What are some good, casual mobile games.
Looking for games for my friend. She's mostly looking for a casual timewaster for a bit of enjoyable escapism. She historically liked some of the "merge games" where it's about merging icons on a grid, and a couple of the more traditional idle games but its so hard to find any without summy practices like dark patterns and abusive monitization.
So, what are some good casual mobile games? Ideally, the sort of thing your grandma could enjoy, but without the scummy practices that are widespread.
Edit: I'm looking for more "pure" casual games, rather than ones that are primarily puzzle or arcade games. Something more akin to Cookie Clicker, those old shovelware hidden object games, or Bejeweled's zen mode rather than Tetris or Brickbreaker.
balatro and ballxpit. Both very fun time-wasters.
I second Balatro. Best $10 I ever spent
Yes! Balatro!
In that vein, does anyone know if Monster Train 1 or 2 has been ported to mobile?
Monster Train 1 has been for sure. Works pretty well and switching between the levels of the train is fine too. Some text can be a little small depending on your phone screen size
f droid has some free time waster games.
https://f-droid.org/en/categories/games/
I like Breakout 71, it's deceptively simple but gets addicting https://f-droid.org/packages/me.lecaro.breakout
I just got this, it's amazing
I've found Ricochlime to be a fun one
Pirate Solitaire is very casual too
Walkscape is a fun mobile analog to runescape where xp in a dozen skills is gained by real-world steps.
It's still being built and expanded but its alpha stage is very playable and besides the skills has exploration, challenges, items, apparel, pets and a lot of fun stuff going for it, all while being a casual, healthy game.
Looks like signups are open now.
Have they added support for any watches yet? I have had my eye in this for ages as I'd love to try it but haven't checked in a while!
ios wearables are supported according to their roadmap
Oh, shame, but thanks for the info!
On Android, there's a good collection called Offline Games that has a lot of decent 'grandma friendly' mini games inside it.
Good choice - I was going to suggest Simon Tatham's Puzzle Collection.
Yes. Always Simon Tatham's Puzzle Collection.
It's freaking fantastic. Anyone sleeping on it needs to check it out.
It runs on just about anything, too, including some eReaders.
There's so many free open source games that fit your need.
Check out this search on F-Droid: https://search.f-droid.org/?q=game
And
https://search.f-droid.org/?q=Puzzle&lang=en
Unfortunately, I'm looking for more "pure" casual games, rather than ones that are primarily puzzle or arcade games. Something more akin to Cookie Clicker or Bejeweled's zen mode rather than Tetris or Brickbreaker. F-Droid doesn't seem to really have much like that.
There's less, but still some great ones.
Since you asked for non-predatory games, I still recommend spending some time searching F-Droid. It's the only place I find most non-predatory mobile games.
On f-droid, I would try out:
And on Google Play or Aurora, check out (paid, but nice if they haven't enshitified yet):
Ridiculous Fishing"As of December 10, 2025, the Android version is no longer downloadable from the Google Play store."
:(
Bummer!
Anuto tower defence?
Zen Koi - You are a koi (fish). You eat, grow, breed, ascend to your final dragon form. Collect different combinations of fish colors and patterns. Very chill, soothing music.
Unciv is a pretty cool game! It's basically FOSS civ 5 that can be played on mobile. Huge timewaster haha
I have probably clocked hundreds of hours into Gauguin. It's a sudoku-esque puzzle game about filling numbers in a grid. It keeps my quick math sharp.
Also, it might be a bit on the intense side of casual, but Balatro is probably the best mobile game ever made.
Seconding Balatro. I don't think a mobile game can get better than this
Egg Inc is pretty great
Bee Sort By Sam may scratch that merge game itch
https://games-by-sam.com/bee-sort-by-sam/
The same creator has a fun daily deduction game as well.
I used to play the web version of Bee Sort. Unfortunately, I got stuck on level 371 and the web version doesn't have the option to skip a level. Does the app version have that option?
I play on web too, so I couldn't say. I am on level 509, and my chief complaint is actually that the difficulty does not seem to scale up beyond level 100 or so. I wonder if they've adjusted things since you got stuck?
Android: Merge Sweets, Cooking Adventure, Eatventure, Burger Shop (1 and 2), Hidden Through Time, Screw Jam Puzzle
I have been able to play all of these without watching ads or spending money.
