Legit Good Mobile Games

[Becksworth]

Considering the latest generation of retro handhelds all seem Android based, now seems like a good time for a non Gacha mobile game recommendation thread because boy howdy are the user reviews and store recommendations on Google Play and the Apple App Store completely unhelpful. I'll probably be focusing on stuff that plays well with a controller, but feel free to recommend games meant for a phone too. Starting with some basic ones...

The Christian Whitehead ports of Sonic 1, 2, & CD are what I consider the definitive versions of those games.

Dig around on the interwebs and you can find an Android port of AM2R.

I hear good about the Symphony of the Night port, and it's cheap. Conversely, I also hear not quite as good about the Bloodstained port, but it is cheaper than the other ports.

 

[MetManMas]

Some of the things on Android:

Dragon Quests 1-6 and 8
Most of the late 90s/early aughts Black Isle (and sometimes BioWare) Dungeons & Dragons cRPGs
Adventures of Mana
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
Final Fantasy Tactics: WotL
Legend of Mana (might want a controller for this though)
Whole lot of SaGa games (more or less depending on the age of your phone)
I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream
A Gabriel Knight 1 remake (In-app purchases, but that's just to buy the rest of the game; YMMV on the recasting)
KOTOR 1 & 2

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

I have played in the past and enjoyed: Goblin Sword, Wayward Souls, Polytopia. It's obscene that the app store advertises top "free" games but not top games where you can specifically only spend a limited amount of money.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Forget-Me-Not always deserves a mention in a conversation like this. I don't play mobile games very often- there are plenty of handheld game systems that are better suited to the task- but Forget-Me-Not is both conceptually brilliant and works surprisingly well without tactile input. Imagine a weird hybrid of Pac-Man and Berzerk where you're always firing, and thus present a threat to yourself if there aren't walls to block your shots. Various abstract creatures roam the neon-lined halls, each with their own abilities and behavior patterns. You can either fire at them (safest) or run into them (not safe at all, but you could win a melee battle if you have enough hearts to survive the constant biting). You can also scrape against nearby walls to pick up static electricity... do this long enough and you become invincible, steamrolling anything in your path. Do it TOO long and the static charge will make you explode, forcing you to find a proper balance.

Games of Forget-Me-Not generally work out like this: you clear two or three stages easy-peasy, snapping up all the flowers, then grabbing the key that opens the door to the next stage. Then the next stage throws in a couple of new enemies or an odd stage layout, and each subsequent stage builds on that momentum until you're dropped into a massive maze where six to eight enemies are all doing their own thing, sometimes getting into fights with each other but always making your survival more difficult. You'll get cornered by an aggressive red-striped square that bites harder than the rest, or be penned in by a caterpillar that spawns heads faster than you can kill them, or nick a bomb creature with a shot, which not only ignites it but makes it chase after you, ensuring your doom. Then you let out a swear word and start the game all over again.

One thing that left me sour about the failure of the Vita is that the designer of Forget-Me-Not was going to make the sequel for that system, but obviously had second thoughts when the Vita crashed and burned. I don't know what he's doing now, but I do know the Forget-Me-Not guy appeared as a guest in the more popular indie game Crossy Road.

 

[Mogri]

Much of the Phoenix Wright series is available for mobile, though not at the usual mobile discount.

Super Auto Pets was my GOTY for 2021.

 

[Olli]

Seconding Super Auto Pets. It seems really basic at first, but the emergent mechanics are really deep. After several weeks, I still haven't managed to win more than maybe 6 matches out of 10 in Arena mode, which seems to indicate that a full win is still far away.

Also, I regret buying FFT: WotL for the phone. It was kind of pricey and it may be ok on a tablet with a controller, or if you're intimately familiar with the UI already, but I found it was just too frustrating to get anything done on a phone. Butterfingering around in the menus is just not productive.

 

[FelixSH]

There are some grear puzzle games. I might write a bit mire later, but for now, I just want to drop the names Snakebird, Transmission, Bomb Club and Mekorama. All fun, good stuff, and ideal for controlling them with your fingers.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Would any wireless controller work with a phone or iPad, or would the existing Xbox controllers I have not cut the mustard for that job?

Also;

Grindstone (draw a line through multi coloured critters to bash them up, then trade their bashed remains for more stuff to better facilitate Creep Bashing) and Roundgard (an RPG where those letters stand for “Roguelite Peggle? Gee-whiz!”) are both enough to justify the cost of Apple Arcade all on their own.

Slay the Spire remains the single best deckbuilder RPG I’ve ever played

Meteorfall is the second best, however; and it’s even easier to play one handed while walking the dog.

