as much. But I can't really feel guilty about these.

If feel like episode indirectly pressures you into spending money, nobody wants to disappoint their fanfic prince 😩

When I was in college I got really into this one mobile dating sim game called Mystic Messenger, in which you would receive messages from pretty anime boys in REAL TIME. So like, if you missed a message - because you were in class or at work or asleep (some messages would come in the middle of the night!) - you had to either pay real money to see previous messages or see further messages, or just resign yourself to only getting short bits of the storyline at a time and/or structuring your whole life around participating in these “conversations” on time, lest you miss key parts of the storyline 😅 absolutely insane looking back on it

South Park actually did a great episode on mobile games where they spelled out that the majority of mobile games are literally designed to create gambling/playing addictions in a sizable percentage of the people who play them. The best part is iirc Trey Parker and Matt Stone were approached to make a South Park mobile game, and instead they decided to make an entire episode shitting on the mobile game industry lol (they would later go onto create two very well-made and fun SP games for consoles/PC).

I had to get rid of the Kim K mobile game twice cause I couldn’t handle how addictive it was. I was spending real money just to stay on the A list and I was so ashamed 😂😭

It was fun to hear from Sheridan! Just a suggestion, having something visual when she speaks could be a bit more engaging than the soundwaves. She could create an avatar and have it wiggle on screen as she talks, or you could edit in some B Roll to look at :)

Free to play/pay to win mobil games being addicting can be a big problem for anyone that is chronically ill/disabled. We often need things to fill our time when we are unable to do anything productive but we generally don’t have much money.

Great video. As a woman, I too hesitate to call myself a gamer, even though I've been gaming my entire life. Not only do I feel like the types of games I play aren't traditional "gamer games" (Pokemon, animal crossing, sims, Mario kart...) I also feel like I'm not skilled enough to consider myself a gamer. I feel like a gamer needs to be "good" at games. And I'm certainly bad at shooters, sports games and race games. All of those feel like they're the "real" games.

I used to play Episode a lot, but I only ever played user-made stories so there were no price prompts. Plus, some of them were really interactive and interesting!

Across the board, developers have realized that the freemium model is much more profitable than the traditional $60 game. Fortnite is free, Fall Guys is free, Overwatch 2 is going to be free. While those developers aren't willing to embrace a pay-to-win model, mobile game developers are. It's only a matter of time...

The irony of my watching this video while playing a mobile game...

I played one level of Candy crush for a whole year. I couldn’t pass it so I just played it until I passed it. For some time, I gave up for a few months and got back to it again. At the end I managed to pass the level. I have big fat patience 😂 No way I would pay for a mobile game

The only free to play game I've ever gotten into is a game called Good Pizza Great Pizza. They're probably as ethical as a free to play game can be. Minimal ads, extremely addictive, you don't need to pay anything to do better in the game or get aesthetic upgrades, and it's cute. Watching this video reminded me of how good that game is

I think a super interesting case study is Genshin Impact... The game operates quite similarly to the mobile games talked about in the video in many ways (free to play, in app purchases, daily quests, some time-limited ressources) but is also objectively higher quality in production value (the graphics are quite nice, the music is excellent, the world is very interesting, open world)... I feel like Genshin Impact feels much more like a "real gamer" game (whatever that means), and yet is still on mobile. If u can resist the temptation of spending i would nearly recommend it, just to see what i mean ! Sometimes its tempting to spend on it, because you wouldnt feel quite as "stupid" as if u spent money on a mindless candy crush puzzle game, which is part of its marketing strategy.

I think the insideous ways mobile game app developers target kids needs to be talked about more. I remember as a kid playing a bakery story game and being pushed to download other games to get gems, most of which were similar games, but some which featured simulated gambling. They were literally trying to push kids into gambling Never spent money on a free game but definitely have spent way too much of my time trying to pass the levels and have fallen into the homescapes trap of spending 3 hours playing because of all the free lives/boosters

This was really interesting and so honest, enjoyed it a lot! I’ve been playing The Simpsons Tapped out for TEN YEARS. My town is so big and magnificent. I’m proud that I’ve put zero money into it but whenever something is free you’re paying with YOUR TIME. I find it more of a task just grinding to get the new items, only occasionally it’s relaxing and fun and I can set out the town into little sections and have fun with it. They just keep churning out endless content so you want to keep up. I’ve got a whole Halloween town from ten years of Halloween content for example, it’s just insane and I’m very aware. It’s like a shameful little secret. Only a few people have seen the extent of my mega-Springfield irl.

