this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2025
263 points (97.8% liked)

Android

21772 readers
23 users here now

The new home of /r/Android on Lemmy and the Fediverse!

Android news, reviews, tips, and discussions about rooting, tutorials, and apps.

🔗Universal Link: !android@lemdro.id

💡Content Philosophy:

Content which benefits the community (news, rumours, and discussions) is generally allowed and is valued over content which benefits only the individual (technical questions, help buying/selling, rants, self-promotion, etc.) which will be removed if it's in violation of the rules.

Support, technical, or app related questions belong in: !askandroid@lemdro.id

For fresh communities, lemmy apps, and instance updates: !lemdroid@lemdro.id

💬Matrix Chat

💬Telegram channels / chats

📰Our communities below

Rules

  1. Stay on topic: All posts should be related to the Android OS or ecosystem.

  2. No support questions, recommendation requests, rants, or bug reports: Posts must benefit the community rather than the individual. Please post to !askandroid@lemdro.id.

  3. Describe images/videos, no memes: Please include a text description when sharing images or videos. Post memes to !androidmemes@lemdro.id.

  4. No self-promotion spam: Active community members can post their apps if they answer any questions in the comments. Please do not post links to your own website, YouTube, blog content, or communities.

  5. No reposts or rehosted content: Share only the original source of an article, unless it's not available in English or requires logging in (like Twitter). Avoid reposting the same topic from other sources.

  6. No editorializing titles: You can add the author or website's name if helpful, but keep article titles unchanged.

  7. No piracy or unverified APKs: Do not share links or direct people to pirated content or unverified APKs, which may contain malicious code.

  8. No unauthorized polls, bots, or giveaways: Do not create polls, use bots, or organize giveaways without first contacting mods for approval.

  9. No offensive or low-effort content: Don't post offensive or unhelpful content. Keep it civil and friendly!

  10. No affiliate links: Posting affiliate links is not allowed.

Quick Links

Our Communities

Lemmy App List

Chat and More

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
ijeff
ladfrombrad
Paradox
multimoon
mikestevens
Devgard@lemmy.world
limerod@reddthat.com
Netrunner
263
Free Android Games (incl. FOSS ✅️) - no ads, no IAPs, no gacha. (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de to c/android
70 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

👉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.

(page 2) 21 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

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

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] weirdo_from_space@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

There is a platformer called Obsolete in Play Store. I only played a little of it at the moment but so far it's pretty good.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] AbsolutelyNotCats 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Open Sudoku on F-droid is exactly the kind of thing this list needs: zero network calls, zero tracking, just a puzzle that works. The FOSS section is stronger than the generic 'free games with no IAP' section because F-droid exclusivity actually means something. What other genuinely offline games with zero telemetry are on your radar?

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Farvana@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 9 months ago

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

[–] splendoruranium@infosec.pub 1 points 9 months ago (3 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?

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] AbsolutelyNotCats 1 points 3 weeks ago

Open Sudoku remains an excellent puzzle game with clean gameplay that outperforms most ad filled alternatives. The list looks solid but any consideration for adding more recent FOSS releases from the last year?

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›