Students' academic performance is determined by their behavioral patterns and other student-related factors such as involving in a variety of personal activities outside of the school which specifically includes their engagement in mobile gaming activities. Due to the closure of educational institutions because of the pandemic, students' mobile gaming habits were amplified. This explains the enormous expansion of the gaming industry throughout the implementation of distance online learning. Thus, this research paper investigates how mobile games influence students' academic performance particularly during the prevalence of online learning. In this study, academic performance do not only pertain to the grades that a student acquires, but the overall performance he/she exhibits in school. Additionally, an exploratory single-case study design was used where the main participant was chosen through purposeful sampling. The research utilized a semi-structured interview with the main participant along with other secondary participants including the student's parent, teacher, and a friend. Data were presented and analyzed through an inductive approach to thematic analysis. Research findings show that there are three causes or reasons why a student is playing mobile games; such reasons include boredom, desire to relieve and escape from stress, and to satisfy the need for social interaction. The study further asserted that playing mobile games can either reinforce academic behavior or undermine students' academic drive. Given the limited number of investigations conducted to examine the influence of mobile games to a student's academic performance during the conduct of online learning, this study certainly provides significant knowledge on the topic. This will urge academic institutions and other education personnel to undertake measures to ensure that mobile games and other personal activities done by students outside of the school do not come at the expense of their academic performance.