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?
Into the Breach
You’ll just need to find a patched .APK to play without a Netflix account.Puzzle Heros rpg - this is a turn based match 3 game with diagonals and a time limit to match as many tiles as you can, this powers up your colour coded heros and you use them to defeat/harvest food based enemies to stock your food stalls. Stalls make money, money levels up heros, etc.
It’s a ‘reskin’, albeit a very minorly changed one, of Match Quest, and the art/design is all really well done in an old school 8bit pixel style, with some really beautifully done layered scenery.
It gets a bit grindy and will take forever if you want to win every hero and level them all up to max, but as a casual game to dip into a few times a day to collect profits and loot old levels, and then spend twenty minutes or so playing levels, it’s very fun.
I also recommend Flappy Dragon. It’s a resin of the bird game, I think, idk I never played that one. The physics is fun and well thought out for each dragon and the dragons all have really nice designs.
Oh and it’s probably been mentioned a ton on this thread already but Simon Tatham’s Puzzles is a fantastic app full of puzzles that can be played offline.
A dream of mine is to make good mobile games, no ads, just a single low purchase. Realistically it just wouldn’t be economically viable at all unless there is a free version with ads. But also realistically most mobile gamers aren’t using a controller and touchscreens suck.
The Room by fireproof games. Probably one of the first actual proper mobile games. Its spawned clones no IAP, no crap. Just fun, hard af puzzles.
Hoplite. Fun little iso turn based roguelike. Vampire Survivors. Reverse bullet-hell roguelike. Has spawned so, so, so many clones… GTA:Chinatown Wars Have not played this is a very very long time, but i’m sure it still holds up (if its available). Old school (2d birds eye view) gta style.
These are games that work well without a controller, The Room actually would play worse with one. If at all.
Then of course theres emulators and roms and stuff.
The correct answer is video game steaming with a controller hooked up. Otherwise it’s Minecraft… And that’s it.
Didn’t see it here yet, but Dawncaster is a really good roguelite deck builder that was actually designed around a phone UI so doesn’t feel clunky.
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.
It’s a fabulous chill game, but I didn’t find the mobile version as satisfying.
Unnamed space idle
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
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.
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!
Piggybacking onto this (all of these are FOSS):
Endless Sky is a 2D sandbox space sim. It’s a spiritual sequel to the old Escape Velocity: Nova, and has very active development.
Feudal Tactics is an extremely simple strategy game that can nonetheless be quite hard.
Battle For Wesnoth is a whole-ass fantasy campaign turn-based strategy game that has been ported to mobile. Think Warcraft but turn-based.
Arx Libertatis is a port of Arx Fatalis, a first-person RPG. This one is still on my list to try out, but it looks interesting.
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.
