Sometimes you just need to have some downtime. Occasionally, you need to take a break from taxing your mind and focusing on the task at hand and giving your brain a break. Once in a while, you need to do something mindless.

When those times happen, I have a few apps and games I turn to. These help me to break the monotony of work, and give my mind a break for a few minutes. This helps me to return to my focus with a renewed vigor. It helps me stay more focused on the things that need to be accomplished.

Each of these are used primarily on my iPhone 5s, but several of them cross the bridge to my iPad as well. Some I utilize on either device, others are used only on one or the other.

My Top 5 (6) Game Apps

Angry Birds

Of course, the list would start off with the Angry Birds franchise. Over the course of time, I’ve tried about all of the games that Rovio offers. I come back to a few solid stand-bys, though: the original, Seasons, and Star Wars. Angry Birds is free in the App Store. The others are currently priced at $.99.

Jetpack Joyride

Halfbrick Studios has released a game that I absolutely love to play called Jetpack Joyride. There is really no purpose to this game other than collecting coins and seeing how far you can get. It’s a crazy, goofy game. And my kids and I love it. You can download it for free in the App Store.

Words With Friends Pro

Words With Friends is a lot like Scrabble, and it’s addictive. Produced by Zynga, it plays a lot like a mix between the famous board game and a crossword puzzle. I upgraded to the pro version to eliminate the ads and allow play to go more smoothly. It is a bit pricey at $4.99 in the App Store.

Sudoku

This is the app version of the classic Japanese game. With several difficulty levels, this app keeps me occupied, and provides a challenge. You can get it for free in the App Store.

Plants Vs. Zombies

This has been one of my favorite games ever since it was released a few years ago. I’ve tried the newer edition, PvZ 2, but nothing is quite like the original. I play this exclusively on my iPad. It is currently $.99 in the App Store, but I wonder how long they will continue to support it on the newer OS.

DragonVale

From Backflip Studios, this is perhaps my favorite game app. In this game, you build a dragon park, and breed and display dozens of different types of dragons. My daughter and I have been playing this since it came out, and we’ve built a pretty extensive park over the last couple of years. It is free in the App Store.

Bonus: The Official Geocaching App

One of my favorite hobbies, and I do this with my kids a lot, is geocaching. You can think of it as a worldwide treasure hunt that never ends. We love it,and have found hundreds of geocaches all across the country. All you need is a GPS, and they’ve created an app that works very well for that. You’ll need to create an account on their website, but it’s free. The app is kind of pricey, currently at $9.99 in the App Store. But the cheaper, unofficial apps just don’t seem to work as well.

There are a few other games that I keep around, and several that I’ve downloaded and played until I got tired of them and deleted them. These are the ones that stay on my devices at all times. They keep me occupied.

Question: What games do you play more than any others? You can leave a comment by clicking here.