How do you find high quality mobile games?

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

[1] https://www.startupgrind.com/blog/9999-in-10000-mobile-apps-...

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.

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.

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.

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.

[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...

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.

Very simple, abstracted games.

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:

- 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)

MiniReview is a game curation app/platform that does a very good job of surfacing interesting and non-predatory stuff.

Not directly affiliated but my own game has been featured on there.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=minireview.bes...

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.

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...)

I pick one from this list: https://nobsgames.stavros.io/android/

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.

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.

I recommend kingdom rush series from ironhide. Its the best tower defense game i've ever played.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=917027538178232838...

https://www.darkpattern.games/

My site to track games with dark patterns and those without.

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.

Emulators can be used to play old console games.

Metacritic does iOS games reviews: https://www.metacritic.com/game/ios

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.

Pay for Apple Arcade. Games in there are guaranteed not to have ads, spam, or microtransactions.

I don't know about high quality but I'm also part of the group who are disappointed by how mobile games these days are simply Pay 2 Win or ads filled.

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

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.

It does not seems to appear in comments yet and maybe it is a bit out of context but android devices nowdays streams almost perfectly services like geforce (video hardware acceleration is a basic feature on phones) now and it is relativiely easy to setup a proper moonlight / sunshine as android client / remote home gaming pc to get "on premise cloud gaming" .

As some other comments says pc games have way better quality and infinitely less ad / bloat / pay to win shit that is the norm on android (and maybe a large part of ios games). There is also a huge game choice for these platforms that supports very well gamepad controls.

These systems are not perfect as they require a "descent internet connection " and a physical gamepad (imo) to have a decent mobile gaming experience. So it.may not fit the case "I want to play games lost in alaska".

Note however that the required connection has argably quite low expectations like ~3 mbps bandwidth and average and less than 150 ms latency to run smoothly with basic resolution (480p). This can be enough on a phone device standard size.

All of this let you play any pc game / retro gaming with possibly high end game renderings for decent hardware / saas prices. (You run games with with small resolution because it targets a phone screen so hardware can compute extra visual effect for a cool rendering on phone)

Word of mouth is the best way I've found, honestly.

I'll shill for OrnaRPG. Its a gps linked game ala PokemonGo, but you pick a class and level up by fighting slimes, elves, golems, thieves, and whatever else you come across on your wanderings. In classic sprite graphics. Think old school FF or DQ.

As you level more class options become available. You're never locked down a given path, you can freely changes classes whenever you want. The world has zones you can take and hold for income (often held by level 200+ folks who play too much, unless you happen to be more rural), you can build a village with different structures in it providing different services, otherwise you have to walk about and find e.g. a blacksmith.

Microtransactions primarily are skins to change the spire of your character, or buy the dev a coffee. There are one or two packs of potions you can buy if you get stuck, but IIRC they are limited to being bought once.

If you're into 90ies style economic simulations, with a nice retro look also, look for Kairosoft games: https://apps.apple.com/mt/developer/kairosoft-co-ltd/id38147... https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=771063777790482528...

I especially liked their earlier games: Game Dev Story, Grand Prix Story, Dungeon Village

Replayability is limited after a while, but you will have fun for a couple of hours.

On iOS - subscribe to Apple Arcade.

Those are the only games guaranteed not to have in-app purchases nonsense.

Aside from that, there are very few where you pay once and play forever without ads.

You’d have to pay money. Monetization heavily favors mictrotransactions and are built around the most abusive Skinner box concepts. The Asian market is well known to spend high rates on IAP letting terrible games earn 100s of millions.

Subreddits like r/iosgaming should be a good starting point.

Maybe I'm just old school, but I think games ported over from older PC titles (Kotor, Baldur's Gate, etc.) seem to be generally higher quality and not full of gambling spam. Here's one random list: https://www.thegamer.com/mobile-ports-games-best-ranked/#son...

That or just forget mobile native games, add a controller (Xbox controller or a mobile phone one like Razer's) and use GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud Streaming to play real console games. On a reasonable connection it's actually great, and feels like a small Steam Deck.

