The best games to cure boredom

What makes a game good for boredom

It starts at once. Every screen between you and the game is a chance to give up. A good boredom game is playing within a tap or two of opening it.

It is short, and it ends by itself. A round of about 30 seconds is enough to feel something happen, and short enough that one more is an easy decision. It also means a bored moment does not become a lost afternoon.

It gives you a reason to care. A score on its own means little. A score somebody else set, that you are about to beat by a whisker, means a good deal. Having one particular person to beat is the fastest way of making a small game feel important.

It changes. Boredom comes back quickly when a game is solved. Here every game has a new course each hour, and the ladders start again with it, so there is always a fresh top spot and nobody is sitting on a score from last year.

Twelve free games to cure boredom

Stop the dial is the quickest to learn. A needle sweeps round and you stop it on the gold, faster each round. It suits anyone who wants to start without reading anything.

Stack is a timing game with a slow burn. Each block you drop keeps only what landed on the tower, so one early mistake follows you all the way up.

Sort is the sharpest. Circles go left and squares go right, and the pace climbs until your thumbs begin to argue. It is the best one here for clearing your head.

Cast is the calmest. Hold to build power, let go, and land your lure on the mark. There is no reaction test, only judgement, so it suits people who dislike being rushed.

Dodge is the most tense. Hold to rise, let go to fall, and fly a cave that narrows as you speed up. Small movements win and panic loses.

Run is the one most likely to get a "one more" out of you. Tap to jump, hold to jump further, and reach the line before the other player does.

Drift is the fastest. One tap turns the car, and the score comes from riding the edge of a road that keeps getting narrower. It suits anyone who likes a racing game but has no time for one.

Pulse is rhythm. Rings close on a circle and you tap as each one lands. It is the game for people who drum on tables.

Orbit asks for nerve. You change rings to miss the blocks, and the later you leave it the more it pays.

Swing is the most satisfying when it goes right. Hold to catch a peg, let go to fly, and carry your speed from one to the next.

Balance is the quiet one. Hold and let go to keep a pole upright while the wind builds. Small corrections win.

Catch is about reading ahead. Step along five lanes under the gems, away from the bombs, and move as late as you dare.

Which one should you try first

If you have thirty seconds and no patience, try Stop the dial. If you want something to get better at over a week, try Stack or Dodge. If you are on a laptop, Sort plays beautifully on two arrow keys. If you would like your shoulders to come down a little, try Cast.

None of these needs an account. You can play as a guest for as long as you like, against real recorded runs. A name only matters if you want your own place on the ladder.

Why playing against a person works better

Most quick games leave you alone with a high score. Here you play one particular run, made earlier by somebody else on the same course, and it plays beside yours the whole way. You can see them pull ahead and you can see yourself catch them. Where there are not enough players yet, you meet a house player, and it is always labelled House.

Beat them and you meet the next person up. Keep going and your name ends up on the cabinet, where it stays until somebody takes it from you. That small piece of rivalry does more against boredom than any amount of graphics.