Very interesting, thank you. I am a 40-ish year old female and I play a lot of mobile games. My 13 year old daughter gets sad that we started Animal Crossing pocket edition at the same time and I am way ahead of her in the game. I play A LOT. And I want to tell you why, because I think it may be relevant for the discussion about gender in mobile games. Previous note: I am the one who likes to play with our kids with the nintendo switch and I am the one who knows about computers and similar stuff. My husband just likes Mario kart. So, why do I play a lot mobile games? I've played them since I've had kids. I play them when I was breastfeeding my kids for hours, when I was staring to the ceiling waiting for them to fall a sleep or when I was awake at night at 3 checking if the fever went down. I play the games when I'm waiting at the doctor or at school. And trust me, I rather play a bit of animal crossing or candy crush or whatever than to read endless facebook feeds of people being mean and full of hate. And, yet, I dont tell people I play so much because I am being "unproductive", as if I should be reading Les Miserables or whatever every 5 or 10 minutes I wait for my kids.

Welcome Sheridan! Not against the new format, but I think the back and forth style works best if you have different perspectives, roles or focus. The best part about this kind of style is that one person can say: "Yeah, but I don't fully agree here, because ... " or "I think you're overlooking xyz" or "that's true, but ..." Not to force it or anything, but it could be a good narrative device.

I was really big into the Harry Potter mobile game back in 2018, but I hated how everything had a time limit (i.e. for spells to work, quests to be completed, potions to finish brewing) and then if you missed the time window, you would have to start over, or the quest would sometimes be gone forever. Finally I realized I needed to quit, when I spent $10 to get more time on my quest and then still lost the challenge.

Thanks for talking about this subject. This barely scratched the surface of the manipulation tactics mobile games will engage in to absolutely ruin lives. It goes DEEP.

I like Sheridan's points and her involvement in these videos, except maybe it's just me but I found the format a little jarring? I personally quite like the style of Sarah Z including 'her co-writer Emily' which I suppose isn't too different but feels a little smoother? Great video nonetheless and I'm really excited to see what you two do!

Hi Tiffany, regarding new format I don't watch too closely and mainly listen to your vids like an essay, often while playing actual games! The main problem with microtransactions in games is that the developers can create an entire psychologically manipulative world designed to financially exploit vulnerable people (people with isolation, anxiety, gambling addiction, or are minors).

I’ll be honest I did not like having the two narrators, what the second one said sometimes made me loose track of what was going on and what Tiffany was saying. Of course she had good things to say but the format just wasn’t for me

Neko Atsume and Secret Cat Forest are my favourites. SCF has a really calming atmosphere and music. There's no pressure to pay and you can't buy speedups for construction.

i really love sheridan’s input!! they are so smart and it is clear why they are your co-writer. i think they compliment you very well and i’d love to have more of them in upcoming videos :) it especially warms my heart as a person who has video essay ideas and is a good writer, but i’m not a huge fan of filming myself. it’s nice to see someone who i enjoy so much even when i don’t see their face - it encourages me to pursue what i want to do despite my personal insecurities.

Massive recommendation for Jim Sterling's videos. They make really good videos about the exploitative and predatory practices in video games, whether mobile or otherwise. Their video "The Addictive Cost Of Predatory Videogame Monetization" is a fantastic place to start.

As someone with an addictive personality, I've gotten addicted to a lot of mobile games. Knowing this fact about myself, I try to choose ones with minimal in-app purchases and also make placing a purchase on my phone as difficult as possible to discourage that sort of mindless purchasing that games often encourage.

It's so nice to hear about someone having the same experience as me. I have anxiety and depression, and these games have been such a crutch for me for as long as I can remember. It's escapism and relaxing for me. It turns off my brain when everything else is too much. The more mindless the game, the better. I think I've only spent a few dollars on a game or two, years ago. I'm a college student and I don't have any extra money to spend, so I have the control to not spend. It takes up hours of my day though. I used to sit there playing games in class when things were really bad mental health-wise. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I play mobile games while watching KZfaq videos so that I'm forced to leave the game to deal with KZfaq ads or switch videos when they end. It helps me not feel as sucked in because I'm dealing with more than one source of entertainment. If I run out of lives, that's OK, I can finish this internet analysis video and be done. Also I think having multiple of the same type of game is helpful - I have 3 candy crush style games on my phone exactly so I can switch between them if I'm still in a gaming mood after running out of lives in one.

