Fun Games to Play When You Are Short on Time

Fun Games to Play When You Are Short on Time
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What to Do when You’ve Got Five Minutes to Kill

No matter how active your on-the-go lifestyle is, you’re going to have to wait eventually. Waiting in line, waiting at the doctor’s office, waiting while your spouse gets ready, we’ve all done it. Rather than watching the clock (or the pot of water for that matter) why not play a game on your phone? The suggestions below are excellent ways to pass short amounts of time or even longer ones if you get into them or have a longer wait. A great deal of them are multiplatform, though most of the links are to the iPhone version. That’s okay though, because game developers know people want Android and other OS versions of popular games. Very few are exclusive to one platform.

Some Good Choices Are…

Tiny Tower

A cute little 8-bit tower simulator. As the manager of an in-progress skyscraper, you need to make sure that everyone has a satisfying job, build new floors and dedicate them to different residential or commercial purposes, and even run V.I.P.s to their destination on the elevator. It’s very casual, and does not require a heavy time commitment, though you can fiddle about with your elevator, shop supplies and staffing for as long as you want.

Pocket Frogs

Every Frog Empire starts with two frogs. Breeding, trading and just watching them hop around can take up as much time as you want it to. It’s a fun, quirky little game that’s gained quite a bit of popularity.

Farmville

Farmville on mobile devices is a different beast than on Facebook. Not every feature is available on the mobile version, though most are. The best part is that the annoying “gift” beg feature is far, far less intrusive. Remember to harvest your crops before they wither!

Words with Friends

It would be very difficult to put begging for gifts and wall graffiti into Scrabble, so Zynga didn’t. You can play with your Facebook friends, and only have to make one move every week or so.

Five Minutes to Kill Yourself

The main character in this game has to be at a meeting in five minutes. He really would rather not, so he decides to kill himself rather than listen to another one of Johnson’s presentations. You have wander around the office and do enough damage to yourself so that you die in under five minutes. It’s pretty twisted, but funny if you like that sort of thing.

Doodle Jump

Doodle Jump

Once an octopus-thing learns how to jump, it’s all over. They don’t stop for anything, which wouldn’t be a problem if they weren’t compelled to jump on a series of very high platforms, possibly for the view. How long can you keep your octopus-guy alive?

Fruit Ninja

Fruit Ninja, and their cousins the Vegetable Samurai, never want for work. They have a strict training regimen and are sought after in fancy restaurants the world over. Could you become one of their elite members with this game? The answer is… perhaps.

Tiny Wings

This is a game about a cute, fat little bird. He wants to fly but his wings are too small. Luckily he lives in a very smooth, hilly environment and can slide downwards, spreading his wings to glide to the next hill. There’s only one button to press, as the game is timing based. It can last as long as you can, but beware! If the sun sets, your bird will fall asleep, ending your adventure for the day.

Angry Birds

These birds are quite irate. Some pigs have stolen their eggs, and they’re going to get them back at any cost even if it means they have to fling themselves out of a slingshot to destroy their opponent’s poorly constructed houses. The levels are pretty short, and can usually be completed in a couple of minutes making this an excellent game to make waiting easier.

Cut The Rope

Another physics-based game like Angry Birds, in Cut The Rope you have a box filled with an adorable little guy named Om Nom. He wants the candy, which is also in the box, suspended by a rope. The object is to cut the rope so the candy falls into Om Nom’s mouth. It’s not always as simple as that due to other things in the box, but each level is pretty short.

Where’s My Water?

An adorable kid-friendly physics game, Where’s My Water is about a sewer alligator named Swampy whose primary concern is taking a bath. You are tasked with getting water into his tub so he can complete his mission of cleanliness. Getting the water to where it needs to go requires some puzzle solving skills. The levels are short, like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope.

Feed Me Oil

Feed Me Oil

The goofy denizens of Feed Me Oil really want to be fed oil. It’s up to you to make sure they’re well fed. This involves, of course, physics puzzles. Don’t stop to think why all the guys in these games don’t just walk over to whatever it is they want instead of forcing you to create complicated solutions for them. The answer is “so you have a fun game to play.”

X Construction

There’s a train coming. There is no bridge. Maybe you should make one so the train will be okay? Make sure you build it right, you don’t want the bridge to break.

Chuzzle

Chuzzle is a “match 3” game, but instead of gems or the usual items, you match what look like brightly colored Tribbles with eyes. It’s got definite charm, and is worth a look.

Topple

This is a great little game. The object is so stack Tetris-like shapes up as high as you can get them. There’s a time limit for each level, so you can’t always make a solid foundation for your tower.

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