Best Casual Games on the Game Boy

Casual Games are one of the things the Nintendo Game Boy is genuinely for. The ones worth playing start with Tetris, Harvest Moon, Dr. Mario.

The Game Boy and Casual Games

Four shades of grey and ten years of battery life. The Game Boy's constraints produced a library built around short sessions and pure ideas, and one of them ate the world.

This is one of its strengths. Puzzle games and creature collecting. Tetris and Pokemon are not just the best-selling games here, they are the two best fits for what a handheld is.

Filtering to casual means you want something you can put down. That is the whole definition, and it says nothing about how deep the game is.

The Casual Games Worth Playing

  1. 1. Tetris

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  2. 2. Harvest Moon

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  3. 3. Dr. Mario

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  4. 4. Pokemon Pinball

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  5. 5. Game and Watch Gallery

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  6. 6. Mario Golf

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

What Makes a Good Casual Game

A game that fits around a life. Short sessions, save anywhere, no penalty for a week away.

Momentum, sometimes. A game designed to be left is also a game that is easy to forget you were playing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best casual game on the Game Boy?

Tetris is the usual first answer, and there are 6 in the library we cover.

Was the Game Boy good at casual games?

Yes — it is one of the things the machine is known for, and there are 6 in the library we cover.

Does casual mean shallow?

No. Several of the deepest games there are — Tetris, Balatro, Into the Breach — are playable in twenty-minute pieces, and some of the shallowest demand an entire evening.

Are mobile games casual games?

Often the opposite. Many are built around daily timers and streaks, which means stopping does cost you — the one thing a casual game is not supposed to do.

How is this list put together?

From the games this site covers on the Nintendo Game Boy, matched against hand-mapped gameplay categories rather than a storefront's genre tag. A page only exists where there are at least four, which is why some console and genre combinations have no page at all.

Casual Games on Other Consoles

More From the Game Boy

Or browse the whole Nintendo Game Boy library.