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Top DS Toilet Timewasters

Posted by James Newton

Short spurt gaming at its best

Portable gaming and toilets go hand-in-washed-hand: there’s no better time to get some uninterrupted gaming going than when sat atop the porcelain throne. With the DS turning five years old in Europe today, we're celebrating some of the machine's golden titles: those games that make us wish there was a way to charge the machine in the bathroom. Here's five DS titles that keep the Nintendo Life toilets occupied.

Mr Driller: Drill Spirits

Burrowing your way to the bottom of a blocked passage may not sound like the ideal en suite entertainment, but its finely-crafted stages are just the right length for a brief pitstop, with the time attack mode enough to entertain anyone doing a long stretch. With Mr Driller: Drill 'Til You Drop available on DSiWare in Japan, it may not be too long until you can line up more than one nugget on your DSi.

Picross

Another puzzler with the addiction factor, Picross is powder room perfection: finishing one off can take anywhere from thirty seconds to half an hour if it's a particularly big one. With Picross 3D now available across Europe, gamers can take their defecation distraction to a third dimension.

Animal Crossing: Wild World

Not all porcelain pastimes are short, one-more-go affairs. Animal Crossing: Wild World takes up your toilet time with the promise of something new always around the corner: taking AC into the WC at quarter-to the hour is a surefire way to lose twenty minutes. Sunday mornings are worst, the combination of turds 'n' turnips keeping you lavatory-locked for hours.

Paper Plane

Although toilet roll makes rubbish paper planes, it turns out paper plane games are ideally suited to latrine leisure, with this DSiWare download doing its bit to keep you entertained during your daily duties. Although the multiplayer Race mode that lets you and a friend race on the same machine is unlikely to see many restroom run-outs – but hey, we're open-minded about that kind of thing – the Endless mode is extremely bog-friendly and, at a measly 200 Points, almost as cheap as pinching a loaf.

Pokémon

Pokémon games are fiendishly difficult to put down at the best of times, but the format excels when you're perched on the can flushing out the odd Weedle or Grimer. In fact, there's so many Pokémon now that we could make filthy puns about going for a Squirtle all day long, but that would do the game a great disservice: time whizzes by when battling on the bog, whether your Pokémon uses Slash, Water Gun or, er, Egg Bomb. Just hope whoever's next doesn't use Odour Sleuth.

Despite our better judgement, we're now throwing this one over to you, the Nintendo Life readers. What keeps you entertained during your routine? Perhaps you enjoy a spot of Gardening Mama, or indulge in a drop of Rhythm Heaven? Whatever your toilet tipple, let us know – but try to keep it clean, eh?

User Comments (74)

10507

#4

bro2dragons said:

hahahahahahaha GREAT feature, prosody. it's where i do my best thinking, and my best gaming. i've definitely made family members angry in the morning because i'm in there for a good thirty minutes trying to beat a level, and someone needs to shower! :D

4266

#5

jangonov said:

this article makes it so I will never buy a used handheld system ever. lol

794Admin

#8

Damo said:

Anyone that says they've never gamed on the toilet is fibbing.

4266

#9

jangonov said:

I am not saying I never had. I once played Metroid Prime hunters online on the toilet, just because I couldn't leave the area without messing up my score. I just didn't know it was common.

11444

#11

VintageBoy said:

Pro tactics:
1) Download a demo of something from the Nintendo Channel
2) Go evacuate yourself whilst playing.
3) Have demo finished before you leave.

1340Admin

#15

Corbs said:

I still remember beating Dragon Quest V DS on the throne. Great moment! :D

634Admin

#16

James said:

The world's greatest toilet game is actually Neo Turfmasters on NeoGeo Pocket Colour. That game has sapped years of my life and is amazing.

8261

#17

Machu said:

Wanna have a healthy digestive system? Play Tetris on the toilet, I do, and my body thanks me. :)

lol @ Raylax's pro tactics ;D

8261

#23

Machu said:

I wish Luigi78 could see this, he'd be so proud! :'(

NintendoLife will help your gaming, and your health. :)

11584

#26

smithers said:

I actually play my DSi pretty much every time ive got to take the browns to the superbowl...perfect entertainment

7982Admin

#28

theblackdragon said:

@Machu: Indeed, this is a comment thread worthy of the monkey-man himself. i certainly hope y'all are washing your hands before picking up your DSes again after taking out any Klingons orbiting Uranus, though D:

4181

#29

BlackFira said:

i bring me ds or dsi or psp to the throne heck i even remeber beaten ff7 crisis core while i happen to sit on the throne :P

12694

#30

jaw51 said:

Uhhh... very interesting. Personally, though I'm too klutzy to play DS on the toilet without a great risk of it being damaged.

