Articles by Rachel Mogan

It’s the wild west of ports out there, and you never know what games may make their way to Android.

We’re rounding up the best console games with ports you can pick up in the Google Play Store. Nowadays, there are so many options, but we’ve compiled a list that includes the best of the best across all genres. Platformers? We got ’em. RPGs? Are you kidding me? Of course, we’ve got those. No matter what kind of mood you’re in, you’re bound to find something here that will wow you.

Keep in mind that this is a list of best ports, so the quality of the port itself is a defining factor in whether or not a game makes the list. Not every game translates well into the mobile space, and some developers succeed where others fail. These have passed the test and have earned their place in the victor’s circle.

You’ll find many of these titles on our list of favorite Android games overall, too. Ready? Let’s jump in!

The games

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Chrono Trigger
Dead Cells
Goro…

You can play these great games without spending a dime.

The best free Android games

RPGs
Shooters
Puzzle Games
Action & Adventure Games
Strategy Games
Sims
Racing Games

Free mobile games often get a bad rap. Some of that is justified, as poor quality, overly monetized cash-grabs run rampant in the field of freedom. But not all mobile games are shameless, souless profit schemes—some of them are actually great!

So if you’ve got some time to kill and only your trusty Android phone to keep you company, you need to take a gander at some of the most exciting, engaging, and free games you can download from the Google Play Store. We have a healthy mix, including shooters, puzzle games, racing, and lots more.

If you’re itching for something more, may I suggest checking out our list of the best Android games?

The best RPGs

The best free Android games

RPGs

AnimA
Eternium
Genshin Impact

Shooters
Puzzle Games
Action & Adventure Games
Strategy Games
Sims
Racing Game…

Just like in real life, these kitties only want your attention on THEIR terms.

Sometimes games don’t have to be super involved to still be fun. Sometimes you barely need to do anything at all to have a good time. And sometimes you have just have no brain cells left to spare in a day and you need something mindless and cute to wind down with for a few minutes. That’s where idle games come in clutch, and Cats are Cute is my latest idle gaming obsession.

Much like Super Glitter Rush, this is another game where the title is also basically the game’s description. Cats are cute and that’s almost everything you need to know about it. This game may or may not be up to snuff to rank among the best Android games, but for what it does, it does well.

Much like Neko Atsume before it, Cats are Cute wants you to collect cats and then keep them in luxury. A noble pursuit, to be sure. You collect cats through a two-step system.

Increase your level. Your level is the cap on how many cats you …

Gimme that sweet, sweet bullet-hell sugar.

Super Glitter Rush is perhaps the most appropriate name possible for a game like this, so kudos to the dev team for choosing to hit that nail square on the head. A sugar rush, a rush of adrenaline, the blood rushing to your head in a fit of rage. Whatever it is that you imagine when you read the title “Super Glitter Rush,” you’re probably right on the money.

Colorful, loud, and frequently infuriating, Super Glitter Rush is a sparkly bullet-hell nominated for this summer’s Indie Games Festival, hosted by Google Play. Although lacking any sort of narrative depth, Super Glitter Rush does its job of being action-packed from start to finish with a unique approach to the bullet-hell genre. As a result, the intense experience will likely wind up on our list of best Android games soon.

Where Glitter Rush truly shines for me is in its presentation. An overwhelming feast for the eyes and ears, Glitter Rush features exceptionally bold pixel art …

Put on your thinking hat.

We’re rounding up some of our favorite strategy games on Android for the deep thinkers out there. These are more than just simple puzzle games — these require careful planning and forethought to emerge victoriously. You’ll find some great replay value in games like these as well since the same strategy won’t always work twice.

Strategy gamers, pop on your thinking caps and get downloading these outstanding Android games. And if you’re looking for the best games in other genres, we have those, too.

The games

Tropico
Mindustry
The Escapists 2: Pocket Breakout
Holedown
Civilization Revolution 2
The Battle for Polytopia
XCOM: Enemy Within
Mushroom Wars 2
Fire Emblem: Heroes
Pandemic: The Board Game
Vainglory
Hearthstone
Gwent
Legends of Runeterra
Star Command
Bad North
ROME: Total War
Bloons TD 6
Card Thief
Hello Neighbor
Chess by AI Factory Limited
Heroes of Flatlandia
Enyo
Crying Suns

Tropico

Running a whole country is hard, but it helps whe…

We’re rounding up the best Android games you can play.

