Mobile games usually get a bad rep as they’re usually asset flips and/or MTX-ridden and/or ad-filled, etc., and I’m sure this is actually the case for most games on the app/play store. But are there any ones that are actually good, maybe just something to pass the time with?
Unnamed space idle
Backpack Battles
Very fun strategic game, there are MTX in the game, but they’re not necessary to play in the slightest.
I have bought a few things to support the Devs though.
Plenty of bots to get my buttons kicked in chess.
I prefer lichess.org
Stardew valley.
Shattered Pixel Dungeon
WorldBox
Mindustry
Unciv
Upvote for Shattered Pixel Dungeon! I unlocked the last two classes while on a plane.
Such a great game. I’ve actually run into the developer on Lemmy before.
He is pretty active in the PD com. Posts about about updates, answers questions. Its really cool
NO
Balatro and peglin
didn’t realize peglin is on mobile! cool!
+1 for Balatro. I didn’t think it’d be as much of a time sink as it has become for me though.
Let’s fucking gooooo balatro
Shattered Pixel Dungeon.
Infinitely replayable procedurally generated roguelike that is hard but fun to master, and a blast to play. It’s been on my phone for five years now and I still go back to it.
Totally offline, totally ad free, and still receiving active updates from the single developer.
It’s also got a pretty robust community.
By the way, it’s completely open source (GPL-3.0)
Oh yeah! And a lot of spins because of that, if you use android or computer.
CrossMe is great, simple mechanic and hundreds of puzzles to solve.
Free, ad-free, open source phone games
Unciv: Civilization V clone that runs on a potato; a grand 4x strategy game. It seems pretty mechanically complete and has a lot of content. Easily modded. (Graphics may not be to everyone’s taste)
Simon Tatham’s portable puzzle collection: Mathematically inspired Puzzle games with a lot of customization and reasonable interface. This includes classics like untangle (graph planarity) and solo (sudoku, but generalized). I personally really enjoy Tower, and hadn’t seen it elsewhere (and like 15 more games besides).
Chip defense: computer science themed tower defense. By the power of Turing, Noether, and Knuth you can strike down malicious packets attempting to corrupt your CPU. Good content, fun towers and educational bonus material, and I think it looks rather good. (Minor gripe/warning: early levels are optimally played with a lot of tapping that is not very ergonomic; this drops off after the first few levels.)
Honorable mentions (not FOSS, but still free, MTX free, and no ads beyond fishing for a rating). Higgster’s game compendium: collection of games in a consistent and pleasing artstyle. Includes things like solitaire, wordle, binaro, and mastermind (20+ games total, several more have been added in the last year). This is really very well done, give it a look!
Flocks: Sliding puzzle game with excellent graphics and animations. Lots of levels, introduces new mechanics regularly, and easy to pickup or put down. I quite enjoy everything Robert has made, recommended!
Amazing brick
Balatro. Be warned though, it’s digital crack. One time payment though, no mtx
I haven’t gotten this for a very unusual and stupid reason. I’d want it on my phone, and on my pc\steam deck; but don’t want to pay for it twice, out of spite.
I couldn’t agree more. I bought it, on a whim, just to see what everyone was talking about…and now I’m hooked!
In that same category, Merge Maestro. Very fun and addictive game where no two runs go the same way.
Edit: Free to try, full game is a single $2 purchase.
Outside of emulators and other similar apps, there are some games that have decent mobile ports. Some of the good ones I know of are:
Lego Star wars: the Complete Saga, which as far as I can tell, seems mostly identical to at least most of the other versions but it lacks all of the co-op/multiplayer components. I did also see some minor graphical glitches but they didn’t effect gameplay.
The 3D remake of Final fantasy 3. It seems identical to the PSP version but it’s obviously running at a higher resolution and possibly a higher frame rate as well.
Bloons TD 5, other users have mentioned 6 but 5 is also good too.
HamSandwich, which is not available through the Google Play Store, so you may soon be stuck with the browser version when Google’s changes to side loading take effect. Also, I recommend using either a keyboard or a controller, as the touchscreen controls are not that good.
The Enchanted Cave 2, the first one is also pretty good too but 2 has a lot more content and is a much better game all around.
I know that a lot of people have issues with games that have MTX, but I will defend these games if they are actually good and I can play them without feeling like I’m being force to put money in. Here are some of the games I can remember:
Honkai Impact 3rd, I haven’t completed the story yet but I’ve played up to the end of chapter 28 of part 1 and I haven’t had to put a single cent into the game. My only issue with this game is that, while the game does have keyboard support and the keyboard controls are decent, it doesn’t have controller support for some reason.
Bloons Monkey City, this game is basically just Bloons TD 5 but with a city building mechanic and some online components.
The Walking Zombie 2: Shooter. This ones a bit weird but I’ve been playing this occasionally. It’s a pretty decent FPS that takes at least some inspiration from the Fallout games. It’s not a masterpiece by any means but it still seems worth mentioning. I just wish it had keyboard and mouse support.
There are actual AAA full games, Feral Games is releasing a lot of their games on Mobile now (Android as example), like Alien: Isolation, XCOM 2, GRID Legends, Several Total War Entries and Tropico.
Hitman Absolution launches now in October 16th.
There are also some from other devs, like Focus’ Mudrunner and Square Enix’s Life Is Strange.
If you want awesome casual ones, there’s Balatro, Isle of Arrows, Keep on Mining (non-slop incremental), Dungeon Clawler, Siege Up! and All Aboard! of the top of my head.
Look for old games, that were released a long time ago before the “predation” was so required.
Osmos and World of Goo come to mind. Monument Valley 1 was a more popular, recent one in that vein.
Other than that, the FOSS and emulation recommendations here are great.
