this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2025
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NOTICE: I'm reuploading this as I lost my first account on lemm.ee (the instance was shut down) so that I can continue updating the list through this new account. The previous version of this list is now deprecated—links to that post might no longer work.

 

Latest entries - 7 July 2025:

Other recent entries

Introduction

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!

Edit: I'm now including free games (no piracy) from other sources beside the Play Store (which will be specified within brackets), such as GitHub or F-droid. If they're also FOSS, like all F-droid games, they'll have this green checkmark ✅️. For the games that have both F-droid and Play Store versions, the green checkmark is for the F-droid version.

I won't try them all as I did with my premium games list, because 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.‼️

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.

Entry Criteria

  1. FREE
  2. NO ADS
  3. STRICTLY NO IAPs (except donation buttons, but I'll have to check first)
  4. NO PIRACY
  5. it has to be a legit, full game you've played and liked. No demos, no emulators (everyone knows RetroArch anyways)
  6. no entire repositories. You can recommend them in the comments if you want, but this list is for individual games you'd like to recommend
  7. if it's a Play Store game, it should be compatible with the latest Android version at the time of entry
  8. must include a link to the game, especially if from sources outside the Play Store. Not direct-download links, just links to the page
  9. sketchy sources won't be considered. Play Store, GitHub, and F-droid are welcome

[If you want to recommend paid games, without ads or predatory microtransactions, here is the list for you.]

THE LIST

 

Legend

✅️ - FOSS (Free and Open-Source Software). Listed on top in their respective categories

☕️ - includes option to donate, with or without minimal cosmetics only

~~[Game title]~~ - delisted

 

Shooter

 

Stealth

 

Platformer

 

Rhythm

 

Arcade

 

RPG

 

Roguelike dungeon crawler

 

Deck builder

 

Adventure

 

Puzzle

 

Tower defense

 

Strategy

 

Management

 

Racing

 

Simulation

 

Casual

 

Visual novel

 

Educational

 

Delisted or outdated

Free games with minimal ads/cosmetic IAPs

 

Happy gaming ;)

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.

all 39 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Farvana@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 2 hours ago

To Arms! is outdated. Sadly- I enjoy decj builders.

[–] faintwhenfree@lemmus.org 2 points 5 hours ago

I'd nominate Antimine to be added as a minesweeper clone that is FOSS and has beautiful UI. https://f-droid.org/packages/dev.lucanlm.antimine/

[–] Zaleramancer@beehaw.org 4 points 7 hours ago

Thanks for posting this. I really enjoyed getting to play Magic again thanks to Forge, and Anuto is a really solid tower defense.

[–] PlexSheep@infosec.pub 2 points 6 hours ago

For sudoku, I recommend LibreSudoku, which is foss, has a really nice and modern UI, and features killer sudoku as an alternative game mode (which I much prefer).

https://github.com/kaajjo/LibreSudoku

[–] splendoruranium@infosec.pub 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Is there any solution to getting DOS games to work on Android? There seems to have been an old DOSBox version but all information I can find at a glance seem to be outdated. I feel like all the old 90s adventures would be great to run on my phone. Maybe even much earlier stuff like Zork. Or is this a fool's errand?

[–] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 5 minutes ago* (last edited 3 minutes ago)

Have you heard about ScummVM?

It's a virtual machine that can run old PC games, including Zork, Secret of Monkey Island, etc. Here's a list of games it should run: https://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Where_to_get_the_games

The other day I was playing The Curse of Monkey Island on ScummVM on my phone and it ran quite well.

[–] morethanevil@lemmy.fedifriends.social 1 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Clicked through the first few links, Zombotron is marked in Google Play with "contains ads", Dock The Rocket contains AIP, same for Shattered Pixel Dungeon. :(

[–] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

So, I checked those games:

  • Zombotron contains ads so I moved it to a bottom, hidden section for games with minimal ads/IAPs

  • Dock The Rocket added IAPs, so same as above

  • Shattered Pixel Dungeon has two entries in my list, and both match criteria. One is from the Play Store and has optional IAP for donations only—see rule #3 of criteria. The other entry is a link to the game in F-droid, so no ads or IAPs.

[–] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Thanks for reporting this. Some games start free without ads or IAPs, then devs add them later on. I don't blame them, as that's their work and people must eat, but I'll double check the games you mentioned and remove them if they don't match entry criteria any longer.

Thanks for sharing and curating this list 👍🏻😌

[–] Luthor@pawb.social 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Pixics seems to have a weekly subscription show up after a few puzzles. There doesn't seem to be a way to play more without subscribing.