The best Android games

RPGs
Shooters
Puzzle Games
Platformers
Action Games
Strategy Games
Sims
Racing Games
Sports Games
Augmented Reality

There are hundreds of thousands of apps on the Google Play Store, and many are games. In fact, games are so popular that it’s the first tab you see when you open the app.

If you’re looking for the best games available on the Google Play Store, you’ve come to the right place. To make it easy to find, we’ve divided this list into eight categories, which you can find in a handy jumplist that will take you directly to the page of your choice.

Whether you’re new to Android and need some fresh, new games to start building out your Google Play library or simply looking for the latest trendy games that are worthy of your time and attention, these are the best Android games you can find right now.

We update this list whenever a new game comes out worthy of being added to this list, so you’l…

Get your game on — even in the offseason — with the best sports games available for Android.

After a few golden years of fantastic entries, it seems like most mobile sports games have succumbed to the freemium model. There are far too few quality titles available that just let you jump into the game without having to deal with player cards, pointless upgrades, or waiting for stamina meters to refill. Nearly all the top mobile sports game franchises have switched over to a team-building system that requires you to unlock (or buy) card packs to upgrade your team.

However, there are still great games to be played. We’ve tried to cover the five major North American sports here with some extras thrown in for fun. Be sure to note which games are more sim-based for the hardcore sports fan and which ones offer a more arcade-like option for casual players.

Want something a bit less sporty? We have a list of the best Android games overall, too!

The games

NBA 2K20
NBA Jam
MLB 9 Inni…

Forget the ads and microtransactions and just play!

There’s something refreshing and low-stress about playing mobile games not entirely designed to get you to spend on in-app purchases. Honestly, I can say a lot for spending a couple of dollars upfront to get an entire game that you can actually enjoy from beginning to end without sitting through ads, being hounded to buy coins or gems, having to open crates, card packs, or whatever.

I’ll spare you the soapbox rant. We’ve gone through the Play Store and picked out a few games that cost a bit up front but are worth every penny. So here are the best Android games without those pesky IAPs!

The games

Stardew Valley
Vectronom
Holedown
Downwell
Reigns: Her Majesty
The Room series
Suzy Cube
Grand Theft Auto
Mini Metro
Roller Coaster Tycoon Classic
Evoland 1 and 2
JYDGE
Teslagrad
Titan Quest
The Banner Saga
Whispers of a Machine
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Thumper: Pocket Edition
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Dead Cel…

I won’t lie to you: I DID crash the trains on purpose quite a lot just because it’s fun.

I’m a simple person — I like bright colors and cute aesthetics, and I think trains are neat. So while playing Railways, it felt like the devs made it exclusively for me. That’s not true of course, as evidenced by the 27 (and counting) versions of Ticket to Ride, so I’m hopeful that other folks will be as charmed by Railways as I am. It also happens to be a finalist in Google Play’s Indie Games Fest this year, and I’ll be adding it to our list of best Android games for sure.

Beautifully designed, well-executed, and a ton of fun, Railways puts you in control of colored sets of trains tasked with picking up passengers. Labeled a sim game but playing out almost like a puzzle game at times, Railways has a simple goal for each level: pick up a full load of matching colored passengers for each of your trains within a time limit. Trains run on looped sets of tracks but can be tapped to stop for a…

First adults ruin Pokémon cards by buying them up like stocks and now this? Where will the monetized madness stop?!

Pokémon Unite is a new take on the long-established franchise. Gone is the single-player, turn-based Pokémon game of yore and here now is a shiny new multiplayer online battle arena (or MOBA for short) game. Launched as a free-to-play title on the Nintendo Switch earlier this summer, Unite is rapidly picking up steam and mobile gamers wait with bated breath for its upcoming September release on Android.

All good things come with a cost though, and Unite monetizes through the inclusion of in-app purchases. In relatively standard format, players will be able to purchase both Pokémon to use in battle and items through in-game currencies. There are actually quite a few options here, but in general you’ll have your free currency, which can be earned just by playing the game, vs the paid currency, which you’ll have to drop real cash to acquire for in-game purchases.

Le…