Summary
- Zillenials experienced the rise of smart technology in their childhoods without being fully consumed by it.
- Popular mobile games from the early 2010s like Plants vs. Zombies, Flappy Bird, and Crossy Road are remembered fondly.
- Games like Where’s My Water? and Cut the Rope captivated zillenials with engaging puzzles and charming characters.
I’m thankful every day to be a part of the ‘zillenial’ age group. Usually born between 1997 and 2003, we’re typically classified as the kids whose childhoods were virtually free from iPads and other smart technology, who still grew up right in the sweet spot of smart tech’s onset. They’re just as savvy and with the times as the so-called ‘iPad kids’ dancing on TikTok, yet just as likely to have childhoods similar to those who grew up playing outside in the 90s.
No, I was not an iPad kid. But there was a hot minute in the early to mid-2010s when offline mobile gaming was all the rage. This was a few years before doomscrolling began dominating our lives and when no one’s parents were paying for them to have unlimited cellular data, so if you were bored in study hall, chances are you were playing with one of these apps in a corner of your high school that the Wi-Fi notoriously didn’t reach.
Read on to see if your favorite app made the list — and whether or not you recognize these.
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1
Where’s My Water?
Remember Swampy?
Disney / Pocket-lint
If you don’t remember his name, surely you can recall the devastated look on his face when you failed to help him fill up the bathtub. Where’s My Water? is an app from Disney Mobile that launched all the way back in 2011 — and snatched up hearts all throughout the 2010s. It even received “Game of the Year” in 2011.
With various comic-like story panels to introduce new levels, it was up to you to solve a physics-based puzzle to help the hygiene-loving alligator fix his broken shower and get squeaky-clean. The only problems were the various challenges that came with living in the sewers under the city — you had to avoid dirty and toxic water, sprawling algae, convert steam to liquid, and more to help Swampy get his bathtime in.
My favorite part of the game was the beautiful color and animation of the water — it was its satisfying nature that drove us all to get that gator his water.
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2
Plants vs Zombies
Dystopia fans and plant-lovers unite in this cute game
It’s like this game was made for future plant-moms who played Call of Duty II on the weekends — not to describe myself in an article, or anything. Here’s the scene: it’s the zombie apocalypse, and your house’s only defense is the arsenal of adorable (and sentient?) plants in your garden. Classified as a ‘tower defense’ game, PopCap Games released the iOS version of the app in 2010, which quickly gained popularity.
In the game, it’s your task to choose between 49 unlockable varieties of plants to protect your home from brain-eating zombies. Yes, you read that right. With five game modes, 26 kinds of zombies (each with a special skill), and dozens of levels, you have to brave fog, sunsets, and other obstacles to keep your house safe.
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3
Flappy Bird
The drama…
Broken phones, death threats, and a departure from the app store — you might remember the gossip around the notorious Flappy Bird game in 2014. It was one of the most simple mobile games ever, as your only task was to tap to guide Faby, a little yellow bird, through Super-Mario-like pipes in the sky. Seems easy enough, right?
Its retro-style graphics were a bit of a mislead — despite the simple nature of the game, it exploded overnight due to its incredibly frustrating experience. So frustrating for some users that some took to app stores to leave negative reviews, heavy critiques, and even proclaim death threats against its creator, Dong Nguyen. Nguyen eventually removed the app from all platforms due to the negative impact it was having on his life, so having a device with Flappy Bird already downloaded was the only way to keep playing. Quite the drama of 2014, if you remember.
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4
Crossy Road
Why did the chicken cross the road?
Not just one road, but as many as you possibly could. Crossy Road is an 8-bit endless arcade hopper where the objective is to cross as many roads, rivers, train tracks, and other obstacles as possible. Released by Hipster Whale (what a name for the mid-2010s, right) in 2014, its charming animation style and addictive gameplay had millions in its grasp.
And the chicken didn’t have to be the only character that crossed traffic — you could play as a cow, duck, fish, and a myriad of other unique ‘mascots.’ However, no matter what kind of character you played, you had to brave more obstacles than just vehicles. There were boulders, trees, and even an evil eagle that came down and snatched you up if you stood still for too long.
What this chicken would’ve given for a crosswalk….
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5
Cut the Rope
What was that little guy?
No one knows — except the Wiki Fandom page, which somehow has access to information that classifies Om Nom as a “Nommie,” or some species of very hungry frog.
Apparently, his birthday is also October 4.
Your main objective was to get Om Nom the red and yellow candy he adores so much. The consequences if you failed or if a spider stole it on screen? Indescribable guilt and sadness because of the devastated look on the little guy’s face. It was a great way to destroy any future dog trainers’ discipline, and that’s why my dog doesn’t roll over or lie down on command.
Another physics-based game, you have to quite literally cut ropes, collect stars, and ultimately avoid obstacles to feed your little green friend. I remember being absolutely captivated by the holiday editions on my mom’s old iPhone 4S.
6
Doodle Jump
Straight out of a composition notebook page
Doodle Jump was one of the first games I peered over my sister’s shoulder to watch (she got an iPod Touch before I did). While the iOS version was released in 2009, it was a staple time-killer on most phones into the mid-2010s.
In this game, you play as another little green character — but this time, it’s a platformer game where you tilt your phone back and forth to make it land on platforms and advance upwards. Sounds easy enough, right?
Sure, as long as you avoid obstacles like traps and enemies. Then again, you can acquire jetpacks and springs to help push you along. It’s simple, addictive, and endearingly looks like it was doodled on the margin of a composition notebook — hence the name.
