Dumb Ways to Die

Dumb Ways to Die is a collection of lightning-fast minigames in which the player taps, swipes, or tilts the phone within a few seconds to save an adorable little character from an absurdly grotesque death — from sticking a hand into a blender, to jumping onto railway tracks, to pulling stingers out of a hornet. Each minigame lasts only a few seconds, and the pace picks up with each round, so the game works like a reflex test similar to the minigame parades made famous by the WarioWare series.

It was created in 2013 as a companion app to a public-safety campaign by the Australian company Metro Trains Melbourne, whose same-titled viral song about safety around trains and tracks had previously become a worldwide hit thanks to its cute but darkly humorous animation. The game carried this tone over into interactive form and became just as popular as the video itself, even though its original purpose was to remind commuters of basic safety rules around trains. It's free to download and monetized through ads and small purchases of new characters and minigames, but the base content remains playable without paying.

Colorful, round character graphics and a catchy jingle make the game accessible entertainment for all age groups, even though it's secretly a safety campaign funded by a transit company rather than a classic game publisher.

Why play it: Anyone looking for a short, funny reflex-based game for a few minutes and who doesn't mind dark humor will appreciate Dumb Ways to Die as a great example of how even a public-safety campaign can be turned into a genuinely fun game.