https://www.theguardian.com/games/2023/jan/11/the-true-cost-of-free-mobile-games > In this week’s newsletter: The boom years of smartphone gaming have given way to a naked cash-grab that rewards player-unfriendly design > In the first half of the 2010s, when smartphones became ubiquitous, mobile gaming was exciting new terrain for both developers and players. Here was a new platform, suddenly, in everyone’s pocket, with a touchscreen that was so much easier to use than a controller and a built-in audience of millions. There were new, interesting games – maybe a few quid a throw, so much more affordable – designed to fit into those small gaps in your life, on the train, at the bus stop, on your lunch break (and, let’s not lie, while you’re hiding from your family in the toilet).