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founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
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👉For my paid games list, please go here.

 

New list entries - updated October 2025:

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

 

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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submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by ijeff to c/android
 
 

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Volla Phone Plinius is a rugged phone that ships with Ubuntu Touch or Google-free Android and mid-range specs

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submitted 5 days ago by Blaze@piefed.zip to c/android
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vivo X300 Ultra review (www.gsmarena.com)
submitted 5 days ago by Blaze@piefed.zip to c/android
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/63230442

LCARS was made in Star Trek as an interface for a civilization that seems like it actually values coordination, clarity, and shared access to knowledge. That is a big part of why I like it so much. It is not just a cool sci-fi look to me. It feels like a vision of technology that is actually trying to help people interface with reality and with each other instead of just farming attention, trapping people in closed platforms, or burying everything under noise.

That is also a lot of why I care about federated social media. Federation shifts things away from giant closed silos and more toward open protocols, shared standards, and communities being able to govern themselves while still being connected to a wider network. To me that feels like one of the most real paths forward, even within capitalism. You do not have to wait for the whole system to magically transform overnight for better structures to start existing. You can build things right now that are more open, more portable, more humane, and more resilient than what most mainstream platforms push people into.

I think that matters because closed systems naturally tend toward lock-in. They want your identity, your audience, your data, your social graph, all tied to one company and one interface. Federation pushes back on that. It makes competition healthier because the value starts coming more from what a platform or community actually offers, not just from how well it can trap people. It gives people and communities more agency, which I think is badly needed.

So this LCARS Niagara theme is partly just because I like the aesthetic, but it is also kind of philosophical. It reflects a view of the future that feels more connected, more legible, and more open. Not less human, not sterile, not flattened into algorithmic sludge, but more empowering. I do not think the answer is sitting around waiting for some total anti-capitalist rupture before anything gets better. I think a lot of progress comes from building systems that already embody better values inside the world we actually live in. Open protocols, shared infrastructure, portability, cooperation, all of that feels like the right direction.

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After the April 2026 security update, a growing number of Galaxy S25 and S24 owners are reporting battery drain issues.

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