I’m moving away from proprietary apps and want to find open-source games on Android that are genuinely good, not just time-killers or kids’ titles.

My criteria:

  • Truly open source (repository available, ideally on F-Droid)

  • No ads, no trackers, no in-app purchases

  • Modern feel and polished experience — something that feels like a real game, not a tech demo

  • Made for adults: deep gameplay, challenge, real progression (any genre welcome — strategy, roguelike, RPG, racing, puzzle…)

I trust actual players over AI-generated lists, so: what open-source game on Android gave you the best experience, and why?

    • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
      4·
      2 hours ago

      Yeah, this is probably what I’d call the strongest open-source Android game (though I do like roguelikes, so gotta take personal preference into account).

      Also, !pixeldungeon@lemmy.world is moderated by the Shattered Pixel dev, who came over to the Fediverse, so that’s cool.

      It isn’t as deep as some other roguelikes, but roguelikes in general are deep, and it’s well-adapted to the Android environment — touchscreen, easier to play in bursts, where you don’t have to remember a lot to get back into a run if you play a bit, then pick it up later. It’s got a reasonably gentle learning curve, as roguelikes go.

  • mechoman444@lemmy.worldEnglish
    31·
    1 hour ago

    Balatro.

    One of the best games to play on mobile. It fits basically all of your criteria and you can just Google search a copy of it, you don’t have to pay for it from the play store.

  • tomatosametomato@piefed.zipEnglish
    2·
    1 hour ago

    I’m sorry I don’t have a list to add to the conversation but one of your points made me curious:

    What do you mean by “Made for adults: deep gameplay, challenge, real progression (any genre welcome — strategy, roguelike, RPG, racing, puzzle…)”?

    As far as I’m concerned, real adult “games” don’t have progression: Basketball, football, baseball (do you count muscle growth?), chess (ELO is progression? one value?), backgammon (ELO I guess?).

    What do you see as “real (adult) progression”?

    edited (to make my misunderstanding bold)

  • Maerman@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    3 hours ago

    Endless Sky is available from F-Droid. I personally found the UI to be a tad clunky, but that might simply be because I’m used to playing it on desktop. You might find that worth your time.

    • celeste@kbin.earth
      1·
      1 hour ago

      I played it the first time on my phone but the desktop version is way less of a pain in the ass and I don’t think I can go back to the android one.

    • Sturgist@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      1 hour ago

      I saw a mod to make the android UI more useable, not sure how it works as I play endless sky on pc

  • Hapankaali@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    3 hours ago

    Chess on Lichess ticks all your boxes except maybe “modern” (though it has a modern UI).

    I like to play chess puzzles on the shitter at work, while traveling or at home when I’m bored with other games.