How does one find high quality games on mobile? There's so much crap out there on the Play store, it's really hard to pick games. I don't care much about the genre or the price, I just want to play some high quality, low bullshit (no ads, spam, loot boxes, etc.) games.
Is there a website that curates games? What games do HN readers like?
The impossibility of finding good mobile games is why I develop desktop and console games. I have no idea how to get discovered in the soup of the mobile app stores and I don't want to build the kind of skinner's box it would take to compete alongside most of those games.
There are great mobile games out there, but I have no idea to find them except by accident.
It's so bad that something like 0.01% of mobile apps make back their investment costs[1]. This is, amazingly, far worse than the rate for indie games on desktop and consoles.
See: 80 days, Sorcery! (really, anything by Inkle), Universal Paperclips, VVVVVV (better on desktop though), and certain visual novels
I looked up Sorcerry! and it says I can't play it because my phone is too new. This is absurd that the game is already considered out of date, and kind of highlights your point about the difficult market.
I'd like 80 days except for one impossibly annoying thing (on desktop at least): It doesn't let me skip the overly long opening intro/credits/animation which plays on every game start.
Do you think that could be addressed by certification or curation? For example, an org that reviews mobile games and gives them a stamp if they’re not exploitative.
Maybe somebody will start a “real games” App Store on the other side of all this anti trust stuff.
> I have no idea how to get discovered in the soup of the mobile app stores
If a mobile version isn't too much work, some fans or prospective fans may stumble upon your desktop game and check if there is an android/iOS version.
On Android it is kind of fragmented (big surprise) but here are some strategies to filter a lot of the mobile monetization:
1) Play Pass - 1000+ Games/Apps with no ads or in-app purchases for $5/month or $2.50/month when bought yearly.
2) In the Play Store, Filter by Top Paid. Most Gacha games are free to play to get you in the door so immediately the Top Paid section has some great games like Minecraft, Bloons TD 6, Stardew Valley, Don't Starve, etc.
3) Open the "Play Games" app and scroll to the very bottom of the Home page where there should be a "Dive deeper" section. That section has a number of filters, notably including "Premium", "No Ads" and "No in-app Purchases". It only shows title cards before tapping so browsing it kind of sucks but at least you know you've gotten rid of the stuff you definitely don't want. It also has a "Trending" filter so you can see newer stuff as it comes out.
Most people are asking because that list is annoying almost the same year to year of games nobody needed help finding because they're already extraordinarily old or popular.
I don't really play mobile games. The one exception I have is chess. LiChess is a fantastic free app that has standard chess and a half a dozen different variations. Even has an offline mode where you can play the computer or play against someone locally on the same device.
The problem with mobile gaming today is that it's such a cash cow that everyone has jumped on the lootboxes/microtransactions bandwagon.
If you want no ads and high quality but want to play games on the go, buy a Switch.
> If you want no ads and high quality but want to play games on the go, buy a Switch.
Hardly comparable to a device you already own and also most likely always have with you. It's not a solution for many to carry a dedicated gaming device with them always, just in case they have 15 minutes they wanna play a small game.
Switch is a bit too much commitment. Mobile is too casual and becomes pay to win. I wish there was a middle ground, somewhere that PC games reside. It might just be the Steam Deck.
I want to play games for maybe 3-13 hours. There's a sweet spot with say, Kairosoft games, but mobile has long left this zone.
Nearly all mobile games are designed to get you addicted and then monetize you via micro transactions. IMO it’s better to just not participate in that form of gaming. I deleted all mobile games about 10 years ago after I found myself unable to regulate how much time I was spending on objectively stupid games like Pocket Frogs (basically you vs an RNG trying to breed and catch them all). I knew it was a low quality way to spend time, but still I would find myself there again multiple times per day because they baked time delays into the gameplay (unless you pay up, of course). I hope it’s the closest I’ll ever get to experiencing a gambling addiction, but it was so odd feeling like I had no control over it after a while. I had to delete everything and go cold turkey to get back control. I still enjoy a good console game now and then but it’s giving too much of my time and attention away to game developers letting that stupid stuff on my phone.
I have also pretty much left mobile gaming for several reasons.
But it's ridiculous and a real shame: I have a pocket computer that I'm already carrying 100% of the time, and whose capabilities would be a dream compared to what we had when I grew up with console and PC games in the 80s-90s... and I don't use it for gaming. I'd rather sit in front of a PC or Steam Deck... often to play an 80s or 90s game (although I also play newer stuff).
