Before mobile gaming was dominated by battle royales, gachas, and those weird deceptive games that always show up in ads, there was a golden age of simple, yet addicting games released during the late 2000s to the early 2010s that took the world by storm. Whether you were endlessly running in Temple Run or Subway Surfers or solving puzzles in Candy Crush or Cut the Rope, these games became a staple for any electronic store. 

To many, growing up playing these games helped shape the way we now interact with and view the world. Here are some of the best mobile games that define Gen Z.

Angry Birds (2009)

Angry Birds is a physics-based puzzle game developed by Rovio Entertainment, featuring a group of colorful, flightless birds that are launched by a slingshot to destroy structures to pop the piggies that have stolen their eggs. Each bird has different abilities that are activated by a tap on the screen: Matilda drops an exploding egg, Bomb explodes, Chuck goes supersonic and smash through anything wood, and the Blues split off into three, shattering any ice in their path, and Mighty Eagle smashes EVERYTHING for a can of sardines. Red, the main bird, is a good all rounder but doesn’t get powers until Angry Birds: Bad Piggies was released in 2012, where he is able to snipe any position from mid air like an Inter Continental Ballistic Missile. Angry Birds very quickly became one of the most successful mobile games of all time, with over 2 billion downloads as of 2014, according to Wikipedia. The game got so popular that various different versions were released, such as Angry Birds Star Wars, Angry Birds Rio, the iconic Angry Birds Space, and even two movies. Unfortunately, nowadays, you have to pay for Angry Birds.

Fruit Ninja (2010)

Fruit Ninja is a fast-paced arcade style game developed by Halfbrick Studios, the creators of Jetpack Joyride. In the game, players swipe the fingers at flying fruits while avoiding bombs to level up and get “starfruit”, the in-game currency. You can earn new cutting boards and blades that have their own special powers, and just look cool. Fruit Ninja has been adapted to various platforms such as the coin-operated Fruit Ninja for arcade machines, Fruit Ninja Kinetic (2012) for the Xbox 360 motion-control system, Fruit Ninja VR (2015) for virtual reality, and Fruit Ninja 2 (2020) for new mechanics to refresh the decade-old game. As the game grew in popularity, with over 300 million downloads by 2012, according to according to Wikipedia, and the game continuing to gain in popularity, there was reportedly a Fruit Ninja Movie in the works, but it never materialized.

Talking Tom (2010)

Talking Tom is an interactive game developed by Outfit7 where you can have Tom repeat what you say in a funny voice. You can also pet him, punch him, feed him, and poke him.  Because of the lighthearted and playful nature of the game, Talking Tom was able to gain popularity among younger audiences. Later in 2011 and 2012, Outfit 7 released Talking Ben and Talking Angela, and in 2015, The Talking Tom and Friends show was released as an animated web series. Across all games, the Talking Tom franchise gained over 18 billion downloads across all games as of 2022, according to Wikipedia.

Cut the Rope (2010)

A popular physics based puzzle game developed by ZeptoLab, you must cut ropes to feed candy to a small green monster named Om Nom. Cut the Rope is set inside a cardboard box, where you must strategically cut ropes and manipulate objects like bubbles, whoopie cushions and magicians hats with portals to drop, swing, or float it into Om Nom’s mouth without losing or breaking it. If you fail, Om Nom will be sad. In 2012 Cut the Rope won several awards, including the Best Mobile and Handheld Game award. In 2014, spin offs were made such as Cut the Rope: Time Travel, and Cut the Rope: Experiments which introduced new mechanics and challenges. In 2018, Cut the Rope reached over 1 billion downloads across all platforms according to Wikipedia.

Temple Run (2011)

An endless runner game developed by Imangi Studios, this game puts you in the shoes of an explorer who steals an ancient artifact and has to run and escape demonic monkeys while doing parkour. Players need to turn, jump, and slide while collecting coins and power-ups to get the highest score possible. Temple Run popularized the “endless runner” genre and became one of the most successful mobile games of its time, with over 1 billion downloads as of 2014 according to Wikipedia. In 2014 and 2015, spin-offs were made, such as Temple Run: Brave and Temple Run: Oz in collaboration with Disney.

Jetpack Joyride (2011)

First released on iOS in 2011, then later released on Android, PlayStation, and Windows from 2012–2013, Jetpack Joyride became one of the first “endless runner” games to really take off, with 750 million downloads according to PR Newswire. This game was developed by Halfbrick Studios, who also created the famous Fruit Ninja. Jetpack Joyride features a protagonist named Barry Steakfries who joyrides around a lab on a jetpack to dodge obstacles and pick up power-ups. Those power-ups are weirdly similar to those in Geometry Dash, a game where you start out as a square and can jump, fly, or teleport around obstacles. Barry Steakfries also receives different vehicles to move around across the map.

Candy Crush (2012)

A highly addictive match-three puzzle game developed by King, Candy Crush was beloved by moms and aunties everywhere. Players swap colorful candies on the screen to match three or more of the same type, earning points as you clear them from the board. This game features endless levels, power-ups and increasingly challenging puzzles that are yet no match for my mom. Candy Crush has made over $20 billion as of September of 2023, and the Candy Crush Saga series has over 2.7 billion downloads five years after launch, according to Wikipedia. To this day it still has many regular players.

Subway Surfers (2012)

Developed by Kiloo and SYBO games, Subway Surfers is one of the most popular endless runner games ever made. After the Success of Temple Run, it’s no wonder Subway Surfers grew in popularity so quickly. In 2017, it was the first game to reach 1 billion downloads on Google Play, according to PocketGamers.Biz, and remained one of the most popular games for years with it hitting number one in 2024 on the Google Play Store according to App Radar. Subway Surfers has players control a graffiti-tagging hooligan (Jake) who runs along subway tracks dodging obstacles to avoid being caught by the police. As you play the game you must collect coins to buy new hooligans and there are power ups to help you dodge obstacles and collect more coins.

Flappy Bird (2013)

Developed by Dong Nguyen, this game features a small yellow bird that navigates through a series of Mario-esque green pipes with a tap to flap. Flappy Bird exploded in popularity for its simple, yet infuriatingly difficult mechanics just a year after release, with over 50 million downloads, according to the BBC. In a shocking turn of events, the game was removed from the app store in February of 2014. According to Dong, it was too addicting, though many Flappy Bird fans speculate that it also could have been the overwhelming fame that got to him, or that he violated the rules of Apple’s App Store. 

Crossy Road (2014)

Originally published on iOS by Yodo1 on Android, Crossy Road is an “endless arcade hopper” game inspired by the classic arcade game Frogger (1981). The name of the game was based on the riddle/joke, “Why did the chicken cross the road?”. The objective of Crossy Road is to control a chicken with tapping to hop and swiping to turn in order to cross busy roads and medians without getting hit. There were also many special characters such as the Android OS mascot, Doge, the blue-black/white-gold dress, and Hipster Whale’s mascot, Dark Lord, which were all available for purchase with in game currency earned by playing the game, or through giveaways. This game’s blocky pixel-art style and simple yet addicting gameplay made it an instant hit, with over 50 million downloads just three months after its initial release, according to Wikipedia. In 2015, Crossy Road was one of the winners of the Apple Design Award and partnered with Disney to create Disney Crossy Road featuring characters from the Disney franchise. In 2017, the Android publisher changed from Yodo1 to Hipster Whale.

These games weren’t just apps on our phones. They defined a golden era of mobile gaming, when simplicity and fun were all that mattered. While gaming has evolved, these classic games remain timeless.