30
votes
Good mobile games
I don't play mobile games very often but every now and then I want to load up something a bit more substantial than your average mobile game without having to log hours like Fallout Shelter. I played something called (I think) Pixel dungeon in the past that was a sort of roguelike and I enjoyed that. What do you guys play and recommend?
World of Goo, really cool puzzle game. I've played it on PC back in the day, but it's also available on Android/iOS for around $5.
I want to check this one out but the pictures on the play store are all just good review blurbs over non game play pics.
There used to be a demo version but I can't find it anymore on the play store.
The reviews that I'm seeing in the play store seem genuine, although very, very positive. But it really is a lovely game from what I remember.
Cool! Sounds pretty fun for a puzzle game. I'll give this one a go.
Those pictures are of the gameplay as far as I know. I've played it on PC but not on mobile, it's a very good game.
There's a trailer at https://2dboy.com, which is a bit fast-paced but definitely better than the images on Google Play.
My favourite Android game is Data Wing. It’s completely free (no ads, no IAP), and you can tell how much work the creator put into it. It looks great, has an awesome soundtrack, and even has a pleasant little story with great characters. All this is on top of solid actual gameplay.
It only takes a few hours to finish, I consider it a must play.
+1 for this. I just started playing it again after finishing it a while ago – if you're going for 100% completion, it can get very frustrating, but it's definitely worth finishing the story even if you can't or don't want to finish all the objectives on all the levels.
Whoa this looks really cool! I'm downloading it now. Thank you!
You had me at "no ads". I'll definitely be giving it a go.
Wow, that little icon looks identical to the spaceship in the old 'Asteroids' arcade game. And the movement seems similar, too. The only thing missing are incoming asteroids to be shot to pieces.
Thank you for this suggestion, it's marvelous.
The only downside is that my battery goes terribly hot after just 10 minutes of playing
You can turn the graphical effects down in the settings, which helps the framerate and heat issues tremendously for me. (Vaguely amusing fact: the long loading screen on first launch was it benchmarking your device to see how many of the graphical effects it could enable!)
Monument Valley and MV2 are beautiful in every aspect. Very calming but also challenging.
I enjoyed Pixel Dungeon too! There's a new version, based on the original code, called Shattered Pixel Dungeon (Google Play) which adds a massive amount of new content – it's basically a whole new game. For those who haven't played either of them, Shattered PD describes itself as a pixel graphics roguelike RPG, which I think is a pretty good summary. Heavy emphasis on the "roguelike", though – you will die. A lot.
This is a front runner for me. Love roguelikes and I loved Pixel dungeon. Thanks!
Downwell. Tons of fun, and can be really challenging - still haven't beat it after 1 1/2 years! It really feels like a full pc/console game.
Doesn't look like my kind of game but I love that website design! One of the better ways I've seen to quickly explain what a game looks and plays like.
Would be nice if it worked properly on mobile, though :( it only scrolls a tiny bit when you start swiping, then stops, so you have to do loads of short swipes to get anywhere.
There's a sidebar that you can use to scroll. It's not really an issue with mobile, rather touch-screens and how it handles the input.
Looks interesting. I'll check it out, thanks!
RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic - the first two full games are available on mobile
Hitman GO - addicting puzzle game with a Hitman theme
Monument Valley - a puzzle game based around optical illusions and geometry
Holy shit I'm about to get my Roller Coaster nostalgia fix. Thanks!
Try Circuit Jam and Euclidia
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.circuitjam
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hil_hk.euclidea
Seconding Euclidia. It's a classical geometry game in which you use basic tools like compass and straightedge to build increasingly complex and tricky figures. Puzzles range from simple tasks like "find the midpoint" or "bisect this angle" to more complex things like "scale and mirror this figure". It's all very interactive and feels very rewarding to build up each construction.
Oh no, what have you done with my free time :(
Seriously, it's really fun. Hard, but fun. I'm struggling to get the full star solutions though, they are not really intuitive.
You have some good suggestions here.
I also liked Duet a lot, it's simple but just the right amount of difficult.