Mindustry is an excellent tower defense, Factorio-like game. It's a little tricky to play without a mouse but is very polished. Then there's Shattered Pixel Dungeon, a fun turn-based roguelike RPG. Both are FOSS.

All of my favorite high quality mobile games are desktop games that got ported. The ones I play the most are [1]Baba is you, [2]Into the Breach (requires a Netflix account), [3]20 Minutes Till Dawn, and [4]Vampire Survivors. Granted I'm not a mobile power gamer by any means, I usually only pull these out when forced to wait an extended period of time for something.

1: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/baba-is-you/id1517281887?platf...

2: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/into-the-breach/id1616542180

3: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/20-minutes-till-dawn/id1635123...

4: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vampire-survivors/id6444525702

Two of the best mobile games I've ever played are: Total Party Kill & Heart Star. Simple platform puzzlers done very well. Pay to remove ads (if you want) and then there's a bunch of levels, you beat them and the game is done - felt a lot like a good NES/SNES game does.

Total Party Kill (iOS) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/total-party-kill/id1462538547

Heart Star (iOS) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/heart-star/id1159003700

Total Party Kill (Android) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adventurei...

Heart Star (Android) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adventurei...

New Star Games is a great little indy games publisher with multiple titles for Android and iOS. My favorite is Retro Bowl [1], a fun little retro-style American football game. They also make Retro Goal [2], a football/soccer game. There are some IAPs, but they are mainly used to unlock the full game and are very reasonably priced.

[1] https://www.newstargames.com/servlet/Content/en/text/release...

[2] https://www.newstargames.com/servlet/Content/en/text/release...

Edit: Formatting

- Look for open source games, via FDroid or GitHub.

- Look for games that also exist on PC/Console.

- Use app curation apps and reputable 3rd party game reviewers.

I hate to drop the later two recommendations without examples, but I am kinda out of the the Android gaming scene, and I can't find the services I used before (IIRC Apptopia and some Steam/Android cross reference website).

It's the same for me in the Mac App Store. There seems to be only iOS shovelware crap in the Games section. And the Apple Arcade games are mostly 'cleaned up' versions of the F2P games e.g. no more microtransaction currency to buy, but the boring mechanics to incentivise buying them are still there.

I had more luck on 3rd-party sites like itch.

Honestly this is one of the reasons I just flat out gave up on mobile gaming. Every game I see nowadays is the same mouth-agape icon with screenshots that have nothing to do with the game. The play store I'm guessing is optimizing for in app purcahses rather than finding me games I would play, which is a real shame. I periodically try and take a look there, filtering for only paid games and sorting by rating, but the results are rarely good. Also it seems like the top spots don't change for years.

The other reason is that I'm the type of guy who likes to play strategy or factory games (think Civ, Starcraft, Factorio or Satisfactory) and I just don't think those types of games can ever translate well to mobile.

Shovelware has certain traits because it wants to get your money so bad, and that makes it easy to avoid. There is the default shovelware UI look (skeumorphic and performative - not a lot of substance but very flashy, lots of emphasis on graphic design and little on content), the default shovelware sounds in trailers, and the default shovelware design ideas that come up again and again. These things are palatable to the vastest possible majority of people, so they are a sign of shovelware to be avoided.

Another sign of shovelware is that it tries to sell itself to you too much, or please you too much. Like a good people pleaser person, usually there are ulterior motives. This includes games that are way too easy and much too rewarding, fake trailers and key art that looks unreasonably good for a mobile game, use of IP-adjacent words (Great Mafia Auto: Miami) and so on.

In contrast, games I like will have complexity and it will usually be clear from their key art and trailers that losing is very possible, and some mastery is expected. For example, Zachtronics Soilitaire, Mini Motorways, Osmos, Elevate, and so on. Looping back to the first paragraph, these games also have UX and game design that is very different from the shovelware bunch.

I pick PC games the same way - if they are very heavily advertised but it's the same formula that has been done a million times and they don't offer much on top, I'll pass it. And if it's too hand-holding, I will pass it, too. There are games that are made to be extremely easy to consume and sweet on their players, and nothing else. Where all the game design (or incremental game design since the last release in the franchise) went to make it appeal to people more and not to offer anything new.

