The Best Android Games for 2023
The Android gaming market features outstanding gems that deserve a home on your Android phone or tablet. Indie hits, retro classics, and even Nintendo-published originals are among the many games you’ll find on the Android platform. In fact, some Android games are comparable with AAA titles console games and PC games. As a result, we’ve selected great titles across all genres to help you find the top games to play.
If you’re wanting more bang for your buck, subscription services make it easier than ever to find those gems. The $4.99-per-month Google Play Pass gives you hundreds of games and apps that are free of microtransactions. The similarly priced GameClub resurrects mobile gaming classics in one low-price subscription. For an excellent cloud gaming experience on Android, check out Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Google’s willingness to license Android to more partners also means most gaming-focused mobile hardware targets Android. Although we appreciate the experimentation, that leads to many initiatives that don’t fully pan out. Remember Razer Phone? Even Google’s own gaming projects may also fizzle after only a few years. Google Cardboard, with turned your Android phone into an accessible virtual reality headset, got discontinued. The troubled Google Stadia cloud streaming service will shut down, and the company will offer full refunds in 2023. And just like Apple’s iOS mobile platform, Android is filled with gimmicky cash grabs and utter trash that isn’t worth your time or money.
Still, none of that takes away from Android’s strength as a massive gaming platform. Whether you want to swipe through a casual card game or buy a full-on mobile controller for serious gaming, Android has many options for many tastes. Treat yourself to mobile entertainment that isn’t Twitter drama. Scroll down, and check out these excellent mobile games for your Android phone or tablet. If gaming isn’t your cup of tea, or you’re more of a productivity person, we have a separate Best Android Apps list for you to peruse.
Mục lục
Among Us
$0.00
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Among Us dominated the gaming world in 2020 as the perfect, paranoid, quarantine pastime, even though it technically launched in 2018. As you and your fellow astronaut friends work together to fix your spaceship, secret saboteurs work to quietly kill you all. Whether you use good old-fashioned social manipulation to flush out the truth, or lie your head off to continue the ruse, trust nothing and no one.
Apex Legends Mobile
$0.00
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Apex Legends Mobile takes Respawn’s acclaimed battle royale shooter, and delivers a custom version suited for mobile devices. You still team up with others to hunt enemy squads across a vast map. But with revamped controls, including a new third-person perspective, you’ll enjoy accurate shooting and skillful movement without feeling restricted by the touch interface. Apex Legends Mobile features new characters, with unique abilities, alongside the iconic cast from the main game.
Arena of Valor
$0.00
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
On PCs, the MOBA market is completely dominated by Dota 2 and League of Legends. On mobile, however, the playing field is a little more even. Arena of Valor, from Chinese megacorporation Tencent, is one of the best ways you can enjoy this truly bizarre real-time strategy genre on the go.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
$2.99
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
One of the most iconic games in the Castlevania series has found a home on Android phones. Take control of the vampire Alucard, and slay the demonic hordes that haunt the castle and scheme to resurrect Dracula. Symphony of the Night features an expansive RPG weapon and inventory system that’s chock full of unique gear, items, and spells. With a tremendous castle to explore, unique abilities to earn, and an encyclopedic list of monstrous punching bags to beat up, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a Konami classic that is well worth snatching up.
Chrono Trigger
$9.99
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
One of the most iconic and beloved RPGs of all time can be played on your Android device. Embark upon a time-traveling RPG with seamless and strategic combat, great sprite-based visuals, and an utterly charming story. This mobile Chrono Trigger is based on the expanded Nintendo DS version, which features a much improved story translation over the SNES original. Touch controls can be a bit inaccurate, which can be annoying as the combat is faster-paced than your average turn-based RPG. Still, Chrono Trigger was a monumental RPG for its time, and remains shockingly engrossing today.
Crossy Road
$0.00
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Give me any device that plays Crossy Road, and I will absolutely try to get that chicken across the road again. The Frogger formula works wonderfully as a methodical endless runner. The colorful voxel look is iconic, and chickens are just inherently funny.
Downwell
$2.99
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
In Downwell, you plummet down randomized stages using guns strapped to your feet. The goal? Pull off the most stylish runs possible before death. Bullets not only kill enemies, but help you hover in the air for crucial repositioning. The levels themselves are retro and mostly monochrome, save for the occasional red splashes. The vertical orientation really sells the feeling of falling.
Dragalia Lost
$0.00
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
This charming, Nintendo-published action-RPG offers a robust dungeon-crawling experience that features intuitive touch controls, excellent music, and ever-expanding story content. The game offers a surprising amount of content variety, including gauntlet-style, beat-em-up action; battle royal PvP; and raid co-op multiplayer. Dragalia Lost is a gacha-style game that’s meant to encourage you to pay to roll for new team units, but it’s extraordinarily generous with free rolls—far more so than any other game with this monetization style.
Final Fantasy VII
$15.99
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Before you play the big-budget remake on PlayStation 4, experience the original game that elevated Final Fantasy from popular JRPG to beloved cultural institution. In this mobile Final Fantasy VII, Cloud and his friends may not have as many polygons as their console and PC counterparts, but they have just as much heart. New cheat codes make it easy to experience the story, without getting bogged down in battles.
Fortnite
$0.00
at Epic Games
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Arguably a huge reason why Fortnite became as popular as it did is because you can fully participate in its battle royales for free on mobile. How many kids secretly play this version on their phone in class when teachers aren’t looking? Now available on Google Play, manufacturers even use Fortnite as a selling point for their premium phones. Let’s just hope Epic and Google squash their beef.