PunchQuest is an auto-scrolling beat ‘em up where your a beefy dude/lady who has to run through a Castlevania, pounding the hell out of everything inside. It is FTP, but pay for the Ad free, Punch Doubler anyway as it’s otherwise an interminable slog and the game is totally worth it

Solitairica is solitaire and roguelite and really hard to put down and the only game I have that can rival Meteorfall in terms of One Handed Dog Walk Occupier

Pac-Man 256 might be my favorite Pac Man game overall? Definitely in the top 2, at least

 

[JBear]

I haven't played it, but a lot of folks seem to like Genshin Impact quite a lot.

 

[Olli]

Nonogram Galaxy is a pretty good Picross clone. It has a huge amount of content; my only complaint is that it gets too difficult for my skill level around Galaxy 7. The touch controls are occasionally a bit wonky, but I don't see how it could be much better given the nature of the game.

 

[MetManMas]

Also, I regret buying FFT: WotL for the phone. It was kind of pricey and it may be ok on a tablet with a controller, or if you're intimately familiar with the UI already, but I found it was just too frustrating to get anything done on a phone. Butterfingering around in the menus is just not productive.

If it helps at all, there's an option you can turn on that allows you to press a confirm button to confirm the choice you've highlighted instead of tapping.

 

[ThornGhost]

I'll second both Polytopia and Solitairica mentioned up thread. Polytopia is great stripped down Civ-alike that, at least when I played, only required the purchase of a single expansion civ at $1 to unlock a full, ad-free experience. Solitairica is a deck building, rogue-lite, solitaire battle game which is as wonderful and weird as it sounds.

Shortyz is a good, free crossword app that pulls in free daily crosswords from various sources (but not the NYT unless you have a sub) and you can play them offline or whenever.

Desert Golfing and its sequel, Golf on Mars are endless, minimal, contemplative golf-em-ups with no particular long-term goals beyond those you set yourself. Highly recommended.

DATA WING is another true freebie, a top-down cyber racer where you Tokyo drift while an AI yells at you.

 

[Violentvixen]

I quite liked Armello although I've heard it's better on non-mobile platforms.

 

[Alex]

Any of the inkle games are really good, 80 Days is one of my favorites, Sorcery! 1-4 are also really good.

 

[Patrick]

On iOS, I'm a fan of:

Good Sudoku It's just Sudoku. Zach Gage made it, so it's super thoughtful and has great features. I spend a ton of time playing this.

Race for the Galaxy My only complaint is that they haven't added the Alien Artifacts expansion yet. I alternate between the base game and Base + The Gathering Storm.

Dominion (beta) Made by the same developers as above. Both have AIs by Keldon Jones. I'll probably pick up a few expansions for this once it releases.

Swap Sword It's a match 3 puzzle game, but you control a Samurai on the board who is trying to find the exit door. If you match enough keys the door appears. Also, there are enemies and you gain special powers that consume mana.

Desert Golfing Yeah, it's the most simple golf game, and it just goes on forever. If you like video game golf it's great.

Solitaire just what it says on the tin.

Mini Metro You have to construct train lines while dealing with increased ridership and terminals. The visual design and controls are really slick.

Konami Pixel Puzzle It's picross.

Deleted games that I enjoyed:

Spirit Island I prefer the physical game, but it's a great tutorial.

Card Crawl A neat little combat card game.

Dragon Quest Works well on mobile

Part Time UFO A wonderful little Nintendo game built for phones.

XCOM A faithful port of one of my favorite games. Great to be able to play it on the train, but it killed my battery.

Ridiculous Fishing Another Zach Gage game.

 

[Beowulf]

If you're looking for shovelware jrpgs, I've played far too many KEMCO games and have Opinions. That said, in terms of puzzle and casual games:

10000000 (and the sequel You Must Build A Boat) are a speed match-3 playstyle.
Triple Town and Gemcrafter: Puzzle Journey are different takes on the "match three items to upgrade them" style of game.
Weapons Throwing RPG 2 is an action-tappy game where you throw weapons and try to counter/cancel the ones being thrown at you.
Monument Valley has a clever set of puzzles.
Alphabears (and Alphabears 2) are fun word-making games with cute power-up bears.

I've never been the best with touchscreen controls for action games (I liked Adventures of Mana but found the controls frustrating) but found bit Dungeon II remarkably playable. It's a 2D zeldalike with some roguelike elements.

 

[Pajaro Pete]

what are some good mobile games that don't require constantly connecting to a server

 

[Sprite]

Nonogram Galaxy is a pretty good Picross clone. It has a huge amount of content; my only complaint is that it gets too difficult for my skill level around Galaxy 7. The touch controls are occasionally a bit wonky, but I don't see how it could be much better given the nature of the game.

