On a recent evening I was feeling very tired. It had been a big day and I was just... busted. What I should have done was get in to bed, read my book, and turn out the lights early. I instead went to my go-to salve for feeling worn out, a screen. Not just one screen, two screens. I wanted to watch an easy show and play some games on my phone.
I went looking for some favourites on my phone - Merge Mansion and Royal Match, and found they were deleted. Why? I could not recall. Anyway, I downloaded them again and played them, for too long. I stayed up past my usual bedtime because Royal Match had rewarded me with unlimited turns and bonus items for coming back.
I was a few days in to having the games on my phone when I remembered why I deleted them last time. These games interfere with my life. I have good phone boundaries when I'm with my kids, doing work, or working out, but I had spent every other bit of spare "me" time merging and matching. I wasn't going to bed on time.
Thankfully I had a moment of self awareness on day three of the merging and matching madness, and deleted the apps again. I am writing this note now to help me remember that these apps are BANNED from my phone for a reason.
Some people can just casually play these games every now and then and be fine. Some people can't. I am in the latter camp.
Comments
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cuibonobo
I'm so glad you posted this. Seeing someone else struggle with their phone feels validating. I've had to ban infinite scroll microblogging apps for the same reason.
Alex
If you still want to play a game or two once in a while try sudoku. There are a few really good ones out there. I sugges sudoku because they’re a little bit more demanding. I’ve noticed that after three or four games I get tired and leave it unlike match-tree type games. It’s still enjoyable and rewarding but uch easier to quit and doesn’t take that much time.
goozbach
I go through waves of deleting TikTok for the same reason
Niklas
Thanks for writing this. I spend a lot of time lately in Homescapes and Souls. I just deleted ALL games from my phone except Good Soduko (I usually don't spend much time here). Got rid of Geometry, Homescapes, Warcraft Rumble, Souls, Survivor.io and The Tower. THANKS!
Alex
I'm a different Alex but I have almost the same comment! The only game (or social media app) on my phone is a sudoku app which is simply not engaging enough to meet the (very low) threshold part which I get addicted to stuff. The social media i do use on my phone I use in-browser so that a) the annoyance of the UI disincentives me and b) I can use browser extensions to manage the time I spend on them. Matching games or anything with those bright colors and enticing noises utterly overwhelm my ability to turn them off.