3705

#31

motang said:

haha, that is awesome article, for me it's has been Game & Watch Collection lately. ;)

11603

#33

Moco_Loco said:

I was so into my first playthrough of Phantom Hourglass that I couldn't put it down for mere necessity. Usually, however, I merely read my way to glory on the throne. Great article!

7435

#35

KrazyKain said:

oh god the puns... it hurts my brain!!!!

loved it... heh funny people are always like 'You take your Ds to the loo with you?!" so i thought it was wierd and i was one of a few.. but apparently not... I play dracula undead awakening and army defender most of the time on the john. but I also play online bombmerman matches at times, and even some call of duty mobilized JUST for the novelty of saying "HAH! I owned you while taking a dump!!!" if only there was some way to text or voice chat while i did that....

4768

#37

Digiki said:

... ... ...
...
This article is really ...ew

I don't see how people take so long to use the washroom, 3 minutes is more than enough time. Not much gaming can be done in that time.

5646

#40

Fuzzy said:

Have never done it before. Didnt think it was normal. But now you have proved me wrong...

5436

#43

Rhansley64 said:

With exception of Mr Driller, i own the other 4 games mentioned on my DS / DS Lite / DSi. And yes there great time waster and great fun.

12151

#44

Morpheel said:

pokemon is indeed good for these "short playing sessions"
also before bed, it makes you drowzee in no time.

14737

#45

GammaGames said:

I normally play Trajectile, its got the perfect length of puzzles, do a few and ur done! (yeah im pretty fast XD)

3038

#48

SmaMan said:

They need to make a real Game and Watch Gallery for DS. I've been playing G&WG4 (I guess that's Game Boy Gallery 5 for you UK'ers) for the GBA lately while on the can. Now that is the perfect toilet timewaster. You can even save your current game at any point in case you think people will start to get curious as to why you're in there for so long!

6930

#49

Sean_Aaron said:

I had low expectations of this and they were exceeded. Clever, but gross James, nicely done!

9736

#50

FATEM said:

I do not have the most healthy of digestive systems which is why I spend my bathroom time sketching the toilet door in Art Academy.

14231

#51

SuperPeach said:

:O....... Ummm.. uhhh... I'd liked to say this is interesting... but... I think I'd like to say eww instead. I don't think I'll ever be able to look a my DSi the same way again...... I didn't realize so many people actually did that. :P

7999

#53

iSonic said:

Yes, there's nothing quite like beating bosses while doing your duty.

5214

#54

MarkyVigoroth said:

I agree with Rhythm Heaven, but WarioWare can go to far (in both meanings).
Even so, Doki Doki Majo Shinpan is, for obvious reasons, not a game that I consider playing at those times. (No; seriously! I have the whole series!)

14722

#57

Jumpman said:

clubhouse games is great when in the bathroom. i can take my backgammon frustrastions out on the toilet:)

10439

#58

Rerun said:

Great article! I always play with my DS when I'm going for number 2!

8332

#61

BooNelson said:

This... is... completely gross. I'm not usually a precious person at all, but sitting there playing a DS while taking a dump is... just gross. I can't explain it. :o

8012

#64

LEGEND_MARIOID said:

Yeah, but its never a short spurt for some people!

MP Prime Pinball for me. Helps me to, y'know.....its the pinballing n all that....

1094

#65

StarDust said:

I've dropped an awful lot of blocks down the Tetris hole. Sometimes I'll get curly S- and L-shaped blocks that I can't do anything but clog the system with, then there's the wider squares and knobby T-blocks which are especially gruesome to pass. But every now and then, I'll take a long, strait I-block, and if the timing is right, flush four whole rows down the drain all at once! Whatever you do, Just don't let them clog up the pipes all the way to the top, or it's Game Over, and you'll be reaching for the Plunger, LOTFLMAO! :O :D

13702

#70

Phobos said:

Yep! Nothing like gaming on the potty. Sometimes, I even end up sitting on it longer than I need to. :D

14925

#74

R-L-A-George said:

LOL, I'm going to imagine that I'm not the only person who has migrated to the throne while playing Pokemon.

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