10 games I bought because of TikTok

Look, before we get started I need everyone to understand something: TikTok has completely destroyed my ability to make responsible decisions.

I no longer buy games because of reviews. I don't even buy games because my friends recommend them. No, now I buy games because I saw a clip of a stupid little boy falling off a mountain at 1am while someone yelled into their mic like they were being hunted for sport. This is true. So here are the games that TikTok has absolutely manipulated me into buying this year.

Sledding game

I saw a TikTok of a little penguin on a mountain at Mach 5 while three frogs watched from the sidelines as if witnessing a NASCAR event, and I ran into steam.

The sledding game feels scientifically engineered in a lab to directly appeal to people who miss the golden age of flash games and own at least one plushie. Everything about it is aggressively attractive.

It was genius of the developer to post updates on TikTok because each clip looked like a game you accidentally lost six hours of. Even watching the map slowly evolve through TikTok clips made me feel strangely emotionally attached to the game even before I bought it. Like I was following the development of someone's little cozy baby. Plus, there's something profoundly powerful about a game whose entire pitch is 'what if the little creatures go downhill'.

Librarian: Manage the Arcane Library

Librarian: Tidy Up The Arcane Library going viral proved to me that TikTok users will turn any action into a personality trait. Because explain to me why millions of people were suddenly debating whether keeping books in silence was comfortable or psychologically torturous. The premise is almost unbelievably simple. You organize books in a magical library. That's what happened. You just sort books like the world's most qualified library assistant. Still, I couldn't stop watching its videos.

Everything about this game felt like a social experiment on TikTok. Half the comments were people saying “it looks so relaxing”. The other half said they'd rather walk through traffic than put fake spelling books through the alphabet for four hours. Naturally, I bought it immediately.

Content warning

The content warning feels like someone looked at Lethal Company and said what if we added an effective culture. I mean that is the highest praise possible.

The whole concept is perfect TikTok fodder. You and your friends venture into terrifying underground monster realms literally called the SpookTube. That's already funny, but the real genius is that the game lets you save and upload the actual footage you've recorded.

This meant that TikTok was instantly filled with clips of people screaming, dying, being launched into walls, and accidentally the worst found footage movie ever made. Of course, I bought it because I'm weak. Seeing creators like CaseOh completely lose composure as some nightmarish creature folds his team up like lawn chairs was enough to convince me that this game needs to exist in my library.

Webphishing

Webphishing weaponized my Animal Crossing nostalgia against me personally. The second I saw clips of little cat avatars fishing together while chatting and being silly, I was finished. There was never a chance I wouldn't buy this game. TikTok has placed a comfortable aesthetic moodboard in front of me like a hypnosis clock.

Nothing dramatic happens, and no one tries to save the world. You exist peacefully with friends, catch fish, customize your character, and vibe. Apparently, this is all people wanted because TikTok went completely crazy with this game. I think part of the appeal is that Webfishing feels almost suspiciously honest. There is no fighting pass, just little cats fishing together because life is hard, and sometimes you need that.

Super Battle Golf

Every TikTok clip of Super Battle Golf looks like a sporting event held before the social collapse. People are driving golf carts directly into each other, swinging clubs like medieval warriors, deploying land mines, and somehow still trying to finish the course. The comments calling it “golf with friends, no golf against friends” were painfully accurate as this game turns every friendship into a temporary blood feud.

Its TikTok clips were impossible to resist because each one went viral instantly. Someone lines up a normal golf shot, and three seconds later, an orbital laser appears like a divine punishment from heaven. I bought it after watching a clip of eight people pile into a golf cart speeding toward disaster as someone screamed incoherently in proximity chat, and I have no regrets.

Dead as disco

This game lit up my mind like a Vegas casino. Everything about Dead As Disco feels designed specifically for a short-form video. Every punch that syncs to the music seems to be on an edited TikTok fancam with people commenting “oh eat it”. It helps that they are accurate.

Watching battle clips synced perfectly to the soundtrack triggered something primal in me. I was confident that I could be a rhythm-fighting god instead of someone who regularly missed quick-time events because I was scared.

megabunk

I need to know your name before I was interested. Megabonk sounds like a game invented by someone sleep-deprived at 4am, which, naturally, I respect. TikTok loved this game because every clip looked incomprehensible in the best possible way. There are explosions everywhere; A skeleton on a skateboard doing something deeply unsafe; A monkey in sunglasses looks like a financial collapse.

Roguelikes go viral on TikTok because eventually they all reach a point where the gameplay stops looking deliberate and starts looking like divine intervention. Megabonk hits that point almost immediately. It's beautiful.

Repo

Repo convinced me that fear and stupidity are the two strongest forces in multiplayer gaming. The concept is already stressful enough. Carefully transport valuables while terrifying monsters try to kill you. It sounds pretty easy, except your teammates are there too, instantly turning every mission into a workplace safety breach.

Repo's TikTok clips have been inescapable for a while, and each followed the same formula of 'everything seems fine' to 'screaming disaster'. The monster encounters were a major reason the game exploded online, although the real stars are the characters themselves. Those strange little cylindrical bodies and huge eyes make every moment ten times fun. Horror quickly turns to comedy when the screaming person looks like a sensitive finger.

Plus, there's nothing funnier than watching someone carefully spend ten minutes on a flimsy booty only to start microwaving across the room moments before evacuation. It's art, really.

YapYap

TikTok has fully entered the era of friends-shout-with-microphones, and YapYap may be the purest example of that. The gimmick is brilliant. You cast spells using your real voice. Which sounds cool and immersive until you realize that many people immediately use this power for evil.

Every viral clip from YapYap is just complete vocal mayhem, and I watched five clips before I bought it. Games like this work well because they create instant comedy without too much effort. No one needs setup; Humor naturally comes from people completely falling apart under pressure. TikTok has become a natural habitat for friendship games at this point. Every few months, a new co-op disaster simulator appears and collectively consumes the internet. However fun it is, YapYap has earned its place.

peak

I knew this sport was going to ruin my life when I saw someone peel a banana from a mountain. Pic is the kind of game that TikTok was born to promote because each clip is a perfect storm of teamwork, betrayal, physical disasters, and human misery.

You have to work together to climb this huge mountain. Instead, each group turns into the worst campaign team imaginable. People constantly fall, someone always ruins important items, and at least one person is obsessed with sabotaging everyone else for materials. Banana Clips alone have sold thousands of copies. There's something timeless about slapstick comedy that takes place at devastating heights.

The peak captures the exact energy of trying to collaborate with people who share a collective brain cell. Which is now my favorite game genre. TikTok just couldn't convince me to buy Peak. It convinced me that watching my friends repeatedly fall off the mountain was somehow entertaining. Disturbing feeling, indeed.