Omg I played Demi Lovato’s game years ago. I stopped playing when I got tired of the “emotional manipulation” - I didn’t want to let Demi down anymore haha

29:43 Personally for me I never got into gaming, telling myself I'd get addicted... and now my phone analytics are staring at me yelling about the hours I spent playing mobile games.

See, this is why Candy Crush is the perfect game. Some games are made so that you can't fill up your lives by forwarding your clock on your phone, but they made it so that you can, and thus get stuck into an endless cycle of playing through all 5 lives, resetting the timer and filling it up, and over, and over, and over again, for all eternity until your life is consumed by candy.

A couple of years ago I got a Gameboy Colour and a bunch of games for free because the charity shop I worked at couldn't sell it. I realised that I got the same kick from playing pokemon, tetris and Mario etc on the gameboy as the puzzle games I play on my phone. It made me realise just how much hassle, pressure and stress the in-app purchases or ads every 3 seconds can give you when you're just trying to relax and play a simple puzzle game. Playing on the gameboy is so much more relaxing

I've been playing Homescapes for about 5 years now and I'm on level 6059 lol it started when I got into a long distance relationship and had to kill 7 or 8 hours on the train thankfully I never spent any money on but I'd lie if I said I wasn't addicted at one point or another... loved the video and the new formatting and I hope we'll hear more from Sheriden in the future :)

I personally like your regular format

The editing was a little odd but I LOVED hearing Sheridan's takes on this topic! Would definetely love to hear more combo Tiffany/Sheridan videos! I had so many thoughts on this topic, and you two talked about them all and more

Great video. Another point about micro transactions in games is that you're often buying an intermediate game currency that you then use to buy the items you actually want, say using money to buy gold to buy energy, so it's more difficult to keep track what you're spending compared to of you just bought the item. I'm sure other people will have said it already but James Stephanie Sterling has some great videos on their channel about micro transactions in gaming, and other shady practices. I'm sure

Watching this caused me to look up how much I've spent on mobile games. In 12 years, I've spent $156 on games, and a large portion of those purchases have been for more indie mystery box games. And in months where I spent any money, I spent usually at least $10, in several shots of $2 each. So interesting! I've never thought of myself as a gamer, but I have been consistently playing phone games for as long as I've had a phone to play them on.

Great video! My game of choice is Zoo Tycoon 2 for PC, and sometimes I feel a little ashamed because I subconsciously think it's childish because I played it as a kid. But then I remember that (a) It does bring me joy so it's a fine hobby, and (b) Since it is a design/architectural type game I view it as a creative outlet that allows me to flex my spatial reasoning muscles to place objects, exhibits, plants, etc. Plus as a kid, it was insanely educational because every animal came with a biological info page and the game also came with a National Geographic DVD about cool animal facts!

On gaming and gambling: developers refer to rich people who spend a lot of money on games as “whales”… sound familiar? Game studios see these big spenders as high limit gamblers and mimic the tactics of casinos to get them hooked. I learned this from a few of my former schoolmates who ended up as app developers.

this video didn't sit well with me. i don't think this is a case of "let women enjoy things" so much as "women are a targeted demographic for intentionally addicting, money generating and data harvesting games". (side note: women are not by far the ONLY demographic targeted here.) i don't think that's something worthy of justification or defense. many women also enjoy the rewards (social, self-esteem) that come from participating multi level marketing schemes, but they're still exploitative! someone may argue that mobile games don't involve the social pressure mlm schemes do, but so many of these games have tactics to get you to share and recommend the game. some of them even offer rewards based on your referrals' in-game purchases! i don't blame anyone for their attachment or addiction to anything, mobile games included. that's not how addiction works! and i recognize that mobile games can feel uniquely satisfying. the low barrier to entry and the structure of these games is designed to do that (and it especially does this for people with cognitive & mental health conditions who are more likely to notice the dopamine rush from activities like these and continue to seek that). it's okay to play mobile games, and i don't think people should feel shame for spending money on them. but i think making people aware of the tools and tactics they use to keep people hooked and spending money would be both more in line with the rest of your content and a more responsible use of your platform. i was really surprised that this wasn't discussed in detail. last note - really not vibing with the inclusion of additional commentary. it was jarring and also not prompted by anything you said immediately prior to those segments. it didn't feel well integrated, more like someone interrupting you, and the disembodied voice format didn't help. if it needs to continue, i agree with the comment suggesting it would feel better if it were done similar to "editing tiffany" (which would also make the low quality audio feel less abrupt). all in all, though, i watch your channel for you, not for you+someone i don't get to see who doesn't mesh with your on-camera candid style. as a long time viewer, i would probably stop watching if this became a regular thing.

