Mobile gaming has come quite a long way since the inception of cellular phones. It’s not just Snake anymore. Both the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store are filled with high-quality gaming experiences. From easy-to-pick-up casual games tolayered RPG epics, just about any gaming experience you could want can be found on mobile, and oftentimes, these titles areoffered by the developers for free.
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With so many games of varying quality available on mobile, finding a good game can be a difficult task. To help separate the wheat from the chaff, we’ve looked at everything from RPGs to card games and found some of the best mobile games available to play right now.
While we’ve picked the mobile titles we think our readers will enjoy playing, we’ve ranked them based on their Metacritic Score.
Updated by Shivam Gulati on March 20th, 2024:The mobile gaming roster has grown, so we’ve updated this list to include two new popular titles and replaced one game with a better one.
12Pokemon Go
Metacritic Score: 69
WhenPokemon Gowas released in 2016, it seemed like everyone and their mother were aimlessly wandering parks and museums, attempting to catch elusive rare Pokemon. Years later, the game is still just as fun and accessible as it was at launch.
The Pokemon franchise is the largest gaming franchise, and Pokemon Go still offers a unique experience for those wishing to battle and collect Pokemon in the real world. The player base has suffered in recent years, but for AR games, there still isn’t anything that compares to Pokemon Go. Players can get different in-game items through purchases or battle other players through Gyms. Pokemon Go offers a lot of content to players, and though it might get boring for some, several people have been enjoying the game ever since it came out.
Pokémon GO
11Clash Of Clans
Metacritic Score: 74
Clash of Clanswas released in 2012 and has been a top-selling mobile game ever since. The gameplay consists of building your own village defenses and creating an army to attack other villages. Attacking villages requires deploying small armies in other players' strongholds and stealing their resources. These resources can then be used to fortify your own base or create a stronger army.
Our biggest complaint with Clash of Clans is its slow progression system that consistently offers you the option to spend real-world money in order to speed up the process. This time, the wall hits earlier than we would have liked, but the game is still a blast to play, even if you have to wait hours between raids.
Clash of Clans
10Fortnite
Metacritic Score: 79
Fortnite is anamazing Multiplayershooter that offers so much more than abattle royale experience. Jumping out of the bus to fight against other online players never gets boring, especially when the map offers so many side quests or missions. Each season of Fortnite flaunts a new theme and comes with more unique skins and collaborations.
Over the years, Epic Games has collaborated with various anime and comic book franchises, and these collaborations have only worked in the game’s favor. If there’s one thing about Fortnite, it is that it never goes out of style, and the developers always bring in something new to keep the title fresh.
9Honkai Star Rail
Metacritic Score: 80
Honkai Star Railis the latest title from miHoYo and is jaw-droppingly beautiful, like the developer’s previous titles. You follow the story of a single character, Trailblazer, but there are different playable characters that you may recruit on your journey. This is miHoYo’s first attempt at turn-based combat, and let’s just say that the devs knocked it out of the park in terms of gameplay.
In a way, Honkai is a lot like Genshin, as both games feature a vibrant world and multiplayer characters with unique abilities. Even though Honaki couldn’t become as popular as Genshin, it’s still a great game that players can enjoy on mobile devices.
Honkai: Star Rail
8Call Of Duty Mobile
Metacritic Score: 81
Call of DutyMobile is a first-person Call of Duty title available for free on mobile. One might think that Call of Duty wouldn’t translate well to mobile, but Activision has done a great job porting this to phones and making it an easily accessible entry point for newcomers. Since the official launch, COD Mobile has received multiple maps for the Multiplayer game mode. There’s a battle royale game mode in COD Mobile as well, but it’s the Multiplayer that everyone adores. That’s evident from the massive esports scene that Activision has created around the game mode.
Call of Duty Mobile may not have all the bells and whistles of Activision’s yearly releases, but the short match times, fast-paced action, and meaningful progression loops make COD mobile a fun way to hone your headshot skills.
Call of Duty Mobile
7Genshin Impact
The 2020 gameGenshin Impacttook the world by storm with its deep RPG action and compelling anime-inspired story. Genshin Impact remains a top seller for mobile, even after the free-to-play game was released on Playstation and Windows.
The true star of Genshin Impact is its fluid combat system, which works surprisingly well on a touchscreen. The game is forgiving enough that an occasionally missed input won’t destroy your character, and the RPG mechanics are deep enough to offer hours of endless playtime. The Gacha game mechanics can be frustrating due to their random nature, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying this massive RPG on mobile.
Genshin Impact
6Minecraft
Metacritic Score: 82
Minecraftis one of the best-selling videogames of all time, due in no small part to the Pocket Edition that became available for mobile gamers in 2016. The Pocket Edition has since been replaced by the Bedrock Edition and is essentially the same game as its PC and console counterparts.
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Minecraft on mobile features the same block-building freedom as the version that appears on larger screens. The controls are easy and intuitive, though some players may still prefer a controller or keyboard for easy building. Fitting this massive game on mobile is an impressive feat, and it’s a great game for casual and traditional players alike. The Metacritic score makes it clear that millions of players are still enjoying the game and finding new ways to be creative with their builds.
Metacritic Score: 85
Among Usis an online multiplayer game where up to three players secretly work to sabotage and murder all the other players as they attempt to repair a broken spaceship. The game thrives on its deduction mechanic, where all the players point fingers and make accusations at one another, resulting in players being ejected from the ship. The game takes place in quick rounds and is easy to control on mobile.
Among Us became a massive success during the COVID-19 pandemic by giving players a safe social experience during an unprecedented lonely time. Since then, the game has only grown in popularity, becoming a mainstay of many Twitch streamers. Whether you are playing with old friends or newly discovered virtual ones, Among Us is a fantastic mobile game.
4Marvel Snap
Marvel Snapis possibly one of the most addicting games on this list. Many people were skeptical of this deck-building game, feeling it would be just a quick cash grab featuring Earth’s mightiest heroes. What we got is a fast-paced and surprisingly deep card game with refreshingly few pay-to-win mechanics.
The gameplay consists of collecting cards to build a deck used to combat other players on three different battlefields. Each game consists of six rounds that go quickly enough to make the game perfect for mobile. The card game mechanics are not as deep as something like Hearthstone, but the quick matches and easy-to-learn gameplay make it a better fit for mobile than any other deck-builder.
Marvel SNAP
3Vampire Survivors
Metacritic Score: 86
Vampire Survivorshad a successful run in Closed Beta, and as expected, the game took the gaming community by storm when it became available for PC and Xbox users viaXbox Game Pass. The game immediately became an indie darling with its one-touch input play style and addicting rouge-like progression. Its mobile port, surprise-announced at The Game Awards, is an incredibly faithful adaption to the console version and plays perfectly on small screens.
Vampire Survivors has you roaming around an open field, taking out wave after wave of enemies. Moving the character around the battlefield is your only input, as attacking is handled automatically based on your chosen weapons. This easy input makes it a great mobile game, and the lack of any intrusive pay-to-win options is genuinely refreshing.
