this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2025
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207
—REUPLOAD—Free Android Games (incl. FOSS ✅️) - no ads, no IAPs, no gacha. (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 9 minutes ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
51 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

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 - 7 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

 

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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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not familiar with how Codeberg works (first time I heard about it actually), but I'll look into it as soon as I have more free time. For now, I'm OK with Lemmy posting.

If you're not bothered, mind explaining how it'd be more efficient or convenient? Keep in mind that I work on this EXCLUSIVELY from a phone, because for me sitting at a PC desk=work (I mean the boring one that pays the bills lol).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

The other poster mentioned it, but some things that may help:

  • There is a phone-friendly web editor built in for editing Markdown
  • You're able to see the history of changes, and a reason why they were made if one was provided
  • You can link directly to a line or header in the markdown
  • Others can make changes that you can then approve or reject
[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 minutes ago* (last edited 10 minutes ago)

Thanks for the explanation. I see the advantages of it, I'm just not sure that's necessarily more efficient or needed for my lists—there aren't lots of changes usually, and I enjoy the process anyways. I might give it a try at some point though!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

If you know GitHub, code hub is the same thing but free and open source, and working on federation support.