I feel like this is a good time to confess to you guys that I'm currently at level 9971 on Homescapes + a bunch of old levels because that's the last level they have right now. Because of this game I can literally not play any other match 3 because my eyes cannot differentiate the puzzles/I've gotten used to the visuals, colours, animation of this game that I literally cannot play anything else.

I think there is one more thing worth mentioning. By buying "gems" to bypass levels impossible to complete without them, or those premium choices in Episodes, we allow the companies to continue with their predatory practises. Moreover, we show that predatory practises = profit. Then, those practises migrate from mobile games to other types of media, like console games, and we end up having to pay for "upgrades" in Assasin's Creed games to avoid unfun and tiresome grinding, without which we cannot progress the story. I believe this is one of the main reasons why computer and console gaming community hates mobile gamers - mobile games make soooo much money on predatory practises, computer/console gaming companies realised it and now we get products, which are of lower quality or much higher price.

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24:20 as someone that plays anime mobile dating sims on a regular basis since almost a decade: Mystic messenger, My candy love, Episode, MeChat, Obey Me, Love Unholyc, anything made by Genius Inc, Dangerous Fellows, and that has fallen into 🏴‍☠ ... almost all of those games are 100 times more enjoyable when you don't have to worry about getting diamonds/coins/rubies/tickets. You can actually enjoy the characters and the stories and actually makes you want to play more

hi! maybe you already know this but just in case you didn't since you didn't mention it in the video, dark patterns is user experience design terminology, it means that an app (or website) is trying to actively make the user do something they wouldn't normally want to do, it's not limited to games, it's also fairly common in for example ecommerce when they bombard you with discounts, it's an interesting thing to look into

Loved Sheridan in this video! Her voice is very pleasing, my only complaint is that it felt a bit jarring when switching between Tiffany and Sheridan

LMFAO please end more videos with goodnight that was so sweet. I love the new style, I usually crochet while I watch KZfaq so it wasn’t a huge deal for me because I wasn’t even looking at you!!

Not a fan of most of the editors comments being added. Many lacked nuance in respect to scale & impact. 3$/month for a Neopets subscription is different than 20$ for loot boxes, or cosmetics. Same thing with the DLC vs micro transaction comment. Spend 30$ on DLC for Fo4 or GTA and you get a crafted story, meanwhile 30$ on a mobile game is just a few power-ups that you have to rebuy next week to beat the next level you're stuck on.

I'm a mobile game player, for sure. I like the Two Dots series, the Flow Free series, Sliding Seas, and I use an ad blocker for others. I heard that Evony: The King's Return is a game that actually features the pin-pulling, coin-dropping gameplay.

I can't help but notice the slight hypocrisy of saying your ideal mobile game should be free to play before talking about the predatory monetization tactics and the shame you feel at being tricked out of your money. People have to make those games, and those developers have to be paid. There is definitely an element of capitalism at play, sure. Game company executive can definitely make a ton of money if one of their releases catches on. But none of that content is created for free. If their customer is not willing to pay an upfront cost to acquire the product, then they will find a way to extract that amount from you some other way. It will probably be manipulative, and it probably won't feel good. I wish people were more willing to shell out a couple bucks for a premium game to get an ad free, pressure free experience, but the truth is mobile game audiences largely prefer to pay nothing upfront. Nobody thinks they will be the sucker who gets roped into buying a $15 gem pack, but statistically there's a chance they might be. And those people who can be pressured into buying extra content end up subsidizing the gaming experience of all the others who will never spend a dime for a game as long as they can get away with it. Then once the door is opened to using manipulative monetization techniques, it remains open in the heads of executives who start demanding that even premium products employ predatory tactics. Nobody wins. So yeah, personally I stay far away from free-to-play games or any games with microtransactions for that matter. I'm perfectly comfortable to spend a few dollars for a mobile game if I know it won't make me watch ads or ask me to buy a gem pack.