By the way, some of the few games that are worth it on mobile (as mentioned in other comments in the thread) are ports from other platforms or emulated games. But it feels silly to me to play those on mobile as it's clearly not the best platform for the job.
Netflix Games[1] have higher quality than usual and no ads, no in-app purchases, and no predatory tactics (in the games I tried). Bonus points for being all free if you already have a Netflix account.
I can vouch for Poinpy[2], Laya's Horizon[3], Lucky Luna[4], and Skies of Chaos[5]. I haven't tried the mobile ports, but the desktop versions were very good: Into the Breach[6], World of Good[7], and Kentucky Route Zero[8].
The downside is that some Netflix'ied games seem to be buggy, and it requires online connection on startup to check your account status.
I haved loved Netflix games. Stranger Things original game was absolutely amazing!
Unfortunately they've made them require a netflix subscription, and to enforce that they require online play. I play a lot when I'm on airplanes or in the mountains and don't have service, so this is a major downside to me.
If anything from netflix games is reading, please figure out a way to do like a "re-check every 30 days" kind of thing.
There's one publisher, "Yiotro", that I like to boost. I think it's just one eastern European guy who has published a dozen or so games. Pretty much no monetization, except for some enhanced versions of a couple of the games. I recommend Antiyoy, I've barely gone a day without playing it for years.
100% agree. This person's work is outstanding. No ads, no gimiks. Simple to learn, but fun to play. Some of the games have a paid version that can be purchased just to show support.
I mainly just install games from FDroid. There is obviously a much more limited selection but you can be fairly sure the ones that are there aren't malware or full of ads. Some personal favourites:
I think some of the best games I've found on the phone have been termux and connectbot. It's really fun to try to chain together as many jump boxes as possible and minimize latency or example.
My lowest score is 100ms latency for 17 jump boxes that travel across the circumference of the Earth's equator a couple times. It's fun to try out different crypto algorithms or different ssh programs, etc, but it would be nice to have a better organized leader board than just competing with friends.
Also, trying to get the smallest portable keyboard to have the most functionality and fastest typing speed is fun, but evaluating these 3 axes gets more difficult. Drawing the smallest square possible under the curve of number of jump boxes vs latency gives a decent metric for the jumpbox game, similar to the h-index.
Anyway, these are the best games I've seen. If anyone else has good games id love to hear them.
It's hard. Personally I've given up and I just carry my Steam Deck with me if I'm going somewhere that I might have some down time. If I don't have it, I'll read HN or news or something on my phone rather than play a game.
That said, I've had pretty good luck by looking at the Play store "Top Paid" list of games. The worst of the offenders allow you to play for "free" so won't be in that list. I've also had good luck by finding games on Steam that have Android ports. They tend to be higher quality.
MiniReview is a pretty good source of info. The YouTube channel post reviews of a handful of new games pretty frequently, and occasionally publishes "best of" sort of videos with some of his favorites.
And then the app is basically the same content, just easier to sort and whatnot.
Beyond that, as a general rule of thumb, games that are ports from other platforms have a much better chance of being high quality. Dead Cells, Horizon Chase, Streets of Rage 4, and Chrono Trigger all fit the bill. Also, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge and Into the Breach, although you need a Netflix subscription to play them.
I mostly play on android, so I'm not sure how many of these are available on iOS. I know FTL: Faster than Light has a great port that's iPad-only.
Frankly, I've just given up. It's just heaps upon heaps of utter trash. Every time something just slightly nice is made, it is quickly drowned out by the 1000s of clones are almost always much worse and full of ads and microtransactions.
There's a handful of games that are good on mobile - Bloons Tower Defense 6 comes to mind (does have micro transactions but they can be easily avoided to be honest)
But the fact that you can get Retro
Arch and play any game from like the PS2 and older is amazing
If you get a controller like the Razer Kishi for example you can have a Switch-like experience
I've yet to try it, but I was gonna play Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask using my phone and Retro Arch
I get Apple Arcade through my Apple One subscription. I am an happy customer, but also to be honest not much of a gamer. You won't get AAA titles on it (or even a large selection of titles).
If you're like me then Apple Arcade is a great service, but YMMV.
Oftentimes the games are just cleaned up versions of their microtransaction-ridden originators, bearing the same incentivisation mechanics just without having to pay money. So that's pointless then.
There are a handful of mobile ports of desktop games which are fine, like Hearthstone if you're into that. It plays ok on a phone.
