90s Phone Games: Before App Stores and Touchscreens

Before app stores existed, a handful of mobile phones shipped with a small number of built-in games baked directly into the phone's firmware, and one of them became one of the most-played video games ever made.

Handset and region differences

Nokia's 6110, launched in December 1997, is the phone most closely associated with this era, and its included games weren't available the same way on every handset or in every region since mobile phone models varied considerably market to market.

Built-in game formats

These games were built directly into the phone's firmware by the manufacturer, not downloaded or installed by the user, since app stores and any general third-party software distribution didn't exist yet on phones.

Controls and screens

Nokia's Snake, designed by Taneli Armanto for the 6110's monochrome 84 by 48 pixel screen, was controlled entirely with the phone's existing number pad and navigation keys, since touchscreens weren't part of these devices.

Games often misremembered

Snake is commonly misremembered as launching later or on a different, more famous Nokia model than the 6110; Nokia shipped it on over 400 million phones between 1997 and 2007, spreading across many handsets well beyond its original release.