Five-minute games that don't waste your five minutes

Not every game needs to be an epic. Some of the best moments I've had this year came from games designed to be played in the gaps — waiting for coffee, standing in a queue, riding two stops on the tram.

The key trait is a fast start. If an app takes thirty seconds to load and forces an ad before I can play, it's already lost the window. Casinacho Games and Neon Driftline both nail the instant-on feel, which is why they've stuck around on my phone.

Short session length matters too. A racer with two-minute tracks or a puzzle you can solve in one sitting fits the format far better than something that demands a chunk of time. You want to leave feeling satisfied, not interrupted mid-mission.

My rule of thumb: if I can open it, get one good moment, and close it in under five minutes, it's a keeper. Everything else can wait until I'm actually on the couch.