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👉For my paid games list, please go here.

 

New list entries - updated June 2026:

Other recent entries

Introduction

NOTICE: I'm reuploading this as I lost my first account on lemm.ee. The previous version of this list is now deprecated.

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. Must 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

 

Note: for sourceforge links, please disregard the green download button and look for the most recent apk version instead. Nothing malicious, just a website design flaw.

 

Shooter

 

Stealth

 

Platformer

 

Rhythm

 

Arcade

 

RPG

 

Idle

 

Roguelike dungeon crawler

 

Deck builder

 

Adventure

 

Puzzle

 

Relaxing

 

Tower defense

 

Strategy

 

Management

 

Racing

 

Simulation

 

Casual

 

Visual novel

 

Educational

 

Extras and emulators/engines

  • Fabularium ✅️ (F-droid - engine and maker for text-based adventures, interactive books)

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.

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I'd argue that Grace Launcher is on par with Niagara Launcher already, if not better. It certainly has some shortfalls, but given the speed of development, it's just a matter of time until they're fixed. But I'll give Victoria Launcher a try.

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Mishaal Rahman announces a new Android beta (Android 17 QPR3 Beta 3) featuring new and returning user-requested features. This update is relevant to Android software and the broader Android ecosystem, making it suitable for discussion in this community.

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The Android Debug Bridge, or ADB for short, is a nifty development tool to interface with your phone for debugging and testing. Through ADB, developers can access Android's built-in Linux command line shell with greater privileges than user-installed apps. This gives developers the ability to install or uninstall apps, grant or deny permissions, change system settings values, and do much more, all from the command line. Although intended for developers, these commands are also useful to help you debloat your phone, tweak hidden settings, and enable other options.

ADB commands can be sent to a phone that's either hooked up to a PC or connected to the same wireless network as the PC. They're generally sent from a PC's terminal or command prompt window and can't be sent from the phone itself unless it's been rooted. However, through an app called Local ADB Shell, or LADB for short, ADB commands can be sent straight from the phone without the need for rooting it or connecting it to a PC.

Developed by XDA Recognized Developer tytydraco, LADB leverages Android's built-in support for ADB over WiFi to provide a GUI for sending shell commands straight from the device. Search for "terminal emulator" on Google Play and you'll find dozens of apps that provide access to Android's command line shell. What sets LADB apart from the rest of these apps is that it bundles an ADB server within the app, which is what allows it to be set up to run shell commands with the same privileges as ADB shell. With ADB shell privileges, you can do things like debloat your phone, change hidden settings, and a whole lot more right from your phone.

In order to set up LADB, though, you'll first need to enable ADB over WiFi, but the process to do so will differ depending on your device and Android OS version.

For devices running Android 10 or older, ADB over WiFi can be enabled after some initial setup from a PC. That means on older Android versions, you'll still need to go through the process to set up ADB on your PC. Once you do that, you can then have the app send commands to the ADB server started on the device.

Thanks to Android 11 introducing native support for wireless debugging, LADB can be set up entirely on device without needing root or hooking up to a PC for initialization. Here's how you can set up LADB on your Android device. We're assuming your device runs Android 11 for the sake of this tutorial because if not, you'll have to manually set up ADB on your PC to get it working anyway, which defeats the main purpose of using LADB. (If you own a OnePlus phone that runs OxygenOS 10 based on Android 10, though, you can use LADB wire and PC-free since OnePlus baked in their own wireless debugging feature.)

How to use LADB to debloat your phone (and more) on Android 11+ Download and install the LADB app from Google Play or compile it from source. Open Settings > About Phone and tap on the "Build number" field 7 times. This will enable "Developer Options." (Note: The "About Phone" page may be called something else or buried somewhere else in Settings on your device.) Go to Settings > System > Developer Options and enable "USB debugging" and "Wireless debugging." (Note: Just like "About Phone", the "Developer Options" page may be found elsewhere in Settings on your device.)

Open the LADB app. It will show a "Pairing information" dialog. Open the recent apps screen. Press and hold on the app's icon and tap "Split Screen" to open LADB in split-screen multitasking view. On the bottom half, open Settings. Go to System > Developer Options > Wireless debugging. Tap on "Pair device with pairing code." You'll see a "Pair with device" dialog pop-up.

Copy the 6 digit "Wi-Fi pairing code" and paste it into the "pairing code" box in LADB. Copy the 5 digit port number from the IP address (the 5 numbers after the colon) and paste it into the "Port" box in LADB.

Hit "OKAY" in LADB and you should hopefully see text that says "Success! (^o^)/" Now you're ready to type whatever ADB shell command you want into the "Shell command" box at the bottom. Looking for things to do? Check out this list of ADB tutorials for things you can try!

https://github.com/sncvikas/ADB_Commands

https://technastic.com/adb-commands-list-adb-cheat-sheet/

#android #adb #ladb #adboverwifi #debloat

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submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) by possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip to c/android
 
 

The emudhra certificate problem means that people can potentially man in the middle https. Make sure you update everything including apps like termux

To test if impacted visit or curl this site: https://emudhra.we-have-a-problem.com/

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