I recently realized there are still, to this day, some actual "hidden gems" in the Play Store. Not the fake ones everyone talks about which, in a way or another, often have a catch or aren't very "hidden". I mean free games with no ads or IAPs of any kind that are fun to play.
So I was thinking maybe it's time to compile a list of them. Please suggest the ones you've found and enjoyed!
I won't try them all as I did with my premium games list [will update with link as soon as I post it], because this time you could simply download and try them for yourself without spending a dime. I'll simply list them.
‼️Also, please do checkout MiniReview - Game Reviews for more free games that match the following criteria (use the "Browse" tab and select the correct filters). The same app for iOS - App Store - is here.‼️
Entry Criteria
FREE
NO ADS
STRICTLY NO IAPs (except donation buttons, but I'll have to check before adding the game to the list, so no guarantees it'll be added quickly)
it has to be a legit game, of course. Full, not demo.
it has to be available on the Play Store and compatible with the latest, official Android version at the time of entry
possibly include a link to the game on the Play Store
I've saved this post so to keep it updated over time, for my own reference and for your benefit. So feel free to save it and check out new entries every so often.
THE LIST
Legend
☕️ - includes a fair donation button, with or without minimal cosmetics only
ps: please let me know if there's any wrong information about the games included in this list (especially regarding the ones with free donations) so that I'll fix the post, if necessary.
Guaguin is a sudoku-like puzzle game that I enjoy a ton. Instead of the usual 9-block square, this has random shapes with a number and a math operator on them. The goal is to have no repeating digits on rows/columns, and each block needs its mathematical problem to be solved. For example a block labeled 20x needs to filled so that all the numbers inside of it multiply to 20.
I'm moving my two lists of games from Reddit to Lemmy, as I'm planning to jump platform and totally abandon Reddit in the future. The reason is well, Lemmy is better, and Reddit's admin have suspended or shadowbanned my account without reason, deleting all my contributions to the community (Android Gaming) there.
Most notably my two lists of games which I've curated for 4 years: "100% free games" and "Favorite PAID games".
Lemmy's still young and, unfortunately, there isn't a relevant or active Android gaming community yet, so I'm uploading here hoping I'm not doing anything wrong!
I'll probably cross-post the two lists on android(at)lemmy.world too.
I'm very new to Lemmy so ANY feedback is appreciated. Thank you!
Thanks! Would this be helpful for cross-posting to that community? My goal is to have a post showing in these 2 communities, and when I update the original one in this instance, the update will automatically carry on to the community in the other instance.
I tried cross-posting using a function in the Summit app, but the updates don't carry on... Do you know how I could achieve this?
First of all, thanks for your observations and suggestions. I love to be precise with my posts and learning more about markdown formatting.
Headers require a space after the number signs
A question about this: does it change the way it actually looks? I'll fix it, but I'd love to know if there's a practical difference in using space vs no space?
I think "Introduction" and "Entry Criteria" should both be headers as well
You're probably right, as general rules go, but the reason why headers in my list are formatted this way is because I wanted to draw attention to the actual list and genres, rather than to the introduction/criteria. As I'm expecting most users to browse this list when they wanna checkout some games.
Each of your genre headers should get three number signs, since those are all headers that fall within the "THE LIST" section
I've actually tried that recently, but didn't like the way it looked. I think something was off with the spacing between genre headers and first line when using three hashtags. Might give it another try soon.
Forge is a very nice Magic the Gathering implementation. It has (almost?) all cards ever and it's single player. There is an APK, but also a desktop version.
This only kinda meets the criteria since emulators are available on the play store, though roms will have to be sourced elsewhere, but... 100% roms and emulators. The N64 content and earlier emulate really well on a smartphone, especially when paired with a bluetooth controller.
IIRC ever version (different language releases, etc) of every game for Nintendo consoles from when they first became a company through all of the N64 content is a grand total of like 20bg: each individual game is tiny, so you can easily fit all your favorites on your phone.
I'm not sure what the latest and greatest emulators are today, but when I dabbled into this stuff last time, there were free, no bullshit options.
Quick search reveals a couple communities for it here on Lemmy:
I'd hit the side bars of those communities and go from there.
Note: downloading roms you don't own the license to is piracy; and even if you do own the license, your ISP won't know that, so I'd recommend practicing some basic internet safety like using a VPN. Also, ad blockers are an ABSOLUTE MUST on any website that provides or directs you to roms, otherwise you'll have like 20 links on your page that all say "Download!" that will lead you to some flavor of shitware.
But yeah, if you want games without all the modern bullshit in them like ads and lootcrate gambling, etc, then what better option than games that were made before all that cancer existed?!
While I enjoy emulation, it is kinda OT for this list.
Kinda, but only kinda. I wouldn't put any how-to guides or anything here, but letting folks know that it's an option is worth posting.
Also, is it me or the two links in your comment are broken? It seems like they both miss an “h” in “https”.
Weird. They both worked for me; I changed them to the ! links - see if that works any better. ...actually iirc that makes it better for mobile users anyway.
And careful throwing around terms like "100% Free" around here, considering most of the titles in your list are not free open source software in the "libre" sense that Lemmy users tend to expect more than Reddit users do.
Welcome to Lemmy! Love the post and I look forward to more, just one small suggestion. The title reads a little bit spamlike, I almost dismissed the post as some sort of ad.
I think changing it to something like "List of my favorite 100% Free Games - no ads, no IAPs" should suffice. To me, that comes off as having a more genuine/personal feel
Links that didn't work for me / not on the play store anymore:
Satyrn, Supertux, Supertux classic, Dribble, Bad Trip, Lofi Ping pong , Rocket League sideswipe, Butterfly soup, Butterfly soup 2
Consider adding osu!lazer to the rhythm game list. While not available from Play Store yet since some features are on development, it gatekeeps no gameplay feature with a paywall. Only server sided features like friend/mod rankings.
Do you think you could maybe add a small description for every game?
Sorry, I won't do that. I think it's easy enough to click on the links and check all the info on the Store, with pictures and description. Furthermore, I did not play all these games as they're user recommendations, so it'd be too much work for little benefit.