Games can be like refined sugar - very sweet when you eat it and triggering strong cravings when you're about to buy it; but after you've eaten it, you realize you've consumed trash. Nowadays, I like the games that have little bit more to them than just excessive player-pleasing (player service) as a form of extracting money at the fastest rate possible from as many people as remotely feasible.

So how do you find high quality games? Don't buy what's begging to be bought. Buy what's good on game design terms.

I don't have a great resource but I can recommend Polytopia and Rebel Inc, two games that are fun on mobile and don't have the predatory skinner box practices that so many games seem to have.

I don't have the answer, but wish I did. I play zero mobile games these days for this specific reason. But here are a couple that I enjoyed in the past. I don't know anything about Corroding Games, but Box Fox is fantastic. If there was a way to filter to find stuff like this, I might try playing on my phone again: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Corroding+ga...

I'm a sucker for Kairosoft simulations. They cost between $4-7, New Game + is always fun, and they're all fairly similar, so there's a comfort in the routine.

I don’t know. I often look on Reddit but am often still unhappy with the results.

I don’t like that the rich potential of this platform and hardware is often wasted for cheap upsells

Recommendations from /v/. Not the most up to date, but a solid list

https://vsrecommendedgames.miraheze.org/wiki/IOS

https://vsrecommendedgames.miraheze.org/wiki/Android

I like idle games and I think something like r/incremental_games have been an excellent source for it. Since Reddit is dying, a lot of the community have moved to Discord.

There's definitely demand for a curation site; I wonder why we haven't really seen any. Maybe the kind of people who would write articles ended up streaming? Game reviews were definitely a thing back when I was a kid.

A few games I've played and liked the most are Badland, Machinarium, Rocket League SideSwipe, Call of Duty Mobile, games by Yiotro, games on fdroid store, Shadow Fight 2, Monument Valley, Backfire, Terraria, Leo's Fortune, Bombsquad, Puzzles by Simon Tatham, Shadow of Naught, Vector amd Wormster Dash. Note that these are of vastly different genres so look that up and game on.

Remember that they are making billions on the top grossing games. They can afford to throw around hundreds of millions on marketing.

The search results in app stores, Google, or whatever else, are always going to end up drowned in marketing efforts.

When YouYubers or streamers recommend mobile games now, people simply don't believe them. They assume they're either getting paid, or making a joke.

It’s a bit old but still running: Touch Arcade^ has a good mix of deep dives and “out this week” with a pretty active forum for new mobile (iOS and android) and switch games.

I still find myself at least considering the weekly features or looking at what they curate for “out this week”.

^ https://toucharcade.com/

As a sister comment says, the least bad automated option I have found is going to the Play Games app, scrolling to the bottom, and filtering by Paid, No Adds and No IAP. You can also filter by genre.

But to be honest, the very few mobile games I have found in the last few years have been through asking in forums, saying what I like, and getting answers from humans.

One way to find high-quality mobile games is by checking user reviews and ratings on app stores. You can also explore gaming communities, online forums, or social media groups to get recommendations and insights from fellow gamers. Happy gaming!

I just play Super Auto Pets. But I honestly can't even say where I found it, someone must have recommended it to me.

I've been finding games by watching the @RealCivilEngineerGaming YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@RealCivilEngineerGaming). It let's me see what the game looks like, and his taste in games works really well for me.

I found these by searching and exploring and in my opinion they are good games for mobile (Android):

* Retro Bowl and others by the same dev * Rusted Warfare for an RTS. * Spent many hours on Andors Trail before reaching the current end * Euclidea is fun if you are geometrically inclined

All these found through browsing and searching.

Board game adaptations tend to be good. I can vouch for Through the Ages.

Also, King of Dragon Pass and Six Ages: Ride like the wind.

Rule of thumb: if it's a paid game where in-app purchases are limited to expansions, it's possibly good. If it's free to play with ads or microtransactions: it's garbage.

