And now for something completely different: discussion about video games.
Life circumstances have made it very difficult for me to game these days. An hour to myself to play a proper video game is something I get maybe once a week. I do, however, have one thing going for me, and that's my phone. It's always on me so I can just whip it out and play something for five minutes here and there, which is like offering an alcoholic a light beer once a day but it's good enough to fight off the shakes.
I really hate using virtual buttons on a touchscreen, which is why the DS has been my saving grace lately. I've been playing Phoenix Wright, Advance Wars, and some JRPGs like the Dragon Quest DS remakes. All of them work pretty well with minimal button use and thanks to save states I can play them in short sessions.
Any other suggestions? Suggestions for actually good mobile games that would be playable this way are also welcome, but I have a feeling I've already played all of the incredibly small number of mobile games that meet those criteria.
For what its worth, the 8bitdo controllers are fairly cheap and durable and come with a clip to just instantly toss your phone into to use them. Which is what I did when I had long trips of playing on my phone. I just threw it in my bag with the rest of my work stuff. This is relevant because I had the same issue you did and bought it just to alleviate that.
Without it though, the two games I've played that worked fine enough without was the Fire Emblem games (I'm partial to the GBA ones though) and the Yugioh games. Etrian Odyssey might work as well if you have smaller fingers than I do and can draw the maps.
I actually have a controller that snaps onto my phone, but I don't really have time for that either. I have literally zero downtime at work, I drive to commute, and when I get home it's go go go until bedtime. Like I said, five minute intervals, tops.
I liked Fire Emblem Awakening when it first came out and never tried Fates. I really didn't like how Three Houses was basically a dating sim with the rare bit of combat thrown in now and then. Think I'd like Fates?
I played a good deal of the 3DS Etrian Odyssey 1 remake and enjoyed it, but I don't know about playing those without a stylus. Advance Wars works okay but it's still a bit hit or miss. Not a bad idea though. If I can get Nexus to work that's about 5 billion hours I can look forward to.
That's why I prefer the GBA Fire Emblems. Awakening is basically the turning point where the games went from strategy games to dating sims.
Fates is probably the worst game in the franchise if you don't count for the ones that are merely outdated. Its literally "ignore every unit who isn't a Royal, have them solo the map for you." Birthright is basically "Easy Mode" being sold as a full price game, Revelations will outright insult your intelligence with its writing and Conquest is the only one that resembles a game that might be worth playing. But its still written by actual retards and Royals are still the only units worth using, with everyone else just being trained as meat walls so they don't get One-Turn Attrition'd to death. I could go on and on about its insultingly bad designs and issues, but its worth skipping in every category unless you liked those dating elements.
Personally, I think Three Houses is the best of the post-Awakening games. It removes the retarded child mechanic (which in turn actually removes most of the dating sim elements) and most of its hub world actively stops mattering if you are good at the game. Even on fresh saves I've found that I can ignore half of it and spend only a few minutes warping for the parts I need. But that's a debate for another time.
If you are out for more FE, just swap over to a GBA emulator (I assume that wouldn't be much issue) and play 7-8-6 in that order. Unless you enjoy suffering then bump 6 up. Either way, all of them are perfect for 5 minute interval times because they have zero down time and constant autosaves.
I did the same thing some years ago, I think I mostly played Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Infinite Space, and maybe Disgaea.
I'll give Infinite Space a go. I'm only vaguely familiar with it, but it's old school Platinum Games so it's got to be good.
FFTA2 I just couldn't get into. The beginning is so painfully slow. It feels like a 20 hour prologue before the game finally gets "good". The Android version of FFT is more fun to me despite its insane amount of jank.
Zelda Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks don't really use the buttons much if I recall.
I never thought about emulating DS games on mobile. I can't stand virtual buttons either.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I played those. Phantom Hourglass was fantastic and I can't believe I slept on it for so long. Spirit Tracks was basically the same game but with a shittier travel gimmick. Still not bad, but definitely the lesser of the two.
Play Elite Beat Agents and the two Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan games. They're some of the best games on DS. EBA is basically the 'MURICA FUCK YEAH version of Ouendan.
Drastic is a good Android DS emulator if Citra won't run on your device.
Grab it while you can, the dev made it free before it gets de-listed from Google Play.
Saving and going in and out of your games is done well. One tap on ''continue'' and you're back to your game and last saved state.
Costum screen sizes and buttons work well, but could be done better. Or maby I just haven't found how, having trouble getting the screen to display as I want for a game made to hold the DS like a book. The emulator ignores the no-rotation-lock from the tablet and keeps flipping the screen.
P.S. : I also hate the virtual buttons. But it didn't require any spending, so...
Ace Attorney series fit perfectly.
Puzzle League DS is a match / chain game that fits well if you get the relevant screen to display big enough and in the correct orientation to slide the blocks.
I played the hell out Shin Megami Strange Journey on my phone a while back.
For JRPGs, you could give Radiant History a go. It's got an alternate timelines gimmick that's neat on your first playthrough.
I don't know anything at all about Radiant Historia but I know Atlus was in their prime during the DS days. I'll give it a go. Thanks.
Yoshi Touch-and-Go is a good, arcady title. You don't control Yoshi, but instead draw lines for him to walk on and avoid danger. If you enjoy that, Kirby Canvas Curse is a full platform game that controls very similarly, albeit, not an auto-scroller.
Also, I may be misremembering, but I think the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games have full touchscreen controls. I don't remember for sure, though. I generally prefer a nice, tactile controller.
Any of the DS/3DS Fire Emblems are good. Ever Oasis, Radiant Historia, I find the old lugis mansions pritty fun but that might be nostalgia. Monster Hunter had some good DS titles.
Honestly the DS library is surprisingly big and if you can get a 2DSXL you can mess with it pritty easy too.....
I would wholeheartedly recommend Metroid Prime Pinball, and I also remember enjoying the Mario & Luigi games. I would also suggest the Mega Man Battle Network series, but it might be a bit too button intensive for your setup.
I can't imagine playing MMBN with a touchscreen D-pad. The inputs would be murder!