I also play Clash Royale, it's free to play but it's also kinda pay-to-win, so it can get pretty frustrating. But it's a good fun concept, just wish they weren't so greedy.
For paid games I think Eufloria and Minimetro (on sale now, btw) are pretty cool.
Edit: Also, Tentacle Wars, which is similar to Eufloria.
I didn't know there was a mobile version of Mini Metro! I enjoyed the PC version and could see it being really pleasant on a tablet.
Most recent mobile game that I just could not put down was The Room: Old Sins, by Fireproof Games. It's the most recent instalment of their The Room series, which has been solid throughout. I'd recommend playing through them all.
On the flipside, Netmarble just released their new waifu-collector type RPG game called Knights Chronicle. It has FFX-style combat and you run around collecting heroes of varying ranks and abilities. They also did Lineage 2, which was Diablo-ish, but felt a little too auto-played.
For a high-score type game that turns you into a ball of stress, try Mini Metro. You start out with the geography of major cities around the world and try to build a working metro system.
Is it like a sexy-time waifu-collector, or just one that will make me wish it were sexy-time?
I mean, if you've seen their last waifu-collector RPG, Seven Knights, it's pretty lightly-veiled sexiness, but nothing like the Korean RPG waifus. Ain't nobody got anything on those.
In short, it'll make you wish it were sexy-time.
Big fan of Rebuild 3: http://rebuildgame.com/index.php
It's a nice zombie survival 4x, evolved from the earlier flash game on PC.
Damn all these games sound and look really good but they're all also 5 dollars each on the play store. I want to try these but I might have to wait and see!
I also enjoyed Rebuild 3 and played it quite a lot. Well worth the price.
I listed a bunch of games elsewhere in this thread, but one of them is free to try and I think it's an excellent game...
Outwitters
The sixth Bloons Tower Defense game came out yesterday, and I've been having fun with it. They're some of the best tower defense games around, if you ask me.
EDIT: See my review here!
I do like tower defense, so this could be a real treat. Thanks!
BTD5 was amazing and it's staggering how many free updates and maps they added over the years.
Indeed. I really hope they continue that trend!
One thing to note is that during gameplay, a blurb pops up that says to check in for new features, and they name several. But they don't name towers, which makes me worried we won't get any new ones! They already removed the Monkey Engineer for some reason, too.
Thanks for this! I knew it was due out but i had no idea when.
Super Hexagon is pretty old now, but it's very addictive if you like a challenge.
Game Dev Tycoon is available for Android and iPhone. I got a lot of enjoyment out of the Steam version.
What exactly do you do in this game? I'm not really a tycoon game gamer but it seems challenging and fun. I might check it out. Thanks.
The goal is to start out as a lone developer in your garage and eventually become a successful AAA game studio. It starts at the beginning of the industry and parallels the history all the way to modern systems like the Ninvento Swap. You need to keep improving your technology and releasing successful before you run out of money.
It even has a piracy mode with a hilarious history: When the game first released, the studio released a specially modified version on purate sites. This version would have pirates slowly start to eat away at your profits until it was unsustainable. Hilariously, pirates completely missed the irony and complained it was unbalanced.
Now they fully fleshed it out as an optional mode in the official release. You can do stuff like researching DRM to keep pace with the pirates. It's very hard, so I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner
Wow that sounds really intriguing. Definitely different than anything I've played before. I'm going to go ahead and test it out. If I hate it I'll come back and yell at you.
Haha, fair enough. I hope you like it.
I haven't played mobile games in a while so this is probably way outdated, but Bad Piggies was really memorable fun. It's an Angry Birds spinoff where you get parts and build a little vehicle for a piggy to try to get it across a level and to some eggs. If you enjoy physics games and like to exercise your creativity where there are many valid ways to solve a puzzle, it's a good time.
I'm not super into those types of games but thanks for the detailed submission!
This is a little different than what people have been suggesting, but you should check out Mystic Messenger
The description was definitely different. I'm not sure if that's in my wheelhouse but I'll try anything twice!
I just looked through all my iOS apps, and these are the ones I enjoyed the most...