But mostly they don't exist. And I'm convinced the root cause is that a tiny touchscreen is an awful medium for nontrivial games. You can make a tiny screen work with a controller, and you can make other types of games with a big touchscreen where you can present lots of information, but the combination is so restrictive that it's just not worth the trouble of competing with the heaps of F2P garbage.
[+] [-] barbariangrunge|2 years ago|reply
There are great mobile games out there, but I have no idea to find them except by accident.
It's so bad that something like 0.01% of mobile apps make back their investment costs[1]. This is, amazingly, far worse than the rate for indie games on desktop and consoles.
See: 80 days, Sorcery! (really, anything by Inkle), Universal Paperclips, VVVVVV (better on desktop though), and certain visual novels
[1] https://www.startupgrind.com/blog/9999-in-10000-mobile-apps-...
[+] [-] moritonal|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yyyk|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pbronez|2 years ago|reply
Maybe somebody will start a “real games” App Store on the other side of all this anti trust stuff.
[+] [-] antifa|2 years ago|reply
If a mobile version isn't too much work, some fans or prospective fans may stumble upon your desktop game and check if there is an android/iOS version.
[+] [-] pipes|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] enragedcacti|2 years ago|reply
1) Play Pass - 1000+ Games/Apps with no ads or in-app purchases for $5/month or $2.50/month when bought yearly.
2) In the Play Store, Filter by Top Paid. Most Gacha games are free to play to get you in the door so immediately the Top Paid section has some great games like Minecraft, Bloons TD 6, Stardew Valley, Don't Starve, etc.
3) Open the "Play Games" app and scroll to the very bottom of the Home page where there should be a "Dive deeper" section. That section has a number of filters, notably including "Premium", "No Ads" and "No in-app Purchases". It only shows title cards before tapping so browsing it kind of sucks but at least you know you've gotten rid of the stuff you definitely don't want. It also has a "Trending" filter so you can see newer stuff as it comes out.
[+] [-] antifa|2 years ago|reply
Most people are asking because that list is annoying almost the same year to year of games nobody needed help finding because they're already extraordinarily old or popular.
[+] [-] NickC25|2 years ago|reply
The problem with mobile gaming today is that it's such a cash cow that everyone has jumped on the lootboxes/microtransactions bandwagon.
If you want no ads and high quality but want to play games on the go, buy a Switch.
[+] [-] capableweb|2 years ago|reply
Hardly comparable to a device you already own and also most likely always have with you. It's not a solution for many to carry a dedicated gaming device with them always, just in case they have 15 minutes they wanna play a small game.
[+] [-] muzani|2 years ago|reply
I want to play games for maybe 3-13 hours. There's a sweet spot with say, Kairosoft games, but mobile has long left this zone.
[+] [-] jurassic|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Al-Khwarizmi|2 years ago|reply
But it's ridiculous and a real shame: I have a pocket computer that I'm already carrying 100% of the time, and whose capabilities would be a dream compared to what we had when I grew up with console and PC games in the 80s-90s... and I don't use it for gaming. I'd rather sit in front of a PC or Steam Deck... often to play an 80s or 90s game (although I also play newer stuff).
By the way, some of the few games that are worth it on mobile (as mentioned in other comments in the thread) are ports from other platforms or emulated games. But it feels silly to me to play those on mobile as it's clearly not the best platform for the job.
[+] [-] BoppreH|2 years ago|reply
I can vouch for Poinpy[2], Laya's Horizon[3], Lucky Luna[4], and Skies of Chaos[5]. I haven't tried the mobile ports, but the desktop versions were very good: Into the Breach[6], World of Good[7], and Kentucky Route Zero[8].
The downside is that some Netflix'ied games seem to be buggy, and it requires online connection on startup to check your account status.
[1]: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/121442
[2]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netflix.NG...
[3]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netflix.NG...
[4]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netflix.NG...
[5]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netflix.NG...
[6]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netflix.NG...
[7]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netflix.NG...
[8]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netflix.NG...
[+] [-] freedomben|2 years ago|reply
Unfortunately they've made them require a netflix subscription, and to enforce that they require online play. I play a lot when I'm on airplanes or in the mountains and don't have service, so this is a major downside to me.
If anything from netflix games is reading, please figure out a way to do like a "re-check every 30 days" kind of thing.
[+] [-] nop_slide|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] julienfr112|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] moritonal|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kbelder|2 years ago|reply
Very simple, abstracted games.
