http://iwojima7cnn53jitsig4xjd23lchircbnu4yzuajdsclchiu3j2dbjad.onion/fedi/fb-X11WVVIW
The reason why they became popular is that the internet developed, which in conjunction with software copyright law, allowed the game developers to make way more off of making their games addictive, than making them worth playing. There's no reason to make a game addictive if it weren't for micro transactions.