These are unequivocally the best Android games on the planet.
PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) for mobile is a free survival shooter that lets you experience what it’s like to be dropped on an island with 99 other players (like Fortnite, although PUBG came first) to see who will ultimately survive. But what’s great about the mobile version of this extremely popular game on PCs is that it seems to run even better on a smartphone. In other words, this is one heck of a port.
Just like the original, you’ll parachute in, loot buildings to gear up, and do your best to survive all the way to the end. You can go it solo, or create a squad of up to four players if you want to try out a team effort. Be careful though, this game is incredibly addicting.
Trailer
Google Play link
Price: Free
Battleheart 2 brings back the same simple combat engine from the first game, with some nice tweaks. It also has greatly improved graphics, more characters to choose from, a multiplayer mode and best of all (and just like the first game) no micro transactions!
Trailer
Google Play link
Price: $3.99
Snowboarding at high speed has never been so relaxing as it is in Alto’s Adventure. Very simple one-touch controls let you guide Alto (and several other unlockable characters) down the mountain while getting big air, grinding edges and performing multiple back flips.
With beautiful endless mountain scenery, amazing day-to-night transitions and a mesmerizing soundtrack (you should definitely wear headphones), this is a must have on any device. The developer for this 2015 game, Snowman, recently delayed the upcoming sequel, Alto’s Odyssey, saying they want to make sure to get it right. Once you play the original, I’m sure you’ll understand why perfection is important to the small development team.
You can read our original Alto’s Adventure review here .
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Google Play link .
Price: Free with in-app purchases.
Want to get your battle royale gaming fix without all the complexity? Battlelands Royale is the game for you. Pick your drop point on the island map beforehand, then parachute in to find weapons and shields. You also can chase down weapon drops for more advanced weapons like rocket launchers. From there, you can hide out in buildings and shrubbery as you lay in wait for opponents to step into your path.
What’s particularly great about this simple dual-stick survival shooter is that a game rarely lasts more than 10 minutes. This free game is fun on its own, but you can also use in-app purchases to buy new skins and it even has a Battle Pass (a la Fortnite) you can buy to earn cosmetic items as you play.
Trailer
Google Play link
Price: Free
You can’t really play a console-level quality Destiny game on your iPhone, but with Shadowgun Legends it’s about as close as you can get. This first-person shooter might be the best in the app stores, with a base camp (it’s more of a city) where you can hit up shops to buy weapons and armor, a place to gamble for more in-game currency, a black market for new items, and so much more. There are tons of in-app purchases here, to be sure, but you can easily avoid them.
The gameplay itself is excellent as you plow through story missions, unlock puzzles and blast your way through enemies in order to achieve greater and greater fame. Find new weapons as you play with unique exotics and other firearms that will remind you of Destiny. Though it’s a whole different setting, Shadowgun Legends is basically Destiny for your phone and it will definitely surprise you with its depth.
Trailer
Google Play link
Price: Free
Escher-inspired puzzle game Monument Valley is a strange, lovely, deeply rewarding rabbit hole of an experience. You control the tiny Princess Ida on a mysterious mission in a place called Monument Valley, made up of non-Euclidean structures populated by belligerent black birds. The nature of her mission is part of the splendid discovery experience built into the game as you guide Ida around the monuments, twisting and sliding to shift perspectives in order to make your way through the levels.
What makes it so spectacular is that so much care has been put into every single aspect of the game to make it a wonderful experience for players. From the art and music, to the simple control system, to the story, to the gameplay, it gently guides you to think about space and geometry in new and interesting ways.
You can read our interview with designer Ken Wong here .
CNET Review
Trailer
Google Play link
Price: $4| AU$6| £3
What if you could be the Dungeon Master and the players? Knights of Pen & Paper is an old-school turn-based RPG, where you play through both the experience of running a pen-and-paper game and the actual game itself, all in retro pixel graphics.
You have 12 adventurer classes and 17 characters, some unlockable, to play. You also pick the battles your players will go through. There are only two campaigns at the moment, but more are coming, giving the game fantastic replayability.
