Big Bass Bonanza: a calm little game that snuck up on us

I opened Big Bass Bonanza expecting to close it in five minutes. Two weeks later it's still on my home screen, mostly because it turned out to be the perfect thing to do while waiting for a kettle to boil.

The whole game runs on one thumb. You tap to cast, watch the short reel-in animation, and move on. There's no tutorial to slog through and no wall of menus — it just starts, which is rarer than it should be on mobile.

What sold me was the mood. Big Bass Bonanza commits fully to that bright, lazy-afternoon-by-the-lake feeling. The sound effects are cheerful, the colours are warm, and nothing about it feels like it wants to stress you out.

My advice: don't come to it expecting depth, because there isn't much and it isn't trying for any. Come to it when you want a two-minute breather. On that front it delivers, and I've reopened it far more than I planned to.

If you like games you can pick up and drop without losing anything, this one earns its spot.