I like the new format, it feels more conversation, but I think you should include b-roll when Sheridan is speaking, rather than the audio waves, because it can feel a bit jarring

I just want to say thanks for having Human-Made captions. I watch a lot of vids with captions on and it is comical to see how off computer-generated captions can be, so I appreciate you going out of your way to have good captions❤

After watching the video I gotta say I absolutely loved it. It sucks that it's a shared experience for many of us, but it felt so validating watching this. I'm already looking forward to whatever you'll post next.

‘’Courage taught me no matter how bad a crisis gets ... any sound investment will eventually pay off."

*me watching this while literally switching between playing two mobile games*... Thank you for making this! I started downloading and playing a few mobile games in March 2020 and I think it really brought me a level of comfort to feel like I could control this one small (fake) thing when the world around me felt so out of control. One game in particular is a farming game and damn it feels so satisfying to know that all my stocks of plants are high and my animals are fed and my materials are being made in the factories. Lol. Now I still play them, less frequently, mostly out of habit and/or when I'm anxious. I wonder if others had a similar experience, though, of seeking out that aspect of feeling like some small part of your life can be controlled and maintained when the real world feels too unbearable.

It's great hearing from Sheridan and I honestly didn't notice the reading from the laptop. It doesn't take away from the quality of the video at all and if it means you're able to produce more videos, or that making them is less taxing on you, it sounds like a great idea.

Love this video Tiff and Sheridan ❤ also feel extremely validated that I’m not the only one who was obsessed with episode

it made me laugh so much when you said "good night" at the end 🤣 PLEASE make that a regular thing hahahah, cause often when I can't sleep, I just put one of these videos on as background noise and drift away 😴 in the best way possible! 😁 + I found Sheridan's input quite enjoyable, many interesting points!

Playing Mystic Messenger was like a full time job for me. You have to be ready any time of day (or night) if the character you were trying to pursue was in the chat so you could get hearts. (Or to get invites for the party at the end). And if you missed a chat they were in, you didn't get those hearts. One day I forgot my phone in my car and I had to use so many hour glasses (yes I paid for them) to replay old chats so I could get the hearts I wanted. I don't know if I could ever extend that much energy to a mobile game again but I loved that game so much and still have such a fondness for the characters and storylines. I have played all character routes, including when they added new ones a while after I initially stopped playing 💀

I like the new back and forth with the editors voice! Maybe having opposing sides of an argument would help bring new ideas

I think the developers don't make those simple games from the ads because people who saw the ads probably keep playing out the real game of anticipation for the mini games from the ads. I'm sure those games from the ads would get old quickly as well, which means less time to drive in-app purchases

I'm about 10 minutes into the video right now and I agree with you on a lot of points that you've already made. Especially with how intense and isolating the past two and a half years have been, the changes in the political environment, etc, people are more willing to spend money, if they have it, on immediate satisfaction items which includes games. Games are also a lot more interactive than paying to watch a movie. From my personal experience, especially being ADHD, these games help to keep me entertained and get the dopamine that I need in order to feel like life is mildly survivable. I'm also disabled, so I don't have an option of doing physical activities like hiking or rock climbing, and oftentimes I'm in so much pain that I can't do art related activities that will require sitting up. Sometimes the pain is so bad that I can't even look at the screen on my phone, but fortunately, thanks to an extra dimmer filter, that doesn't happen very often. In my opinion, there's no difference between playing a game on the phone and playing solitaire in real life or playing a board game with other people in real life. The transition just made things more accessible for a lot of us. A couple of things I don't like about games is ads, so I often look for things that can be played offline because I hate non-consensual indoctrination and sensory input. I've had an on and off affair with words with friends for the past 11 years and I don't think I can play it anymore because they have ads that have movement above the board while I'm trying to concentrate on the board and lay down tiles. It's too distracting and it's frustrating instead of rewarding. I also don't like how a lot of games which involve characters, often have majority white characters. You don't have an option to pick a non-white character unless the game involves off-world aliens or something like that. A lot of the games also involve developing and cultivating never before touched land, and I think that further contributes to the mindset of colonization which I'm not a fan of. Just my few cents as a neurodivergent disabled cult survivor. Folks may not agree with me and that's fine. Spend your money and your time on what you wish. This is just what I do with mine. Stay safe.