Shattered Pixel Dungeon is a great rogue-like! Available for iOS, Android, and on Steam. One-time purchase.

I hate to say this, but Apple Arcade is pretty nice in that regard, all the games are pretty curated.

You can try https://www.taptap.com/ I found many niche but amazing games on this website, and the community ratings are also highly reliable.

I'm kind of amazed no one has tried making a games database site for either google play or apple in the same spirit as https://steamdb.info

I know the answer won't help you, but - from friends recommendations.

If they recommend something great you wouldn't hear otherwise, that's good, and if the game is bad - well, you still have something to talk about

I hope you've heard of Clash of clans. It does have in-app purchases but its only to boost the progress really. I don't know if there are ads in it, as I use DNS based adblockers to avoid ads and trackers.

Look for app versions of board games. boardgamegeek.com

> What games do HN readers like?

Nethack or ported versions of older games (just finished Planescape: Torment, what a ride!)

I'm kind of amazed something like the steamdb.info site doesn't exist for any mobile game store.

Try these two: 1. Duet Game - Hypnotic Trance Experience (dev: Kumobius) 2. Mekorama - by Martin Magni

Pixel Dungeon and its forks are pretty good. I'm partial to Yet Another Pixel Dungeon myself.

Not much help for Android, but I love Apple Arcade. Great selection now, and no freemium nonsense.

Other people, especially my teen son. Would never have discovered Polytopia were it not for him.

Retro Bowl is a fun distraction.

Ingress and Resources Game. The rest is adware riddled garbage

DS and Game Boy Advance emulators so I can play pokemon games.

Anything by Zach Gage… knotwords is a new favorite right now!

Battle for wesnoth :)

Usually luck. Try Alien Isolation on iOS.

I have just made an account after quite a while as an occasional reader because I feel the answers here to be lacking. Presumably you're all reasonable folk and just don't have the same experiences as me, so I'll share. I saw one other person mentioning it - hey, to that person.

There is an actual answer to your first question - only use software from F-droid. It's the opposite experience to the "Play Store"; they actually have your interests at heart. All software I've added to my Android device comes from the F-droid repositories - my Android isn't connected to any Google account, I deleted and disabled all system software I could - and they've got some totally wonderful games too.

The worst I've experienced is downloading a game and then it not being a great game, or a bit buggy, and then deleting it. It's a far less common experience than the game at least working and being testable, and anyway, this is fa-aa-ar better than having no idea if there'll be random pop-ups and ads and tricks and nonsense at any time.

Examples:

+ Puzzles :: 39 single-player logic games. I've brushed off a few of these only, but I went through an absolute love-affair with Net. Don't judge me until you've gotten an under 3-minute score on the wrapped 11x11 board. I'm thrilled even to get to lay down that gauntlet on a public forum, it was days of painstaking tile-sliding.

+ Cards with Cats :: I love the card game "hearts" and am a relatively strong human player, and I have to play my absolute best or else the cats lick me. There's "spades" also but I've never played the game.

+ TIC-80 :: I was so shocked no-one mentioned TIC-80 in particular... It's a sleeping giant here. There are loads of games, it's an absolute gold mine, I wouldn't know where to begin! It's "a free and open source fantasy computer for making, playing and sharing tiny games". You can code your own games and graphics in Lua and get involved, it's very easy.

+ Pixel Wheels :: This is a top-down retro car racing game. The business. The feel of the motion is weird for ten minutes, then you get it, and suddenly you're zooming around like a nutjob putting in gold medal performances.

And various others I will eventually get around to trying hopefully, which maybe someone else has played and can add their experience on, such as:

-- AAAAXY, a "nonlinear 2D puzzle platformer taking place in impossible spaces"

-- Battle for Wesnoth, a "turn-based strategy game with a high fantasy theme"

-- Chip Defense, a "tower defense game with a microprocessor theme"

-- Endless Sky, a "space trading game"

And on and on. In summary, ditch the Play Store and get F-droid if you want high quality games with no ads, spam, loot boxes, and other nuisances.

Contradiction in terms.

This is the best place i think https://www.reddit.com/r/iosgaming/