Our games-like lists do not stop at reading store pages. We install each game on a work phone, then measure install size and first launch time, launch it again in airplane mode, and note any consent or permission screens. Every game screenshot is one we took ourselves. Anything we could not measure is marked as store page only.
Why we launch the games ourselves
An offline label on a store page is easy to write and hard to verify. Some games show a consent screen first, then stall because they cannot reach a server. Others open straight into play with no signal at all.
So each game in a comparison goes through the same steps on a real phone. The aim is not a ranking. It is to fill in what a reader wants to know before installing: size, whether it works without internet, and when ads or purchase prompts appear.
The phone we use
We use Dumb Game Lab's work Android phone (Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, model SM-F731N, Android 14) on Wi-Fi. Sound and vibration stay off and we leave personal ad settings alone. Every list shows the check date and the device at the top.
The steps for one game
Each game follows the same order.
- Install from Google Play. If the button says buy, or an account is required before anything works, we skip it and mark the game as store page only.
- Add up the sizes of the installed APK files. If a game downloads more data after the first launch, we note the app size after running as well.
- Launch from the home screen and time how long the first screen takes.
- Leave it open for about 100 seconds. We only press safe buttons such as continue or agree, plus large confirm buttons found by colour on screen, and we dismiss notification permission prompts without allowing them. We do not scroll through long terms windows or type nicknames. We capture the screen here.
- Turn airplane mode on, launch the app again and watch for 65 seconds. The screen decides the result: it reaches the game, it stops at a connection error or loading bar, or it stops at a setup or consent screen.
- Uninstall the app when we are done.
What we cannot measure yet
We do not report how many ads appear in the first ten minutes. Our check is short and many games show no ad before it ends. The ads column repeats the ads and in-app purchase labels on the store page and says so.
Games that cost money, need an account first, or are region-locked also stay unlaunched. Those are marked store page only inside each list.
Our promises about screenshots and wording
Screenshots of other companies' games are ones we took on the phone above. We do not copy images from store pages.
Prices and ad labels change. A list's modified date moves only when a price or label really changed, and a short What changed note under the article says what we fixed.
When one of our own games is in a list, it is labelled as a Dumb Game Lab game and its weak points get the same space as the others.
Who writes this
Justin Lee, who runs Dumb Game Lab, checks and writes these lists. The about page has the company details and press coverage. If you see a wrong value, write to info@dumbgamelab.com and we will check it and note the fix.
FAQ
What counts as working in airplane mode?
With airplane mode on and the app launched again, we call it launches if a game screen (the tutorial or first play screen) appears within 65 seconds, does not launch if it stops at a connection error or loading bar, and stopped at a setup or consent screen if it stops at terms or a nickname prompt. The last case means we cannot tell whether the game works offline.
How do you measure install size?
We install from Google Play and add up the APK files on the device. If a game downloads more data after the first launch, the app size after running is shown separately.
Why is there no ad count?
A ten-minute ad count is not reliable from a short check, so we do not report it. We copy the ads and in-app purchase labels from the store page with the date instead.
How often do you recheck?
Once a month we reread prices and labels. A list is edited and its date moved only when something changed.
More from the blog
ComparisonOnsen and bathhouse games: 8 compared by what the store pages sayOnsen and bathhouse games from Steam, Google Play and the App Store in one table: price, rating, idle or not, Korean and Japanese support, plus the weak spots of our own game.
ComparisonIdle tycoon games that work offline: 8 picks sorted by store labelsWhich idle tycoon games work offline? Google Play tag, store wording, list price and ads in one table, plus our own game's weak spots.
Games likeFinished Kairosoft? 14 games to play next, sorted by what you lovedIf you have played through Kairosoft, here are 14 games sorted into four flavors: short grow-it sessions, running a shop, watching residents live, and layout puzzles. Steam list prices, review scores and UI languages checked by hand.
Behind the scenesI tried to crash my own app to test crash reporting, and it wouldn't crashA solo dev added a switch to crash an iOS app on purpose and test crash reporting, and the app wouldn't crash. Then Play pre-launch report errors got counted as user errors. Two wrong calls from week one.