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Mobile game addiction [New Straits Time (Malaysia)]
[February 16, 2014]

Mobile game addiction [New Straits Time (Malaysia)]


(New Straits Time (Malaysia) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) YOU pick up your mobile phone, click on the app and start playing the game every opportunity you get, while at work, in between house chores.

Whenever there is a brief window of opportunity, the only thing on your mind is about playing that game and moving on to the next level. Once on the game, you become oblivious to your surroundings and the people around you.

It does not even matter if you lose a few hours of sleep, as long as you have beaten your friend's high scores.

Every one of us who plays mobile phone games cannot deny going through such an experience. Be it crushing candies, helping birds through difficult obstacles, catapulting birds at pigs or stopping zombies from attacking your home, some games simply have a spell over us. We take a look at six games which have got both children and adults hooked.



Flappy Birds It became a hit within a short period of time but the developer took it out from app stores recently. However, those who had it downloaded on their devices can continue to play the game. Flappy Birds is all about steering a pixel bird with intense tapping through metal pipes that appear randomly. You have to get the timing of your tapping right or the bird will collide with the pipes, ending your game.

Nobody knows what makes this game so addictive but one thing for sure is if you start playing, it will be difficult to stop. If you did not get a chance to download Flappy Birds, you can try some of the clones available on iOS and Android app stores. Some people are also offering online for a price their phones with the original Flappy Birds app.


Candy Crush Saga Why the craze for crushing candies? Ask the more than 45 million users who play this game on their smartphones every month. Something about mixing and matching candies then having them crushed keeps people hooked on to this game. You can enjoy Candy Crush Saga for free with limited moves but if you are unable to move on to the next level you can buy more moves and lollipop hammers to help you finish off the last remaining candies for US$0.99.

Otherwise you can start the level anew and keep trying. However, this can be frustrating as you are given only a few lives and once you deplete them you have to wait for some time to start the game again. Then, there is the Facebook link, where you can try to get a friend to spare you a life.

Angry Birds The original version of this game may no longer be as popular as it used to be but the Angry Birds brand name continues to live on in other forms. There are eight versions of this game and a more current version, Angry Birds Star Wars II, seems to have a good following.

Something about catapulting birds bring happiness to people and this time with the Force on board, the game remains a hit on Apple, Google Play as well as Android app stores.

On Angry Birds Star Wars you can use the Force, wield their Lightsaber, and blast away Pig troopers on an intergalactic journey.

Guess The Emoji Ideograms and smileys in text messages that we have become accustomed to are now turned into a fun game. It's a simple game of guessing a word, phrase or a movie by looking at the emojis provided. Not actually a challenge you might think but in reality the cute emoji icons can confuse you.

If you are stuck on one puzzle, there's the option of sharing on Facebook and getting your friends to help out. The other option is to use a hint like expose a letter, remove letters and solve a question to get the answer. Or you can cheat and go online to find the answers! This is a family-friendly game.

Plants vs. Zombies 2 Using plants to fend off zombies? Sounds ridiculous you may say but remember in the gaming world, the crazier it is, the more following it has. And so, Plants vs Zombies came back with a sequel that many found even more fun to play.

You basically have to fight legions of zombies with the help of an army of powerful new plants. The plants can be made stronger with plant food. There is always a new looking zombie waiting for you around the corner and you will need new plants and lawnmowers to stop the zombies from advancing.

Temple Run 2 This game is just as good as the first Temple Run. It might be intimidating at first but once you start swiping through the many escape routes, you'll find it to be quite simple and from there on, a little difficult to stop playing.

In this sequel you have to run away from the evil monkeys and along the way avoid obstacles. It's all about swiping the right way to jump across gaps and going through pathways. You can also tilt your device so that the runner can go either right or left.

There are power-ups along the way to give you certain skills to run further. You have to grab it quickly though, as they are temporary.

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