30:00 Another factor for me is my abilities. I don't have full sensation in the fingers in my right hand, which makes doing things on controllers difficult. I don't have that problem on mobile games.

I like hearing Sheridan's thoughts but I feel like it would be more cohesive with different editing, like if you guys were in the same room or smth. Great video though!!

I really really really needed this video now. I don't pay for micro transactions often and the few times (more like, many times few instances) I've done it... I've felt soooooooo ashamed. Part of it was what type of game it was. I couldn't quit a mobile game for MONTHS, I kept playing out of embarrasment - of how much money (~300 USD) I had spent on the game, I didn't enjoy the game for months. I have recently spent money on a mobile game. As in... Kind of a lot. Last time "just uninstall then" worked, maybe this time too. What's the worst outcome? I will get a bit more bored? Lol. Thank you for the video and opening up like this 💙 it really really helps me.

honestly the amount of enjoyment i get from a $5 purchase in a mobile game here and there is worth it. I've spent more on worse or on fleeting experiences so...or at least that's how I think of it.

Thank you for sharing your actual struggle with them. It affects a lot of people, but I haven’t seen anyone talk about it before.

I agree with most of what you've said here except about mobile game ads primarily targeting women. I've seen soo many ads on KZfaq for mobile games that are super sexualized or degrading toward women, clearly targeting men. So much so that it's turned me off from all of those types of games.

Can you do an analysis on parasocial relationships? The try guys/mulaney got me thinking how we feel “betrayed” by people who we don’t truly know

I get you girl! I know that I can become addicted to mobile games, which is why I havent allowed myself to download any in the past years. Last year however I was sick, couldnt get out of bed really and downloaded Gardenscapes after seeing the Ad. Ended in me playing it everyday for MONTHS. I definitely wont be making that mistake again. Its crazy how addictive these games are.

I didn't the divide between mobile games and console games is a extension of the divide between hardcore and casual gamers.

There's this game called Evony and I downloaded it bc of what the game play looked like. Lil puzzles where you have to get a guy to the r treasure. it turns out it's this whole elaborate map with multiple servers of many players who all have a city they build up and protect and attack other players. I wanted the mini game :( but now I'm addicted and I must protect my troops at all costs lol

i'm less than 3 mins in and i already LOVE the commentary format on your commentary! i could get used to this. 🥰🥰

I don’t know about any “select the right icon to save the person” games, but the “pull the pin puzzle” game actually does exist. It’s called Hero Rescue, it’s free to play, and I’ve never needed to spend money on it to progress (I don’t even know if you CAN spend money on it. I don’t remember there being an option to do so)

i spent like 70$CAD+ in the span of like 2 days on mystic messenger in 2020. like it’s not even a game u “need” to pay for it, u make enough hourglasses in regular chats to make up for the like 3am 5am whenever chatrooms you miss. i spent that much money so i could play through like 3 play throughs (like 6 weeks) in two days😔

great video and takes but the editor segments were kind of offputting tbh

Tiffany, you should get the game "My Child Lebensborn". It costs very little money (which goes towards a good cause), there are no in-game purchases, the gameplay of the mobile version is good, and, most importantly, it might remind you of what is really important in life. (Also, the free version goes pretty far into the story as a whole, if I recall correctly. Represents the whole thing really well.)

As someone who has worked in support for a mobile game... 4,000 dollars in lifetime spendings on a game is actually on the lower end of the big spenders

I work in disability and sooo many people with intellectual disabilities have racked up massive credit card debts from in mobile games not realising that it’s ‘real money’

Great video! By the way, another cool concept would be adult board/card gaming. I feel like when I was growing up, board games were either very childish (Ants in the Pants, Don't Break the Ice, etc) or if they were for adults, they had been around for years (Monopoly, Clue, etc). As an adult, the industry of board/party/card games specifically marketed for adult game nights seems to have boomed! Do I just think this because when I was a kid I didn't notice what adult games were out there? Or else if there has been a boom, what has caused adult gaming to become so popular/profitable? And how pivotal was the release of "Cards Against Humanity" in this whole story?

