Life
9 Phone Games All Older Millennials Were Obsessed With
Many millennials spend a lot of time on their phones. Hey — I know I do. For most, it's practically a biologically-recognized appendage at this point. (OK, so it's not actually, but you know what I mean.) It wasn't always this way, of course — in the past, us millennials who were just beginning to discover the magic of cellular devices were just enthralled by the games on our phones. After all, apart from the few games the devices held, as well as their ability to place phone calls, first model cells didn't have much else to offer. In fact, there are quite a few phone games us older millennials loved that younger millennials — who grew up with smartphones — probably won't remember. These original games gave way to the wild world of apps we operate in now, though, so they're worth remembering and paying respect to. Dare I say, since Snake, the gaming world has Candy Crushed it.
Let's be real. All mobile phones — hand held computer devices — are smart. But before our modern definition of a ~smart phone~, there was the cell phone that was maybe modeled after a brick. Not unlike a portable house phone, but with more options, it was too big to fit in your back pocket, so to tote it around the mall, you would have to attach a cell phone holster to your belt loop. Nevertheless, it was the ~aesthetic~ of the early 2000s, along with an array of butterfly hair clips and inflatable glitter furniture. On this piece of equipment one could place calls, spend 10 minutes typing out a text thanks to the numerical keyboard, and play games.
Games weren't virtual worlds yet. One could not fling a "yahoo-ing" Angry Bird at a tower of blocks. But, one could arrange and fit blocks into satisfying rows. (I'm alluding to Tetris, guys!) Here are a few of the most memorable games for older millennials.
Snake
Waiting for the school bus? Back in the day, you wouldn't waste a moment before whipping out your Nokia and opening a fresh game of Snake. This game consisted of a "snake," which was really a strand of pixels slithering around the screen collecting or eating pellets. The pellets would make the snake longer, and therefore more difficult to control. If the head of the snake collided with another part of it's strand, the game would be over. How long could you go?!
Tetris
Tetris was (and is!) a satisfying phone puzzle. Blocks of various shapes rained from the top of your screen, threatening to crash down on a foundation and clog the screen. To avoid losing, one would have to flip the falling pieces as quickly and calmly as possible, moving them into place to fit with other blocks. Once a solid row was created, it would disappear, freeing up space to make more perfect rows.
Space Impact
Space Impact was a Nokia 3310 gem. Your pixelated space ship navigated the invaded skies. The goal? To rid said sky of said invaders. It was simple and addictive because you kept on returning to prove you could always go just A little further. If you're a younger millennial and want to give this a try, the game is available on Google Play.
Asteroids V1.04
Not unlike Space Impact, in Asteroids V1.04, your goal was to demolish any invasive structure that got in your way. Like, asteroids. It was a simple looking game to say the least but did not fall short in terms of entertainment.
Cellufun Chess
We might not all know how to master, or play, Chess but we all ~know~ it. What you might not have remembered, however, is the ability to play it on your flip phone. I wonder if there are any Chess masters who learned the ropes thanks to their cell phone.
BrickBreaker
If you had a Blackberry — all the rage before it became all business — you sacrificed battery life for a few (a million) rounds of BrickBreaker. Your mission was to hit and destroy a pattern of bricks. Getting the angle just right on the cannon was tricky and when the cannon was ping-pong'ed back your way, you didn't want it to fall into oblivion. Some levels made you forget to breathe. It was intense.
Pairs
I didn't even know this existed because I was too preoccupied with Snake and Space Impact.
Bejeweled
Bejeweled was like Candy Crush's cool, older sister. There aren't as many addictive layers to it that have taken the time — I mean, hearts — of younger millennials but it's still a blast.
Space Invaders
Cell phones had a ~thing~ for invaders of space. Let's be real, they still do — you can bounce off of alien-monster heads in iPhone's Doodle Jump! It all starts with original cell phone games and even goes back further, though: Space Invaders is a classic arcade game. And the concept of it isn't hard to comprehend — in the game, you're protecting Earth from aliens. Apparently we will all enjoy doing so on our phones for all of eternity.
