this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2025
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Play store is unusable tripe. I member back in the day there being websites and forums that actually gave honest insight into what was good and what was trash. Anything like that today? Where does one find the good android games nowadays while avoiding all the shovelware crap?

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[–] burgersc12@mander.xyz 30 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Check out the site dark pattern games, it shows a list of games and their "dark" side like money and time wasters. They also show the "healthy" side of mobile gaming as well

[–] Thteven@lemmy.world 21 points 5 months ago

Emulators are where it's at on Android, at least for me. There's a handful of good native android games but you can play so so many fantastic old games using emulators.

Here's a thorough guide on setting it up:

https://retrogamecorps.com/2022/03/13/android-emulation-starter-guide/

And a link for ROMS collections:

https://r-roms.github.io/

It seems like a lot to take in just to play some games but I promise it's easier than it looks to get up and running.

[–] OmegaLemmy@discuss.online 18 points 5 months ago (2 children)

If a phone game is actually good it generally will also be ported to pc and consoles, so that should be a good point of reference

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 5 points 5 months ago

And vice versa.

[–] jacksilver@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

I thought I had a couple of counter examples, but every good game on my phone has a steam port (or originated on PC).

I really thought Miracle Sudoku would be phone only, but even that exists on steam.

[–] missingno@fedia.io 12 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] LucasWaffyWaf@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Heck, I've got it on both my android phone and my Palm PDA. Worth having it on both.

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Dang. Nice. Having a Palm PDA with Simon's Puzzles in ~~2024~~ 2025 is epic. I would take that thing to parties...and, at the kind of parties I attend, it would make me royalty.

[–] LucasWaffyWaf@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Oh I use it as an ADHD management tool! All the organization and productivity stuff of a smartphone with none of the distractions or dark patterns. Mine is a Sony PEG-UX50, top of the line for 2003 and distinctly 2000s Sony in appearance, function, and annoyances.

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

That is very cool.

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 2 points 5 months ago

That is very cool.

[–] jroid8@lemmy.world 10 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] MadBob@feddit.nl 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Could've picked a better abbreviation for "no-bullshit games" than "nobsgames", haha.

[–] donuts@lemmy.world 10 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Try F-Droid, there's some good quality games in their listing, and it's a lot more transparent than the Play store.

There's also a lot more indies (whether new or old) that have made it to mobile, like Stardew Valley, Terraria and Dungeon Clawler, so it's worth checking out the "premium" category on the Play store to find some decent games too

[–] P4ulin_Kbana@lemmy.eco.br 11 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Nah. There are few games on F-Droid, and most of them haven't been updated in years. But could you please list some of them?

[–] TeMccm2ZgLSE@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I play a lot of Shattered Pixel Dungeon. There is an unofficial release on f-droid

[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 8 points 5 months ago

Unciv is nice

[–] Pheonixdown@lemm.ee 8 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Check out MiniReview, I've had better luck there finding game of certain types that I'd enjoy.

[–] Mini_Moonpie@sh.itjust.works 4 points 5 months ago

Seconding this recommendation. You can find it on the Play store here: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=mini%20review&c=apps&hl=en_US. And, you can find the website here: https://minireview.io/

[–] Sunny@slrpnk.net 5 points 5 months ago

In terms of browsing Google Play there are two alternative ways I'd recommend.

First one is AuroraStore, grab it from F-droid:

The second option is AppFinder, grab that from their website here:

[–] daddy32@lemmy.world 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Actually the official google "play games" app has a nice feature that should be included in play store: it can filter for games without purchases.

Other than that, the mentioned minireview app has good filters.

[–] kipo@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Can it filter for paid games only with no in-app purchases?

[–] daddy32@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

The "play games" can. Three filters I always use in combination: "Premium" (i.e. paid), "no ads", "no in-app purchases". In the current version of the app you have to scroll quite down to find these.

[–] Mini_Moonpie@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 months ago