Looking for a blast from the past? These days, gaming technology is so advanced that you can play almost anything, anywhere. But in the eighties, nineties, and early two-thousands, gameplay looked much different. Though the games were perhaps simpler, they were no less engaging as the games we play today.
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If you’re feeling nostalgic, longing for the comfort of the arcade or your family’s computer room, here are some apps that are just as fun today as they were when you played them 20 years ago.
10Solitaire
Taking it back to the pre-digital era, Solitaire is acard gamethat’s been around for centuries. To most of us, Solitaire is most familiar behind a screen, having been included with Windows software since 1990.
Now, solitaire game apps have a ton of dazzling features; fancy card decks, dancing-card animations, sound effects, challenges, and more. Just like the original card game, many apps now include variations on the card game; the most popular form of solitaire is “klondike” – what most people would imagine Solitaire to be, but there are also spider solitaire, trip-peak solitaire, and others.
The Apple Arcade includes a solitaire game app called Solitaire Stories, with narrative tales unlocked by completing rounds of the card game.
9Minesweeper
Popularized by its inclusion in the Windows software, minesweeper is a logic puzzle where the player is tasked with opening cells in the grid without clicking on a mine. Selected cells reveal a number that hints at the number of bombs in the surrounding cells.
Though no “official” Minesweeper app exists, both the Apple Store and Google Play Store offer apps with both the “classic” Minesweeper aesthetic and various modern updates to the game.
8PacMan
Still a popular arcade game, Pac-Man hit mobile devices in the early 2000s. Bandai Namco Entertainment offers a classic Pac Man app on the Google Play store and in the Apple store, as well as new twists on the old game such as Pac Man 256 - Endless Arcade Maze and Pac Man Party Royale.
The abundance of the arcade from your childhood is now available at your fingertips – which will save you a lot of quarters!
7Galaga
A classic from the golden age of arcade video games,Galagais a fixed shooter game set in space. Galaga is a sequel to the Namco game Galaxian and has its own sequel, Galpus.
At the bottom of the screen, the player character shoots at formations of alien invaders descending from the top. The mobile game Galaga Wars is available on the Google play store and the Apple Store.
The mobile game updates Galaga with the features we enjoy in modern mobile games such as daily rewards and achievements to unlock.
6Tetris
This classic game hasn’t changed much from its initial release in the 80s.Tetrisis ranked one of the top-selling video game franchises.
The simple, yet challenging, task of stacking tetrominoes with the goal of completing (and eliminating) rows of blocks continues to captivate players in the Tetris mobile app available in both the Apple and Google Play Stores.
5Brick Breaker
Released in 1999, Brick Breaker came preloaded on BlackBerry devices. The player uses a paddle at the bottom of the screen to bounce a ball against a set of bricks at the top of the screen.
Though the BlackBerry no longer produces the phones that the game first appeared on, gamers can play Classic BrickBreaker, available in the Apple App Store. The brick breaker game genre has expanded in the mobile gaming space, with many variations on the original game now available for users.
4Jelly Car
Jelly Car is a side-scrolling platform game where the player drives a car made of jelly through various obstacles. The game was released on Xbox Live in February 2008 and added to the App Store later that same year.
The game has a broad appeal to both adults and children and was well-received, leading to the creation of Jelly Car 2 and Jelly Car 3. The newest release from Walaber, Jelly Car Worlds is available in the Apple Arcade, and for sale on the Nintendo Switch and Steam.
3Plants vs Zombies
Plants vs Zombieswas released in 2009 and was free to download from the Apple app store by 2013. The game challenges you to defend your home from zombie invasion using zombie-fighting plants.
The anthropomorphic plants and comical zombies delight the player in what might be the least scary zombie game, which broadens its appeal to a younger audience. Many versions of the game exist in the Apple and Google Play store, including the original Plants vs Zombies, Plants vs Zombies 2, and Plants vs Zombies Heroes.
2Angry Birds
Now a movie and TV sensation, theAngry Birdsoriginated in 2009 as a casual puzzle game and quickly gained popularity. By 2010, the game had reached 12 million purchases on the Apple App Store.
The objective of the game is to knock down structures containing green pigs by sling-shotting flightless birds at them. Simple, humorous, and addictive, Angry Birds became a staple of mobile gaming.
Though the original Angry Birds app is no longer available, Angry Birds 2 can be downloaded on the Apple and Google Play stores.
1Pokémon
A franchise that needs little introduction,Pokémondebuted on the Gameboy as Pocket Monsters Green and Pocket Monsters Red in 1996. The franchise has expanded to include card games, movies, and television series, and is now a staple of every gamer’s childhood.
Twenty years after the original games were released,Pokémon Go,the franchise’s augmented-reality mobile game, became one of the most-used mobile apps of 2016. The app is still available to play on the Apple and Google Play stores.
NEXT:10 Modern Games That Would’ve Fit Perfectly Into The Arcade Generation
