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—REUPLOAD—Free Android Games (incl. FOSS ✅️) - no ads, no IAPs, no gacha. (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de to c/android@lemdro.id
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NOTICE: I'm reuploading this as I lost my first account on lemm.ee (the instance was shut down) so that I can continue updating the list through this new account. The previous version of this list is now deprecated—links to that post might no longer work.

 

Latest entries - 8 July 2025:

Other recent entries

Introduction

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. it has to 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

 

Shooter

 

Stealth

 

Platformer

 

Rhythm

 

Arcade

 

RPG

 

Roguelike dungeon crawler

 

Deck builder

 

Adventure

 

Puzzle

 

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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[-] uzay@infosec.pub 12 points 3 weeks ago

I didn't see it in the list, so I recommend Breakout 71. It's a lot of fun!

[-] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 3 weeks ago

Added now. Thank you!

[-] Noerknhar@feddit.org 9 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks!

I don't dare to ask, but any suggestions in the idle area? That genre is infested with nasty p2w and dark patterns.

[-] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I don't play idle, but in my premium games list some users suggested Magic Research and Magic Research 2—pretty much the only games in my idle section. They're both paid, but it's an upfront, one-time payment :)

Here's Magic Research 2 Demo so you can try for free.

[-] Zaleramancer@beehaw.org 2 points 3 weeks ago

Hey, it's a paid game (non-freemium) but you could try Orb of Creation. I think there's a free demo on itch. One of the most fascinating incremental games I've played. I actually played all the way up to the current content's end.

Eagerly awaiting updates.

[-] Noerknhar@feddit.org 1 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks - looks interesting from what I've seen. Not sure where to get it tho, the version on itch just launched in browser?

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[-] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 9 points 3 weeks ago

Wouldn't it be more efficient to put this on Codeberg and accept PRs?

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[-] Zaleramancer@beehaw.org 4 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks for posting this. I really enjoyed getting to play Magic again thanks to Forge, and Anuto is a really solid tower defense.

[-] PlexSheep@infosec.pub 4 points 3 weeks ago

For sudoku, I recommend LibreSudoku, which is foss, has a really nice and modern UI, and features killer sudoku as an alternative game mode (which I much prefer).

https://github.com/kaajjo/LibreSudoku

[-] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 3 weeks ago

Added, thanks for the entry! I used the F-droid link as I believe it is more user friendly. Both F-droid and GitHub versions are on the same v. number.

[-] PlexSheep@infosec.pub 2 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks :)

[-] defaultusername@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 weeks ago

SuperTuxKart is FOSS: https://github.com/supertuxkart/stk-code

[-] axby@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

What do people think of my hobby project, "AlexGames": (F-Droid) (Web version) (Source on Github, AGPLv3).

It's a collection of simple games, mostly solo or local multiplayer, though the web version supports network multiplayer by sending your friend a URL: solitaire, chess, go, reversi, checkers, minesweeper, backgammon, some word puzzle games, and some arcade type games.

I was planning on adding AI next. And I really should polish the Android app, I've mostly only focused on the web version. And if people want, I could also submit to Google Play. My calculator app seems to be a lot more popular on F-Droid than Google Play, so I haven't bothered uploading this one to Google Play yet.

Happy to hear any feedback! I suspect that it looks too bland and unpolished for many people to be interested, or maybe it needs different kinds of games? My goal was to not need to download a bunch of ad filled free apps from the play store for when I wanted to play games with a friend on a flight or something, or just idly play something simple like solitaire.

edit: also in the Android app, stick to the "webview" version... the native Android version is mostly an experiment, I meant to hide it behind a setting but never got around to it.

[-] PlexSheep@infosec.pub 3 points 3 weeks ago

Pretty cool collection you have there. Unfortunately, the web version doesnt seem super accessible to Smartphones. Is that all a huge codebase? Has charm.

[-] axby@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Thanks! What do you mean about smartphones, can you share what phone OS and browser you are using? It should work on Android (Firefox/Chrome) and iOS (Safari), I consider mobile to be just as important as desktop. Ah, I remember some FOSS mobile browsers have WebAssembly disabled... here is an older version compiled to JS instead of WASM, let me know if that works: https://alexbarry.net/dev/games/reversi-ai2-no-wasm-2025-01-05/

In hindsight I should add some browser side detection of if WASM is supported, then show a warning at least, if not redirect to a JS version.

And yes, it's all one big code base (https://github.com/alexbarry/AlexGames), each game is pretty small though, maybe 500-1000 lines of Lua on average: https://github.com/alexbarry/AlexGames/tree/main/src/lua_scripts/games . Overall it's quite simple, the Lua/Rust APIs just call simple browser APIs to draw shapes and graphics. The harder part was being able to re-use the same code on Android and desktop (wxWidgets). Also I'm running into some WASM/browser limitations when trying to do heavy processing for board games AI.

[-] PlexSheep@infosec.pub 2 points 2 weeks ago

It does work, it just isn't the most intuitive UX.

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[-] passenger@sopuli.xyz 3 points 3 weeks ago

Fabularium (the F-droid version is bit enhanced over the original). It is an engine to play text adventure games like Anchorhead or Zork. Get the games at ifdb.

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[-] faintwhenfree@lemmus.org 3 points 3 weeks ago

I'd nominate Antimine to be added as a minesweeper clone that is FOSS and has beautiful UI. https://f-droid.org/packages/dev.lucanlm.antimine/

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[-] Luthor@pawb.social 2 points 3 weeks ago

Pixics seems to have a weekly subscription show up after a few puzzles. There doesn't seem to be a way to play more without subscribing.

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[-] PlexSheep@infosec.pub 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Another Tetris clone with a beautiful UI and sound design and an intuitive control, in my opinion the best falling block game at least for Android.

(I don't think this is on fdroid though?)

It even works in just a web browser!

[-] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 weeks ago

Added, thanks :)

[-] otter@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 weeks ago

Neat, thanks :)

Do you have a similar list for other categories (paid, optional cosmetic IAP)

[-] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 weeks ago

I do, for premium paid games: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/40095654

I don't have a list for free games with optional/cosmetic IAPs, however

[-] Welp_im_damned@lemdro.id 2 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks for the list!

Where you the one that also made a list of good paid/ported games?

[-] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yes, this list.

You're welcome! Have fun :)

[-] morethanevil@lemmy.fedifriends.social 2 points 3 weeks ago

Clicked through the first few links, Zombotron is marked in Google Play with "contains ads", Dock The Rocket contains AIP, same for Shattered Pixel Dungeon. :(

[-] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

So, I checked those games:

  • Zombotron contains ads so I moved it to a bottom, hidden section for games with minimal ads/IAPs

  • Dock The Rocket added IAPs, so same as above

  • Shattered Pixel Dungeon has two entries in my list, and both match criteria. One is from the Play Store and has optional IAP for donations only—see rule #3 of criteria. The other entry is a link to the game in F-droid, so no ads or IAPs.

[-] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks for reporting this. Some games start free without ads or IAPs, then devs add them later on. I don't blame them, as that's their work and people must eat, but I'll double check the games you mentioned and remove them if they don't match entry criteria any longer.

[-] morethanevil@lemmy.fedifriends.social 2 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks for sharing and curating this list 👍🏻😌

[-] weirdo_from_space@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

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.

[-] char_stats@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 weeks ago

Added, thank you :)

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this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2025
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