[–] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Thanks for the heads up. Since this is a user-recommendation list and I haven't played the vast majority of these games (I merely double check on the surface, Google, Perplexity), just a question before I delist the game:

  • have you been playing the game yourself to the point you reached a pay wall?

If yes, consider the game nuked.

I tried playing the game a bit, but some puzzles aren't too quick to solve so I haven't met any paywall yet.

[–] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 8 points 19 hours ago

Wouldn't it be more efficient to put this on Codeberg and accept PRs?

[–] passenger@sopuli.xyz 2 points 14 hours ago

Fabularium (the F-droid version is bit enhanced over the original). It is an engine to play text adventure games like Anchorhead or Zork. Get the games at ifdb.

[–] axby@lemmy.ca 2 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

What do people think of my hobby project, "AlexGames": (F-Droid) (Web version) (Source on Github, AGPLv3).

It's a collection of simple games, mostly solo or local multiplayer, though the web version supports network multiplayer by sending your friend a URL: solitaire, chess, go, reversi, checkers, minesweeper, backgammon, some word puzzle games, and some arcade type games.

I was planning on adding AI next. And I really should polish the Android app, I've mostly only focused on the web version. And if people want, I could also submit to Google Play. My calculator app seems to be a lot more popular on F-Droid than Google Play, so I haven't bothered uploading this one to Google Play yet.

Happy to hear any feedback! I suspect that it looks too bland and unpolished for many people to be interested, or maybe it needs different kinds of games? My goal was to not need to download a bunch of ad filled free apps from the play store for when I wanted to play games with a friend on a flight or something, or just idly play something simple like solitaire.

edit: also in the Android app, stick to the "webview" version... the native Android version is mostly an experiment, I meant to hide it behind a setting but never got around to it.

[–] uzay@infosec.pub 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I didn't see it in the list, so I recommend Breakout 71. It's a lot of fun!

[–] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 day ago

Added now. Thank you!

[–] Noerknhar@feddit.org 9 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Thanks!

I don't dare to ask, but any suggestions in the idle area? That genre is infested with nasty p2w and dark patterns.

[–] limerod@reddthat.com 1 points 5 hours ago

I can recommend Antimatter dimensitions. It does have some ads for bonus and in-app putchases. But, you absolutely can finish the game without any of it. I have an adblocker installed so receive the ad bonus without even getting an ad.

[–] Zaleramancer@beehaw.org 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Hey, it's a paid game (non-freemium) but you could try Orb of Creation. I think there's a free demo on itch. One of the most fascinating incremental games I've played. I actually played all the way up to the current content's end.

Eagerly awaiting updates.

[–] Noerknhar@feddit.org 1 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Thanks - looks interesting from what I've seen. Not sure where to get it tho, the version on itch just launched in browser?

[–] Zaleramancer@beehaw.org 1 points 4 hours ago

Since I'm a little embarrassed by the mistake, what do you look for in an incremental game? I can look through the ones I've played for Android and see if any could work?

[–] Zaleramancer@beehaw.org 1 points 4 hours ago

Oh, right, so I was so excited to mention it I forgot it's not a mobile game >.<

It's on steam, but yeah, my bad.

[–] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I don't play idle, but in my premium games list some users suggested Magic Research and Magic Research 2—pretty much the only games in my idle section. They're both paid, but it's an upfront, one-time payment :)

Here's Magic Research 2 Demo so you can try for free.

[–] defaultusername@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] otter@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Neat, thanks :)

Do you have a similar list for other categories (paid, optional cosmetic IAP)

[–] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 day ago

I do, for premium paid games: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/40095654

I don't have a list for free games with optional/cosmetic IAPs, however

[–] anamethatisnt@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Added under the Management category (I think it's the most fitting of those in the list?)

Thanks!

[–] anamethatisnt@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

It depends on how you choose to play it, I guess. For some it's definitely a management game where you go from space port to space port to trade. Others play it as a pirate hunting game where they fight space pirates and sell the loot and that's just the sandbox elements, there's also storylines and missions you can run. :)

[–] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 hours ago

Totally! I mean, among the categories/genres already in the list, I thought "Management" was the most fitting. The game does fall under a few other genres (sandbox, space trading, etc.), but I can't have a genre for a single game or the list would look too long and scattered—harder for users to browse, IMO.

Usually, I wait to have 2 or more games of the same subgenre to open a new category for them :)

[–] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

@ijeff@lemdro.id you can unpin the old list and pin this one. Thank you!