Trailer
Google Play link
Price: $5| AU$6| £4
In this game, you’re stuck in prison serving hard time. But as you go about your daily routines, you slowly realize that with the right tools, a good plan and an opportunity, you can break out.
The Escapists uses old-school graphics, but it doesn’t take away from the game’s complexity as you try to piece together the best way to escape from several different prisons. You’ll acquire tools by stealing utensils from the mess hall, paying prisoners who know how to get stuff from the outside and doing jobs to raise money to pay for it all.
On its face, it looks simplistic, but The Escapists is a fun and challenging time-waster that’s great for anyone who likes solving puzzles.
Trailer
Google Play link
Price: $3.99| AU$5.99| £3.99
Heart Star, made by developer Jussi Simpanen for Ludum Dare #48 in 2014, is another platformer. But this one requires the control of not one but two characters.
You need to control them together to activate areas of each maze-like level so that both characters can reach their respective exit. It gets tricky, but the lack of penalties makes it a smooth, delightful experience.
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Google Play link
Price: Free
Sci-fi and Westerns are the peanut butter and jelly of genre mixing, and Space Marshals really captures the things that make that union special. The game is a tactical top-down shooter with a significant stealth component that separates it from the pack.
Trailer
Google Play link
Price: $5| AU$6| £4
Riptide GP: Renegade is one of those games that seems like it would be impossible on mobile, the graphics are just so jaw-droppingly gorgeous. It really reminds me of a late 90s Sega arcade game in the best possible way.
A jetski-style racing video, it sees you, a disgraced former champion, competing against other racers, performing stunts and defeating bosses for a chance to reclaim your former glory. It’s built on the developer’s own engine and plays like a dream, honestly. It’s also a fantastic way to test your mobile device’s horsepower.
Trailer
Google Play link
Price: $3| AU$4| £3
This side-scrolling platformer is unlike any other. You move through the levels by “pruning” cells from a blob of fungus, which causes new cells to grow elsewhere on the blob.
By constantly pruning and reshaping the fungus, you learn to guide it into new shapes. It can be moved around to solve puzzles on the levels, collect other organisms and reach the end. It’s a remarkably clever take on the platformer that requires some creative thinking.
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Google Play link
Price: $5| AU$6| £5
Dandara is a platformer that has you flinging yourself from surface to surface as you explore a vast world. It’s a multiplatform title you can also get on consoles, which probably explains why it’s quite a bit pricier than most Android games.
If you can get past the price, though, Dandara has a giant world to explore with cool-looking graphics, tons of mystical creatures and an excellent soundtrack as you try to save the world of Salt. Platformer gaming fans should definitely pick this one up or watch for price drops in the future, because it’s a great game to have on your phone.
Trailer
Google Play link
Price: $14.99| AU$22.99| £14.99
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP first launched on 24 March 2011, and it still stands out today as one of the highest points of mobile gaming. It’s a strange, beautiful, sad, experimental adventure game about a warrior on a mysterious quest.
The pixellated art style, gorgeous soundtrack and unique gameplay mechanics spawned a thousand imitators, but nothing has ever come close to the wonder of Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP.
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Google Play link
Price: $5| AU$5| £3
Out There is a game about survival and strategy, carefully managing your resources as you travel the stars. It’s also a tale of ultimate, lonely isolation.
It tells the tale of an astronaut who wakes from cryosleep to find that he’s no longer in orbit around Jovian moon Ganymede — in fact, he’s not even in the solar system. He has no idea where he is and has only unreliable alien technology as a guide home.
You have to carefully manoeuvre through dangerous situations and manage resources as you navigate the stars — because when your astronaut dies, it’s game over. And all the while, you have no way of knowing if what you seek is truly the way home.
Trailer
Google Play link
Price: $4| AU$6| £3
Before Pokemon Go hit the scene, Ingress was Niantic’s best known augmented-reality game. Join up with The Enlightened or The Resistance team and play with users all around you. If you find yourself liking the play style of Pokemon Go, but wishing it had 100% less Pokemon, Ingress is worth checking out.
Trailer
Google Play link
Price: Free
Play a medieval monarch and try rule without destroying your family’s dynasty.