Antihero
SteamWorld Heist
Card Crawl
Mini Metro
Human Resource Machine
Great Big War Game
Outwitters
I recently played through Gravity Defied Classic (F-Droid link), a physics game like Line Rider.
Great! I already have F-Droid, gonna check this out asap. Thank you.
The F-Droid version of this one is probably better, as it doesn't have the location permission (and doesn't have ads as far as I can tell, though they may just be getting blocked)
Minesweeper. Simple and effective. That's the only game I always have on my phone. Aside from that, I have a couple others right now:
Infinitode - Tower defense game with a fuck ton of upgrades. Can't put my finger on why it's so much fun. You can also make your own maps using special tiles, which adds another layer of strategy and planning if you want to do that. A second one is being worked on.
Solomon's Keep - Since you mentioned roguelikes, this is one I used to play a long time ago when iPod Touch was still a thing and iPhones were just coming out. Not particularly punishing, but I think it fits the genre. You play a mage going through a dungeon and get different spells/combination of spells and upgrades as you progress.
EDIT: Just realized I only linked to the Play Store, but both are available for iPhone.
It's okay I have an android so play store works for me! I'll definitely try out Solomons keep, but minesweeper definitely isn't for me. I guess I'm pickier than I thought!
Yea, it's not for everyone hah I like logic and the simplicity of the game. Plus, it's easy to pick up and play and it's quick too so I can play a game or two when I have a couple of minutes
Leo's fortune is the only mobile game I've enjoyed playing. It's not free but I definitely don't regret buying it.
Leo's Fortune! Thanks for reminding me about it. Gonna play that again :)
Looks like an interesting enough platformer. Thanks for the game suggestion!
A really good mobile game (from my experience so far) is Pako 2. Essentially, you are the getaway driver. You drive around town and pick up people and drop them off wherever they need to go, while dodging and destroying the ever-increasing horde of cop cars. You don't do the aiming manually, although there is a PC version (paid) as well, and you do aim manually in that one.
This has a really neat art style. Not what I was expecting. Thanks!
No problem! I recommend that as soon as you can, try to get the car called Buster. It has the same approximate speed as the Sedan, more health, and a better gun. You'll find your runs suddenly lasting much longer and getting more chaotic soon after.
N.O.V.A 3 is one of the best FPSes on mobile. It plays just like a mobile version of Halo. Nothing like how they are nowadays, with video ads and pay to win. If you’re going for something more CoD like, then try Modern Combat 4 (Not 5!).
And if you’ve played Pixel Dungeon, have you tried Stranger Things and Andor’s Tale? Very similar gameplay.
Galaxy on Fire 2 is a fun spaceship game.
Oh, and I’ve heard good things about Final Fantasy 15.
I remember finding Stranger Things to be needlessly frustrating, though it was pretty cute to play for a little bit. IIRC it was the movement that really annoyed me, and the fact that it's essentially impossible to deal with any ranged enemies without taking damage (and there are so few opportunities to refill on health, especially in the "overworld" between levels).
Okay I've got a lot to take in here! I'm not a mobile game aficionado so this might take me a while haha. Thank you!
I really like Potion Explosion. I used to love Ascension, but the game has gotten pretty buggy.
Thanks for the suggestion! I'm not positive I'll enjoy this one, it looks a little bit different than my desires from a game.
I don't play many mobile games, but one that I do keep coming back to is Hoplite, a small tactical roguelite game.
Xcom is on mobile?! I loved enemy unknown to death. Is it anything like that?
Wow this rules.
My favorite mobile games are the Taxman and Stealth remakes of Sonic 1 and 2. They're the best versions of those games, and they are free with ads, but you can pay $3 to remove them, but they aren't that intrusive. They're available on both iOS and Android.
Eternal is perhaps the fairest f2p card game, more in the style of mtg than hs.
Putthole - A fun, simple puzzle game that has adds and purchases, but both are optional for getting in game currency, which can be gotten easily with playtime and skill.
Cell Lab - A very complicated puzzle game where you design cells (what types they are and how the divide as they grow) to accomplish challenges.