this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2026
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Mobile game ads that make you close it three times before they let you continue playing can fuck off as well. Trying to trick me into clicking on your ad only makes me hate your product more, idiots.
I encountered a crazier one recently: the app will just refuse to start if you block the ad servers they're using, showing "connection unstable".
Went to connection history and saw lots of requests to ad servers, unblocked them and I finally started the app without error, but yeah I did see ads too.
I deleted the app afterwards.
These 'games' realty are just a vehicle for delivering ads, aren't they, but I guess that's been true of all sorts of things for decades.
The moment I see this I delete the game/app and leave a 1 star review. Reap what you sow.
https://mullvad.net/en/help/dns-over-https-and-dns-over-tls#mobile-os
blocks all ads device-wide for free. the "base" profile should be good enough for most people. note: while this is provided by Mullvad, a trusted VPN company, the solution above is NOT a VPN.
I've been using Adguard DNS. Is this better?
personally, I'm wary of totally-not-Russian companies operating from Cyprus.
I know about this. I'm someone who lives next to Russia in Baltics, and our blood is boiling with hatred towards them. But here's the thing - a lot of companies and artist's whom I love ran away/relocated once it was clear what direction Russia is going in. I have nothing against those who left.
Ukrainians are working for AdGuard afaik.
They just keep getting worse. Many of them now take you to the app store instead of closing the ad. Once you've gone to the app store and then back to the game, it'll show the button to close it.
I've been noticing that as well. Fucking bullshit. I just want to play a nice serene game of Mahjong or Freecell. Fuck off, Temu. I don't want to 'shop like a billionaire'. I don't want to shop at all while I'm shitting.
Anyone know of a version of either that's ad free for Android?
I actually paid the 6 bucks or so for the paid version of Chuzzle 2 to get rid of the ads, and they've never asked me for another cent in the several years since. Totally worth it.
Here's a great free cell solitare app, called pysolfc
https://f-droid.org/packages/org.lufebe16.pysolfc
Mahjong Soul is free and has no ads
I had a look and yeah, I can do without the anime bullshit. I just want a simple mahjong solitaire. The Mobilityware one I've been playing is nice, but the ads have gotten to me, and when I looked to remove them it was a monthly subscription, and fuck that.
There is Tenhou, which is more basic, but it feels too serious, and I think it's only in japanese.
Kemono Mahjong has less anime, and a really good UI for phones and only costs 5USD 1 time, but you can only play against computers or friends, no random match making.