This reminds me specifically of when I downloaded one of those episodic like anime prince games and I could not play it without spending real money. I couldn’t advance in the story without having to wait absurd amounts of time to get gems or whatever the currency was. I finally just deleted it because there was no point-I couldn’t advance since I wasn’t willing to spend money to see if my character would fall in love with one of the like 4 harem boy options. 😅

Great video and a topic I know a decent amount about and can share additional information as well as my experience as a "Hardcore Gamer Guy™️" when I was younger. Firstly, I know you touched on it, but for those interested in some of the darker choices that are made to try and get you to spend money on a game I'd recommend the talk "Let's Go Whaling" which is in reference to the idea of "whales" that are players who spend a ton of money on a specific game. This is an industry specific talk and also starts with the horrifying phrase "let's leave ethics at the door" For a more human look at the damage loot boxes and micro transactions can do, James Stephanie Sterling has a fantastic piece speaking with those that have had life ruining experiences. That piece is fantastic and it's called "The Addictive Cost Of Predatory Videogame Monetization" Jim in general has a lot of content about issues with the gaming industry Lastly, for my own personal experience growing up myself and friends would both play mobile games and make fun of some of the games mentioned. We mostly played on consoles and there was definitely some sexism within our attitudes towards mobile games (anyone who was ever in an Xbox live lobby won't be surprised by that) but there was also this fear that these games we loved for their complexity would be "dumbed down" or made pay to win like you mentioned. Hell, I remember when dead space 3 added micro transactions to the single player. We saw games as getting worse and blamed that on mobile gamers when in hindsight it was just capitalism. Within gaming since regulation is slow a lot of things end up being done that absolutely would not be allowed in any other space. I don't think mobile games are bad anymore, but I do think their monetary systems need to be a lot more ethical. Some do it really well, others not so much But again, great video

say what you will about mobile gaming, but i feel like we all came together when pokemon go first came out. Haven't been able to replicate that feeling since.

one summer I was working a LOT so I fell for the ecapism and downloaded the Kim Kardashian Episode game and I got SO addicted that I JAILBROKE MY PHONE SO THAT I COULD CHEAT bc I didn’t want to/couldn’t spend money

my game of choice is project makeover, but i also am the type of person who doesn’t spend a CENT on these games. when my lives are gone, i close the app. i’ve gotten super far without spending a singular dollar

I really like the games by Hyperbeard bc they do give you the option to buy game currency w real money but also give you several other ways to obtain the currency that don’t involve spending money (like watching ads or playing mini games). The games have a cutesy aesthetic and are extreme low stakes, like decorating a house or having a spa. They’re really refreshing and actually fun compared to the usual mobile games we’ve become accustomed to

I think the reason why people say mobile games aren't real games is a combination of many factors like mobile games in general being more simple and perceived as less challenging and competitive as console games the reason why I think people have a problem with mobile games being simple and seen as easier than console games is because people generally speaking see it as a virtue to overcome a challenge so when you play a casual game like animal crossing or a easy Candy crush level it's not seen as impressive as beating a difficult game like dark souls or beating a really good player in Street fighter and in general more hardcore competitive gamers have the tendency to view themselves as Superior to casual gamers because of their skil another big attribute for why mobile games are looked down on is that you can pay for in-game advantages in games like dark souls or fighting games most of the time the only thing you have to rely on to win is your own skill and in-game preparation therefore making the accomplishment more impressive to these people then simply paying to win in a mobile game. So in conclusion I think the divide between console games and mobile games is a continuation of the divide between hardcore and casual gamers.

I think a thing that plays a role in the gender discourse around gaming is exposure and skill. You're not easily identified a gamer if you do not play a lot of the games that the industry would consider competitive or skill based. Especially with gaming being a career nowadays. Like I sing, but I'm not a singer.

The only mobile game I play atm is "adorable home". It's a really passive game, you earn tokens by taking care of your cats and then you can use the tokens to buy cute furniture for your house and food to pack in your in-game significant other's lunch. A really basic game but honestly kinda relaxing, besides the ads once in a while. I used to play the apps like harry potter where you need to finish a task in a certain period of time but those just got too stressful and time consuming when it's literally just an app, so I never consistently stick to those ones!

Informative video! I don’t comment too often on videos but I wanted to say I feel called out for falling asleep to videos. 😅 I’ll rewatch part of the video in the morning if it’s a video I didn’t want to miss 😂

Haha I loved this! Great analysis as usual and loved the honesty about how much you've spent.

Thank you for getting hooked on mobile games just to bring us this neat content!!