D3 Publisher and Monkeycraft have released Those Games, a new minigame compilation inspired by the games mobile ads purport to be selling.
The game's (rather amusing) full title is - deep breath - Yeah! You Want "Those Games", Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let's See You Clear Them!.
This title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that mobile game ads often show gameplay scenarios that aren't actually contained within the games they're advertising, or are otherwise embellished to the point that the actual games are often unrecognizable when you download them.
This is something for which mobile companies like Playrix have been repeatedly punished, with their game ads frequently ruled by the ASA to contain misleading material.
Those Games, however, isn't misleading; it's exactly what it looks like, which is to say a collection of minigames based on mobile ads.
Per Those Games' Steam page, the game offers "a collection of minigames that you wanted to play to your heart's content, but couldn't".
The game features a number of mobile ad-inspired games, including car positioning puzzles, color-matching liquid games, and room puzzles in which you need to pull the correct pin in order to lead a stickman to treasure.
As well as these mobile ad-inspired games, Those Games also has a gacha system that lets you unlock plates and titles to show off (although you won't be spending real money on them, thankfully).
It's fun to see a studio lampooning these mobile game ads, especially since we've almost all seen them on our travels. If you've ever wanted to check out those games without giving their unscrupulous publishers any airtime (or, indeed, ad revenue), then this should be worth a look.
Those Games is available to buy right now on Steam and Switch, where it'll cost you $9.99, which is probably less than some of those mobile games are charging for "microtransactions".