On my phone, I have the same apps that every high schooler has — Instagram, Snapchat, BeReal, Messages, etc. I have the New York Times Crosswords app for when my friends race to complete the Mini, and I will admit that I have the Infinite Campus app (I got it freshman year because I thought that if my parents are going to get a grade notification, I should at least be prepared for it). But, unlike all of my friends’ phones, mine has a ton of incredibly stupid, mindnumbing apps.
It all started during the pandemic. We were at home, I was bored, and I often found myself scrolling through my phone. Suddenly, I stumbled across a game that I hadn’t played for eight years — Subway Surfers.
- Sidenote: For those of you who aren’t familiar with Subway Surfers, the game features a protagonist on the run from the police, and your job is to jump over/duck under obstacles, avoid trains, and stay away from the cops. Along the way, you can collect coins, which you can use to unlock new characters and outfits. It’s a game that requires zero thinking, but it’s fun.
I opened the game and clicked “Tap to Play,” and, soon, Jake started running through the streets of Paris. As I swiped across the screen, rapidly jumping from train to train, I found myself engrossed. After crashing into a train or being caught by a police officer, I quickly started a new game, eager to continue playing. Soon, I found myself turning my brain off and playing Subway Surfers for hours every day (I kid you not). While I should have been paying attention to Mr. DeNio’s Honors Bio Zoom, I was actually surfing through Buenos Aires; when I was in Mr. Kim’s Honors Precalc class, I was actually running through Zurich. When I would watch TV from the couch, my phone would be in my hand as I simultaneously watched the show and swiped my thumb to avoid incoming trains.
Soon, though, Subway Surfers was getting too boring — I was simply too good for the game. My Subway Surfers runs would last over half an hour, my scores would be in the millions, and the game was losing its hold on me. So, I started playing my own invented game — I would try to go as long as I could without collecting a single coin. This was a very difficult task (coins are sometimes impossible to avoid). I became an expert, learning how to time the jumps such that I avoided the coins and taking advantage of a glitch in the game to get through seemingly impossible situations. I found myself captivated again.
But one week, when I received my “Screen Time Report” on a Sunday, I learned that I had played over 22 hours of Subway Surfers in a week. Imagine that — 22 HOURS of Subway Surfers. I spent nearly 20% of my waking hours on this dumb, useless app. Embarrassed and ashamed, I quickly deleted the app, hoping to quit my Subway Surfers addiction cold turkey.
But soon, there was a void in my life. Without my Subway Surfers fix, I felt untethered, felt lost. I needed a new escape.
Enter Flippy Race. A high-speed aquatic adventure, the app puts you in control of a jet ski, and you have to swipe the screen to flip, turn, and maneuver your jet ski around 24 bots to get to the finish line. Once again, I found myself captivated. I could turn my brain off and speed through the racecourse without a care in the world, and I quickly made my way to level 403. Flippy Race, though, is one of those games that often has ads, so I spent a ton of time watching commercials for other dumb, brainless games. And thus began my addiction to Stickman Hook.
After watching an ad on Flippy Race, I clicked the link, went to the App Store, and downloaded Stickman Hook. The premise is simple: tap the screen to grapple onto a hook, and let go to move forward. I feel pathetic as I write this, but the game is legitimately engrossing. I can’t stop myself from playing it, which may be why I’m on level 3573 (I’m not joking; I have a problem). Something about these pointless, asinine games entrances me.
As I sit down and reflect on my clear addiction to mind-numbing games, I’m starting to realize why. Life is stressful — whether it’s schoolwork, family, or a life-threatening pandemic, we are constantly worrying about things. We’re constantly preoccupied, constantly thinking. And so, these apps are my way of coping with that stress. These apps are my way to turn my brain off, to find peace in a turbulent world. It’s a way for me to keep myself busy, a way for me to unwind.
And so, if you look at my phone, don’t be surprised if I’m riding the waves in a jet ski or jumping from hook to hook. It’s just my way to escape.
Shan, I absolutely love this post. On the outside, you seem like the type of person who only uses his phone to make business calls and send important emails. It’s good to know that you’re just like the rest of us!