I'm really enjoying 2048. I set the board to 7x7 and have been playing the same game for weeks. Current largest block is at 131072.
https://f-droid.org/packages/org.secuso.privacyfriendly2048/
10,000,000 or You Must Build a Boat
It's been many years since I used my phone for games, but I do remember suuuuper liking Kairosoft games! They were very cute, straightforward, and progression felt fun. They also didn't have any micro transactions. They're kind of simulation type games, but they are also very approachable for new players!
I've been mildly addicted to Threes for nearly 13 years now. It's my go-to when having to wait for anything, which is especially handy when you're as impatient as I am (getting old). Also keeps me from doom scrolling. Just best score chasing, run based, number matching goodness.
I like Meow Tower. It's a nonogram puzzle game which was new to me, you get the hang of it pretty quick and it's nice to have something other than a merge puzzle. Plus cute cats!
I really like Piffle . It's brick breaker with cute chibi cats and the monetization isn't really in your face at all.
Not exactly on topic, but depending on the phone hardware, GameNative may allow to run PC games. I think, it's worth mentioning because hardware becomes more performant, and emulation support improves over time, and I didn't expect to be able to play something from Steam on my phone, and yet recently I started doing just that (in my case it's Slay the Princess, the game is great, but doesn't fit the bill of what you're looking for)
I quite liked Necromerger. It has a very fun monster aesthetic, the little guy talks like invader zim, and I honestly wasn't put off by the minorization. Had about 100 hours and no reason to delete it after 8 months, so I bought the premium version, 9 bucks, 1 time purchase, just gives you more energy or something.
I ultimately ended up out doing myself, got to a point where I got my satisfaction and still had energy left so I ended up playing longer than I wanted. Can't say I've ever complained about getting more game per game, but it was hard to put down when whatever I was waiting for showed up.
bejewled 2 is good, it's old but may still run if it's an android
Clues by Sam. It runs on a website, do no installation necessary. Perfect for a quick round on the commute.
Another one that I found fun to start with and it grows with your skill is shattered pixel dungeon
Considering valves translation layer for arm we might be able to play all games on phones. Main issue would be controls, but I guess emulators exist.
When I played it, Hill Climb Racing is pretty decent.
That game got me through school. Great game, but last time I played it, was more than a decade ago.
Yeah, honestly, I can see why. The big issue is that there are two other games in the series, and they're likely monetized like onion soup on a cake.
Umamusume
/s
I have sunk way too many hours into this one. A simple sorting puzzle, without any adverts or micro transactions. only downside i found so far, there is no option to replay a level.
Grindstone (iOS, Switch, Steam)
Infinite Minesweeper.
Atomos is a simple game about combining atoms to make higher value atoms, a bit like 2048 but in a circle. Very easy to pick up and put down, have kept it on my phone for years and years.
Kards. It’s a WW2 card game that’s super easy to play and fun.
Disco Zoo is cute
Antistress - relaxation toys has lots of fun little gadgets. I'd recommend paying for premium to escape ad hell
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.JindoBlu.Antistress
Fancade has a collection of fun casual mini games.
Idk. I play Wordle and other NYT Games with my grandma. She also plays Words with Friends with my mom. There’s also like, internet Hearts and Spades. But yeah.
Look your Loot is amazing
CircloO - a chill, physics based platformer game with user made levels. I've spent a really embarrassing amount of time on it.
Polymerger
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Zemga.Polymerger
Vista Golf is a long time go-to of mine.
All the native Android games I have played have already been suggested, so I could suggest using GameNative or similar to emulate some neat indie titles.
If you like retro games, you could also emulate your legally obtained ;) titles from GameBoy to PS2 to Dreamcast. I like using Retroarch for most of my emulation on my computer and I believe it exists on Android too. Dolphin is great for GameCube and Wii games, NetherSX2 for PS2. There are plenty of other good emulators too, each with varying degrees of feature set, compatibility, and stability.
On iOS, you have Delta (which focuses on older Nintendo titles), and not much else (Apple's fault for having closed app ecosystem and not having the best support for things like JIT)
I don't think I saw this game mentioned here yet, so I'll recommend SmashHit. It's a game about throwing metal balls at glass and not getting hit by said glass. It's not a typical "casual" game but it still fits the criteria pretty well, especially with its "ethereal" atmosphere.
It's unfortunately only on the Play Store, but you should be able to get it through the Aurora Store no problem.
Simon Tantham's puzzles
Löve Solitaire
Hole Down
Gridland is less casual, but I enjoy it. Turn off the music at first opportunity tho.
Vector Pinball