Don't Sleep On Genres You Think You Hate

For years I only played puzzle games on my phone. Anything with a story or a party of characters felt like too much for a small screen. Testing games for this site forced me out of that habit, and I'm glad it did.

Turn-based RPGs turned out to be a perfect phone fit — you can play at your own pace and put it down mid-battle without losing anything. Tactics games gave me the same slow, satisfying thinking I loved in puzzles, just dressed up differently. Even a fishing sim won me over, which past-me would have laughed at.

The lesson I keep relearning is that genre labels are shorthand, not verdicts. A 'racing game' can mean a hardcore sim or a breezy arcade drift-fest. A 'card game' can be a grind or a tight, clever deck-builder. The label tells you almost nothing about whether you'll enjoy it.

So my suggestion: pick one genre you usually skip and give it a real week, not a five-minute try. Adjust the settings, learn the controls properly, and see how you feel. Worst case you confirm your taste. Best case you find your next obsession.