Konami Pixel Puzzle is probably my favorite nonogram game I’ve played on mobile. It has a little jingle and sparkly animation every time you finish a line which is deeply satisfying.

I’ve been playing Hungry Cat Picross pretty religiously, and gladly paid the small fee to remove ads. It’s not traditional Picross, more color-based, but it tickles the same part of the brain.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Mobile-first games:

I'll second Solitairica, Grindstone and Mini Metro. The Super Stickman Golf games are also really fun, as is Flipflop Solitaire, which is probably my favorite Zach Gage game. Donut County is also delightful, if fairly short. Of course, the game that I've spent the most time on is the New York Times Crossword app, if you count that.

Ports of games:

Seconding the Ace Attorney and XCOM: Enemy Within ports, both of which are excellent and play great on the phone. You can also play motherfuckin' GHOST TRICK: PHANTOM DETECTIVE on your (Apple) phone, and it's a decent port to boot.

 

[Violentvixen]

I forgot one, Kitty Letter from the Oatmeal. Fun free word game.

what are some good mobile games that don't require constantly connecting to a server

This is very good question.

 

[Exposition Owl]

Monument Valley and its sequel are gorgeous, fun puzzlers.

Assemble With Care tells a lovely, cozy story with some light puzzle elements.

Spaceteam only works with a group of people gathered in person, so it’s less than ideal for pandemic times, but if you happen to live with at least two others it’s so much fun.

 

[Patrick]

Yeah, Spaceteam is a neat experience.

 

[Patrick]

Flipflop Solitaire, which is probably my favorite Zach Gage game.

Downloaded. Thanks!

 

[Vaeran]

I'll recommend Seedship, which is a short text-based game in which you are the AI of an interstellar colony ship carrying the last of the human race away from a doomed Earth in cryostasis. In the course of your journey to find a suitable planet to inhabit, various random events will cause parts of the ship to break down or be jeopardized, and you need to make decisions about what to prioritize. What you have left at the end of the trip (as well as the kind of planet you ultimately choose to colonize) has great impact on the ending you get. For example, if you decide that the cultural archive is expendable in favor of preserving as many lives as possible, you might end up with an authoritarian dictatorship on the new world because the colonists had no history to draw on and learn from. There are about a million different endings and the game is very replayable. Check it out, maybe.

 

[Violentvixen]

Spaceteam only works with a group of people gathered in person, so it’s less than ideal for pandemic times, but if you happen to live with at least two others it’s so much fun.

Oh my gosh how did I forget Spaceteam. It's the best.

 

[Patrick]

Check it out, maybe.

Downloaded. Thank you!

 

[Octopus Prime]

I'll recommend Seedship, which is a short text-based game in which you are the AI of an interstellar colony ship carrying the last of the human race away from a doomed Earth in cryostasis. In the course of your journey to find a suitable planet to inhabit, various random events will cause parts of the ship to break down or be jeopardized, and you need to make decisions about what to prioritize. What you have left at the end of the trip (as well as the kind of planet you ultimately choose to colonize) has great impact on the ending you get. For example, if you decide that the cultural archive is expendable in favor of preserving as many lives as possible, you might end up with an authoritarian dictatorship on the new world because the colonists had no history to draw on and learn from. There are about a million different endings and the game is very replayable. Check it out, maybe.

Sold!

Well.. not really, because it's free, but downloaded at least!

 

[lincolnic]

Of course, the game that I've spent the most time on is the New York Times Crossword app, if you count that.

I knew we were friends for a reason!

 

[Violentvixen]

Oh, the crossword definitely counts. Like seemingly everyone else on the internet my interest in it was rekindled with Chris Remo's daily solve thing. It's weird how deep it is in pop culture too, I remember a David Sedaris story from the 90s (I think) where he described a guy as smart because he was solving the Saturday in pen, always stuck with me a as a great character note.

Actually, there used to be an Android version of the game Set but looks like it's gone. Anyone know if there's a new Android version?

 

[Olli]

I'll recommend Seedship, which is a short text-based game in which you are the AI of an interstellar colony ship carrying the last of the human race away from a doomed Earth in cryostasis. In the course of your journey to find a suitable planet to inhabit, various random events will cause parts of the ship to break down or be jeopardized, and you need to make decisions about what to prioritize. What you have left at the end of the trip (as well as the kind of planet you ultimately choose to colonize) has great impact on the ending you get. For example, if you decide that the cultural archive is expendable in favor of preserving as many lives as possible, you might end up with an authoritarian dictatorship on the new world because the colonists had no history to draw on and learn from. There are about a million different endings and the game is very replayable. Check it out, maybe.

I like this one, but water is weirdly unnecessary, I've had fine results from planets with no water at all