Genshin Impact
4.5
$0.00
at miHoYo
See It
(Opens in a new window)
This expansive action-RPG drops you into the fantasy world of Teyvat, a mysterious realm ruled by ancient gods and shrouded in centuries-old mysteries. But your character knows none of that. In Genshin Impact, you journey across the world to find your lost sibling, fighting monsters and helping anyone you meet along the way. Genshin Impact has a Zelda-like, open-world environment that’s packed with things to do, and the constant stream of new events should keep you busy for a long, long time. The presentation is great to boot, featuring high-quality cinematics, solid voice work, and a truly spectacular soundtrack. Genshin Impact is free to play, but utilizes a gacha-style monetization system that encourages you to roll for new characters. You can earn these rolls through special currency which can be earned in-game or through cash purchases.
Genshin Impact (for PC) Review
Gwent: The Witcher Arcade Game
$0.00
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Gwent on Android is a rebalanced iteration of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s addictive, multiplayer card game. It combines deck building with clever strategy, giving you a robust selection of combat and support units. Cards are divided into factions, so not only do they have individual perks, but they synergize with their faction ability to radically change how you approach a match. Gwent is free to play, but you can spend money to buy card kegs for new units. Alternatively, you can earn special currency by completing objectives, which you can then spend on new cards.
Hitman Go
$5.99
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Hitman Go takes everyone’s favorite bald video game assassin and presents a stylish, abstract take on his typically realistic murders. Levels resemble tabletop board games, and you take turns moving an Agent 47 game piece around to snuff out his targets. Fortunately, the darkly comic strategy remains, and the clean, elegant aesthetic feels appropriate for someone who makes a living through dispassionate professional killing.
League of Legends: Wild Rift
$0.00
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
For years, pretenders have attempted to bring the smash hit MOBA genre to mobile phones, but with League of Legends: Wild Rift, the biggest name in the field makes its true Android debut. Traditional strategies still apply as you, your team, and your minions, battle the enemy team for control of the map. Thanks to the smaller, mobile-friendly battlefield, and revamped touch controls for moving and casting spells, fights are even faster and more frenetic than before.
Minecraft
4.0
$6.99
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Originally, the mobile version of Minecraft wasn’t quite the same thing as its PC and console counterparts. However, the games have since been unified, with new versions largely taking from the mobile version’s foundations, ironically enough. So, know that when you’re building blocks and taking down Creepers on your phone, you aren’t getting a compromised experience.
Minecraft: Pocket Edition (for Android) Review
Monument Valley
5.0
$3.99
at Amazon
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Monument Valley became the poster child for mobile games as art, and for good reason. Its beautiful optical illusion puzzles are triumphs of design, and they work here because of mobile’s unique strengths as a platform. You can’t go wrong with either the original or its sequel.
Monument Valley (for Android) Review
Pokemon Go
$0.00
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
By letting us hunt creatures in our own backyards, Pokemon Go turned our real world into the world of Pokemon. It’s a blessed video game, proof that augmented reality offers a genuinely exciting new way to play. Even when you can’t go out into the real world, Pokemon Go lets you join the fun. Check out our Pokemon Go tips for more.
Reigns: Her Majesty
$2.99
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Reigns takes the casual swiping interface of a dating app and uses it to have players make earth-shaking decisions as a medieval monarch. Reigns: Her Majesty swaps out the king for a queen, and adds robust management mechanics alongside richer writing. There’s a Game of Thrones version, too, but it may just bring up bad memories of how the show ended.
Rocket League Sideswipe
4.0
$0.00
at Apple App Store
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Rocket League combines soccer, rocket-powered cars, and billiards in one frenzied, multiplayer sport for console and PC. Rocket League Sideswipe, on the other hand, brings that addictive formula to the mobile scene. It streamlines the action for easier play on mobile devices, without sacrificing the nuance that makes the full game so engrossing. You still shoot, bounce, or nudge a giant soccer ball into your opponent’s hoop or goal, but the action is presented in a 2D, side-scrolling affair. The gameplay remains deep thanks to the complex ball physics, and the online, 1v1 and 2v2 matches that offer endless challenge.
Rocket League Sideswipe (for iOS) Review
Sky: Children of Light
$0.00
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Thatgamecompany made a name for itself with a trio of acclaimed indie art games: Flow, Flower, and Journey. Sky: Children of Light definitely follows in that tradition. This is a family-friendly MMO about holding hands and soaring through skies of open, non-linear, theme park-esque levels. It’s equal parts adorable and thrilling. Like in Journey, you communicate nonverbally through various emotes, allowing connections that span continents and language barriers.
Spaceteam
5.0
$0.00
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Mobile gaming is great for spontaneous local multiplayer sessions, because everyone carries a phone. Spaceteam leverages that idea by tasking players to shout Star Trek-esque technobabble at each other to cooperate and keep their spaceship functioning before time runs out. No other platform could support a game that uniquely fantastic.
Spaceteam (for Android) Review
Stardew Valley
$7.99
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Stardew Valley’s chill, yet potent, mix of farming, life sim, and casual RPG elements made it a modern indie classic. A game about checking in on your farm for a few minutes every day is the kind of game you want on your phone. Plus, if your real dating app starts to get too depressing, you can romance these kind-hearted video game country folks instead.
Threes
$0.00
at Google Play
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Throw 2048 in the trash and play Threes, the original, superior puzzle game about sliding numbered tiles together to create the biggest combos possible. Along with a rock-solid puzzle hook, Threes charms with its soft pastel aesthetics that burst with character. The game is now free with ads, so you have no excuse.
More Gaming Goodness
