Every fake mobile game ad is now real

If you’ve played mobile games or even just scrolled through social media, you’ve no doubt seen a misleading ad for a mobile game. Maybe it was an ad for Hero Wars, like this one depicting a number-based tower game — an ad that bears no similarity to the actual game. Or maybe it was an ad for a Water Sort game that does work as advertised, but also makes you watch a video ad in between every single puzzle. Sure, these games are free to download, but there’s still a cost built into playing them.

What if you could pay $10 to play five of these classic puzzle games, without any misleading or overbearing advertisements or microtransactions involved? A new PC game has got you covered, explaining itself through this hilariously long title: Yeah! You Want “Those Games,” Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let’s See You Clear Them!

Image: Monkeycraft/D3Publisher via Polygon

I just purchased and installed Yeah! You Want “Those Games,” and it’s exactly what it says on the tin. My personal favorite minigame is “Color Lab,” a version of the Water Sort puzzle games, one of which I once fell into the trap of downloading on my phone, only to discover it was full of ads. I did end up buying an ad-free version and playing it until it got too difficult to proceed without the inevitable ask that I watch ads once again to unlock additional beakers. Again, this is very common — inevitably with these types of mobile puzzle games, you’ll be asked to watch ads or purchase microtransactions, with no option to pay a flat fee instead.

Yeah! You Want “Those Games” doesn’t contain any ads or microtransactions, although it does have a limited number of puzzles available to play. The other four minigames are “Pin Pull” (similar to Rescue Hero: Pull the Pin), “Cash Run” (similar to Money Run 3D), “Number Tower” (the same premise as the misleading Hero Wars ad up top), and “Parking Lot” (similar to Parking Jam 3D). My only complaint, shared with the other “Mostly Positive” reviews on the game’s Steam page, is that I want way more minigames and puzzles. That’s because I love what’s available so far!

These are not deep or difficult games, but sometimes, you don’t want that. Sometimes you just want something simple to play while you’re lying on the couch, phone in hand, half-watching episodes of The Blacklist. In the case of Yeah! You Want “Those Games,” I’ll just put it onto my Steam Deck and have a far better experience than I do with my small collection of mobile games, because I won’t have to mute my phone while it plays endless ads for other predatory mobile games. That’s more than worthy of my $10.