Believe it or not, I have never played Subway Surfers, but I might just have to download it after reading your blog. Your twist on the game of avoiding the coins reminds me of how my sister and I made Temple Run more interesting by playing it together. One of us would swipe right and the other would swipe right – and then both of us would scream at each other when we needed to duck or jump.
I actually don’t have any games on my phone, and I’m abstaining from downloading any because I know for a fact that I would waste my life away on them. I have no self-control when it comes to giving myself relaxation time. I made my bed? That’s one whole 45 minute episode of Gilmore Girls earned.
I think you do bring up an important point, and that’s that we need down time, away from thinking. I’m glad that you’ve found a (somewhat) healthy activity to relax. Awesome post, I really enjoyed reading!
Hi Shan!
This is my first time visiting your blog, and honestly, it may be one of the best blogs I’ve read this year. Your grammar and syntax are PERFECT and your voice pierces through your work. I love it.
I too, unfortunately, have fallen down the rabbit hole of mindlessly downloading and playing apps that have no real premise other than to soothe my stressed brain. This started when I was around six — an age where I definitely shouldn’t have had access to the internet yet. I, too, was obsessed with Subway Surfers. I played that game ALL. THE. TIME. That is, until my iPod Touch devolved into a non-functional box of wires (don’t worry, it was a death of natural causes. Old age).
Now, I try to keep myself limited to two types of games: Ones that make my brain work at least a little bit (like CodyCross, WordScapes, etc.) and ones that I have to practice patience with (Hay Day, My Singing Monsters, etc.). I had to delete WordScapes, though, because I got too obsessed. I think I reached level 2,484 before I finally took the first step to recovery: admitting you have a problem.
Great post, Shan! I’ll have to check out some others.
Shan, I found your post about you and mobile gaming to be a fun and engaging read. I definitely can relate to this topic, as growing up Mobile games was the way I played video games everyday, with classics such as Angry Birds and Subway Surfers. While they aren’t groundbreaking games, these games were simple fun and still resonate with me. I feel that these games embody the positives of childhood: a time where many things are simple yet fun; a form of controlled chaos. Other apps that I grew attached as a kid were Plants vs. Zombies and Cut the Rope, with the former adding a layer of strategy manageable enough for 6-year old me and the latter being another example of simple yet so satisfying and addicting. As for the other apps, I would like to personally thank you for introducing me to Flippy Race during DECA State. It really does fill in the niche of simple yet challenging enough to stimulate the senses. I never thought that I would get hooked on something like that and doing lines at a Portillo’s from someone like you; I’d imagined that I would be doing lines in the back of a shady Denny’s. Either way, I find it impressive that you made it pretty far in these games, I still have a long way to reach level 403 in Flippy Race and especially level 3573 in Stickman Hook. One thing that I want to know more about your “addiction” is if it applies to more complex games, such as Minecraft or on console or PC gaming? Personally, my gaming habits are split between Animal Crossing and Kirby on Nintendo Switch and Minecraft on my iPad. Talking to Animal villagers on the Switch and building civilizations on the iPad really tickle the right parts of my brain to make my Day.
Hi Shan!
Just reading your blog title, I was intrigued to find out more about this ‘secret addiction’ and I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw that picture of Subway Surfers just below the intro paragraph. But, I get you though- Subway Surfers is a great game and it deserves all the hype it gets. I remember when we were all younger this game was extremely popular! There was also Jetpack Joyride, Where’s My Water, Cut the Rope, and one of my all-time favorites- Pou. I don’t know if you remember it, but Pou was basically a lowkey game where you just took care of this strange potato-looking alien blob? I don’t know why I was so obsessed with that game, but it was definitely a huge part of my childhood. After reading your blog, I now want to redownload so many games,,,
If I had to talk about my secret addiction app, it would probably be the Webtoon app. Strangely though, my addiction comes in bursts- one week I’ll read hours and hours of comics each day but the next week I won’t even open the app. It’s strange, but it is what it is when you have a problem with binging comics I guess…
Entertaining blog post Shan!
22 HOURS