Looking for an exciting new game to enjoy on your Android phone or tablet? Here are some handpicked favorites that will keep you entertained for hours:
At OriginBlogs Gaming, we live and breathe all things gaming. We’ve played and reviewed many Android games and understand how the often misunderstood mobile gaming scene fits into the broader gaming ecosystem.
Recommending little mobile games is a big responsibility, so you can trust our rigorous testing and independent reviews to steer you in the right direction.
We’ve reviewed mobile games since 2005, after all! 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.
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 list of the overall best Android apps for you to peruse.
1. Among Us
Free at Google Play
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.
2. Arena of Valor
Free at Google Play
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.
3. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
$2.99 at Google Play
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.
4. Chrono Trigger
$9.99 at Google Play
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.
5. Crossy Road
Free at Google Play
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.
6. Downwell
$2.99 at Google Play
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.
7. Final Fantasy VII
$15.99 at Google Play
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.
8. Fortnite
Free at Epic Games
It’s arguable that Fortnite’s popularity exploded due to its battle royale matches being free on mobile.
After all, how many kids secretly play this version on their phones in class? Note that Fortnite is not available from the Google Play store.
If you have a Samsung device, you can use the Galaxy Store to get your hands on the game. If not, you need to take a few more steps to get it on your Android device. Check our guide here for more details.
9. Genshin Impact
Free at miHoYo
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.
10. Gwent: The Witcher Arcade Game
Free at Google Play
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.
11. Hearthstone
Free at Amazon
How versatile is the Warcraft franchise? After revolutionizing the real-time strategy genre with its orcs-and-humans battles, Blizzard made the MMO to end all MMOs with World of Warcraft.
And after that, the developer created the deep, accessible, and utterly addictive digital collectible card game: Hearthstone. It seems the only thing this brand can’t do is be a good movie.
12. Hitman Go
$5.99 at Google Play
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.
13. League of Legends: Wild Rift
Free at Google Play
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.
14. Marvel Snap
Free at Google Play
The free-to-play Marvel Snap is one of the most surprising mobile hits in this or any other universe.
It takes Hearthstone’s brilliant, competitive deckbuilding mechanics and combines them with Marvel’s heroes and villains, complete with creative abilities inspired by the comics.
Once you download Marvel Snap to your Android device, you won’t be able to stop making strategic plays as you climb the ranks and unlock even more cards.
15. Minecraft
$6.99 at Google Play
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.
16. Monument Valley
$3.99 at Amazon
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.
17. Pokemon Go
Free at Google Play
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.
18. PUBG Mobile
Free at Google Play
Mobile battle royale shooters don’t get better than PUBG Mobile. This ambitious game shrinks the full PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds experience down to your Android phone or tablet, with surprisingly little compromise.
Rounds are a bit quicker, and the touch controls won’t work for everyone, but PUBG Mobile is one of the most impressive titles of its kind.
19. Sky: Children of the Light
Free at Google Play
Even with its more traditional monetization strategy, Sky: Children of the Light earns comparisons to Journey, which isn’t surprising considering it’s made by Journey developer, Thatgamecompany.
It’s a rare, calming multiplayer experience in which you fly across beautiful, sky-bound environments, helping your fellow players with no real expectations in return.
Rarely has an Android game made us feel so relaxed and serene.
20. Spaceteam
Free at Google Play
Board games may have only recently grown in popularity, but the act of sitting around a table with friends and playing games is as old as civilization.
It’s a fun experience, too, which is why it’s always frustrating when digital games push players apart, even when played locally. Spaceteam seeks to reverse that trend by embracing cooperation, not competition.
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21. Star Wars: KOTOR
$14.99 at Google Play
If you’ve ever asked someone what the best Star Wars game is, chances are good they’ve pointed to Knights of the Old Republic.
Bioware’s epic role-playing game puts you in the role of a Jedi (or Sith, should you embrace the dark side), several millennia before the events of the movies.
If you enjoy customizing your character, making decisions, and meeting a large cast of interesting companions (many of whom you can romance), this is the Android game for you.