Are there any good casual/low-stress mobile games that aren't filled with microtransactions?

Are there any good casual/low-stress mobile games that aren’t filled with microtransactions? For example: easy puzzle games, match-3 games, low-difficulty adventure games, or clicker-style games.

So far, the only good examples I’ve found are Monument Valley, Suika Game, and (sort of) Vampire Survivors.

I’m personally looking for games that have more progression or variety, but any suggestions are welcome.

bionicjoey,

If you have a Netflix account, you can get Bloons TD6 for free on Android. It’s fun and the microtransactions are completely unnecessary and hidden away. Beware it’s a battery hog though

Also, if you like puzzles, look up the various variant sudoku apps from Studio Goya, particularly the one called “Cracking the Cryptic”

MeatsOfRage,

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/c3cc1073-c8ea-477b-b7f2-44ba20d5f329.png

Holedown

You just aim a ball and clear blobs before they reach the top. No timer. I usually play this with my screen split to YouTube.

DudeDudenson,

Man mobile gaming is such utter crap in general, I hope the handheld gaming PC trend picks up and people start developing actual competing games for Android instead of micro transaction filled pay to win pieces of shit games

rockerface,

The really good games I have played on mobile are mostly indie roguelike ports from PC, like Slay the Spire, Dead Cells or 20 Minutes Till Dawn. Or something more classic like solitaire, minesweeper or crosswords/nonograms/sudoku puzzles

ramirezmike,

The problem isn’t that no one is making good games, it’s just that the mobile market is dominated by too many large companies intent on keeping it the way it is and enough of the consumers are ok with that.

Tarquinn2049,

If you are comfortable with games that are not technically classified as freeware yet, but functionally, they probably should be… then emulation of older consoles is a great way to go too. While they are certainly not “legal”, I don’t think anyone playing them has ever gotten in trouble. Only the people that try to make money off of it find that the console companies are motivated enough to shut them down. Otherwise, it doesn’t feel super risky to just play stuff. Just stick with games that are impossible to pay for if you want to be completely safe. There was a ton of good games on 16 and 32 bit consoles that you literally couldn’t pay for now if you tried. And even as new as gamecube is getting pretty hard to possibly pay money for.

Newer stuff, I only feel ok emulating what I actually own. But as time goes on, newer and newer stuff becomes the new old stuff. A pretty wide variety of console emulators for android are in a good place now.

I do recommend a controller though if you go this route. Ideally one of the ones that also holds your phone for you. Either by making it into a switch/steamdeck kind of shape, or the ones that hold the phone above an xbox style controller. Both are good.

ipkpjersi,

This is exactly what I’ve been doing recently. These older games are basically old enough to be considered abandonware/technologically obsolete.

If I can’t obtain it legally then I find it hard to be upset about obtaining it through other ways.

dom,

Grand prix story and game dev tycoon.

Both good games, low stress, clear progression

Tarquinn2049,

Magic DosBox, not a game. But in combination with www.old-games.com , it’s a pretty good selection of all the old games made for Dos back in the wild west of indie games back before they were even called that. There are, of course, also old commercial games that have transitioned to freeware now too. Should be able to find lots of awesome games there. Moraff adventure games are particularly interesting. Bit of a steep learning curve, but great to come back to now and then. The site has reviews of every game and sorts them into categories. It can be a little overwhelming just due to the sheer number of available games, but take it slow, and work your way through. It’s worth the time investment to find gems.

half_built_pyramids,

Vector pinball

Tarquinn2049,

Sparklite, I don’t know what it looks like purchases-wise, it was free with gamepass and had no in-app purchases when acquired that way. It’s probably one of the newest games I’ll post about. New enough that it was possible to get it with gamepass, lol. The game sort of has a modern retro zelda feel. I don’t think it’s a particularly long game, but it’s certainly enjoyable and pretty casual. I think if it has transactions, reading other reviews it might be like a “purchase the rest of the game” style thing. So basically a free demo that you can then choose if you like the game enough to pay.

Tarquinn2049,

Hmm, I was gonna say moonshades, last time I played it there wasn’t much for things you could buy. But when I look now, there is. So I can’t say for sure how unnecessary any of it would feel now, but it wasn’t necessary back when I played last. It’s kind of like the old early 3D party dungeon/maze crawlers where you use the arrow keys to walk one “block” at a time. There is only 2 party members in this. So you still sort of get the group synergy stuff, but each character is a bigger share of the team power. You could do a tank/healer thing or magic damage/melee damage, or not have either one focus on anything in particular.

I hope it’s still not necessary to buy anything, it was a good game. But the store is pretty comprehensive now, so that has me worried.

Tarquinn2049, (edited )

Cardinal Quest 2, it is possible to spend money, but honestly spending money would be worse than earning the stuff yourself. I still probably gave them some money, since I think the game was free. You don’t have to have played Cardinal Quest 1, it’s pretty story light. Kind of like playing Diablo 2 if you never played Diablo 1. Kinda the same game as the first with much better execution after learning some lessons. The game itself is pretty easy, but there are optional challenges you can take on that can be as their name implies. Lots of replayability as there are many character classes and 4 different stories. Over time you’ll likely want to beat each story with each class. Mostly cuz it keeps track, lol.

whotookkarl,
@whotookkarl@lemmy.world avatar

If you don’t mind a classic chess. Blitz/bullet/rapid/horde are different styles that don’t take as long to learn enough to have fun. Chess puzzles or against the computer are available if you want to keep it strictly single player. Lichess for multiplayer or I like chess tactics pro for puzzles.

Crosswords, there are programs like alphacross that aggregate from other sources to try different puzzles to find ones that aren’t too easy or hard.

Tarquinn2049,

Galaxy Genome, it’s a space exploration game. Sort of a project to make a comprehensive 2D version of Elite: Dangerous. Or at least it started as that, I don’t know if it has achieved and surpassed that by now. It was pretty far along last I played. And that was a while ago now. I kind of play games on and off for years, so that is mostly gonna be a running theme of all the games I post here. Games that you find yourself wanting to pick back up again, over and over.

fpslem,

I really liked Lara Croft GO. It’s better than Hitman GO or other GO games.

catloaf,

Alto’s Adventure is a pretty chill game to play when killing time. play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.noodlec…

I also like the “connect the dots” puzzle games, like this one: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.playval…

Neither game requires microtransactions for the full experience. They might have ads, but my adblocker blocks them if they do.

Nikki,
@Nikki@lemmy.world avatar

bloons td6 is a nice cozy game, one of my faves

bmeffer,

If you play it through Netflix, there are no micro transactions.

Nikki,
@Nikki@lemmy.world avatar

the micro transactions are completely optional in the first place really, the currency is super easy to earn by just playing

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • games@lemmy.world
  • fightinggames
  • All magazines
    •