If your least favorite game is the waiting game, you can find ways to pass the time on your phone. 

We’ve all played that game – waiting for appointments, for a ride to arrive, or just standing in a line at the store.

“I get so bored I could die,” said Jenny Luong, a local student.

If you’ve ever found yourself in a situation like that, let me suggest my top five games that you can get on your phone to pass the time.

*Subway Surfers, the iconic running game co-developed and published by Kiloo and SYBO games. 

The game has you running from the authorities through the subways where you have to avoid obstacles such as getting run over. You’ll have to maneuver through three lanes in order to stay running, collect coins and power-ups, and not get caught by the cop. The game is free on all mobile devices with in-game purchases available.

*Cookie Run: Ovenbreak is developed and published by Devsisters. Similar to Subway Surfer, this game involves running but you get a side view instead of a front view. 

You play as a cookie trying to escape being baked in the oven by jumping over and sliding under obstacles. There’s lots of events and different settings to play as well as a variety of cookies to collect and play as. The game is free on the Apple Store and Google Play Store with in-game purchases available.

*Cut the Rope, developed and produced by ZeptoLabs, is so cute with Om Nom, a little green character, ready to receive the candy you have to deliver to him. The game is level-based, with each being a different puzzle for you to solve in order to get the candy to Om Nom. 

As the title suggests, you’ll have to cut various ropes as well as use balloons and bubbles to collect the three stars and accomplish your goal. Cut the Rope has four sequels and is free on the Apple Store and Google Play Store.

*Flipline’s Papa games are some of my favorites. With so many different versions focused on a different dish each, you have a variety of options to choose from, for example, Papa’s Freezeria or Papa’s Burgeria. 

You get hired by Papa to work at his food establishments, where you take orders and make lots of dishes for different customers. Each customer has their own order or they’ll order the special that you’ll set; you’ll acquire recipes for the specials from playing.

The game saves at the end of each work day, but there is a pausing system that allows for easy exit. You won’t lose your progress if you pause as long as you don’t fully exit out of the app. Each game is $1.99 on the Apple Store and the Google Play Store.

*Stardew Valley is a farming simulator designed by Eric Barone and published by ConcernedApe, Chucklefish, 505 Games, and Fangamer. 

You play as a farmer who takes over your grandfather’s farm after his death. You’ll plant crops, do tasks, and go mining to find a living. You can also woo some of the locals and make one of them your spouse. 

To save your data, you must sleep at the end of the day which makes leaving the game fairly simple and quick. Stardew Valley is $4.99 in the Apple Store and Google Play Store.

New character: In other news, Valorant has added their fourth controller to their game, named Astra, who will harness some cosmic power to control and protect sites. She came out on March 2.

Gamers were excited for her release because of her different abilities. 

“I was so excited for another woman of color to be added in the game,” said Emma Wu, a local student. “I love how her abilities aren’t based around her culture or race but she still has that culture in her character design.”

Astra has an astral form where she can place down five stars total. These stars represent her abilities, one star per ability used and can be recalled to be placed elsewhere when the round starts.

She can use two of her standard smoke bubbles, one of her concussion radius, and one of her black holes at a time. All of her abilities recharge throughout the game.

Her smokes obscure vision and make it risky for enemies to push into certain areas, similar to the smokes of Brimstone, Omen, and Viper.

Astra has a concussion radius which, when activated with enemies in it, will leave them unable to fight back for a few seconds. They’ll be left undefended.

Her black holes are essentially bombs also known as mollies, but the black holes don’t do damage. It instead pulls enemies to the center of the circle to make it easier for you to take them down with your guns. 

It also makes them vulnerable which means their defenses are weaker for a certain amount of time.

Cindy Tran writes for the Thunderword.