[+] [-] TrueSlacker0|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] NoboruWataya|2 years ago|reply
- Shattered Pixel Dungeon (Roguelike)
- Feudal Tactics (simply turn-based strategy game)
- Mindustry (tower defence/resource collection)
- Lexica (find words in a grid)
- Freebloks (fill a grid with blocks)
- OMW (OpenMW for Android - need Morrowind data files)
- Simple Solitaire Collection (plenty of solitaire card games)
- Unciv (Civilization clone)
[+] [-] j_4|2 years ago|reply
Not directly affiliated but my own game has been featured on there.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=minireview.bes...
[+] [-] chaxor|2 years ago|reply
My lowest score is 100ms latency for 17 jump boxes that travel across the circumference of the Earth's equator a couple times. It's fun to try out different crypto algorithms or different ssh programs, etc, but it would be nice to have a better organized leader board than just competing with friends.
Also, trying to get the smallest portable keyboard to have the most functionality and fastest typing speed is fun, but evaluating these 3 axes gets more difficult. Drawing the smallest square possible under the curve of number of jump boxes vs latency gives a decent metric for the jumpbox game, similar to the h-index.
Anyway, these are the best games I've seen. If anyone else has good games id love to hear them.
[+] [-] HL33tibCe7|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] freedomben|2 years ago|reply
That said, I've had pretty good luck by looking at the Play store "Top Paid" list of games. The worst of the offenders allow you to play for "free" so won't be in that list. I've also had good luck by finding games on Steam that have Android ports. They tend to be higher quality.
A few games that are awesome:
1. Radiant by HEXAGE (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.hexage.rad...)
2. Oceanhorn by FDG Entertainment (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.FDGEnterta...)
3. Stardew Valley by ConcernedApe (though I much prefer playing this on Steam Deck) (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chucklefis...)
[+] [-] aaronax|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nfriedly|2 years ago|reply
And then the app is basically the same content, just easier to sort and whatnot.
https://www.youtube.com/@NimbleThor & https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=minireview.bes...
Beyond that, as a general rule of thumb, games that are ports from other platforms have a much better chance of being high quality. Dead Cells, Horizon Chase, Streets of Rage 4, and Chrono Trigger all fit the bill. Also, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge and Into the Breach, although you need a Netflix subscription to play them.
I mostly play on android, so I'm not sure how many of these are available on iOS. I know FTL: Faster than Light has a great port that's iPad-only.
[+] [-] e145bc455f1|2 years ago|reply
https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=917027538178232838...
[+] [-] offsky|2 years ago|reply
My site to track games with dark patterns and those without.
[+] [-] IceDane|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] emehex|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] WASDx|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Kelteseth|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] usbakimbo|2 years ago|reply
There's a handful of games that are good on mobile - Bloons Tower Defense 6 comes to mind (does have micro transactions but they can be easily avoided to be honest)
But the fact that you can get Retro Arch and play any game from like the PS2 and older is amazing
If you get a controller like the Razer Kishi for example you can have a Switch-like experience
I've yet to try it, but I was gonna play Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask using my phone and Retro Arch
Should work well
[+] [-] andsoitis|2 years ago|reply
Not sure why they don't do anything for Android (you mentioned "the Play store"). But perhaps the answer to that question also answers your question.
[+] [-] loganc2342|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Apreche|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] qsort|2 years ago|reply
If you're like me then Apple Arcade is a great service, but YMMV.
[+] [-] laserdancepony|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tonmoy|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] arun-mani-j|2 years ago|reply
A few games I used to play during lockdown (no P2W and zero to very little ads):
1. Adventure Quest 3D
2. Critical Ops: Multiplayer FPS
3. Payback 2 - The Battle Sandbox (turn off internet to disable ads)
(I know you didn't ask for games but sources to find such games, but still sharing so as it may help someone :) )
Some thoughts:
1. Indie developer games or paid games often have a good quality
2. You might try gaming console emulators to play the console games on your phone (the old ones) but yea - it involves legal issues
[+] [-] TillE|2 years ago|reply
But mostly they don't exist. And I'm convinced the root cause is that a tiny touchscreen is an awful medium for nontrivial games. You can make a tiny screen work with a controller, and you can make other types of games with a big touchscreen where you can present lots of information, but the combination is so restrictive that it's just not worth the trouble of competing with the heaps of F2P garbage.
[+] [-] throw9away6|2 years ago|reply