Latest entries - April 10th, 2025:

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Introduction

(scroll down for the actual list)

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 here, 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.‼️

 

Entry Criteria

  • FREE
  • NO ADS
  • STRICTLY NO IAPs (except donation buttons, but I’ll have to check before adding the game to the list, so no guarantees it’ll be added quickly)
  • NO PIRACY
  • it has to be a legit, full game you’ve played and liked. No demos, no emulators (everyone knows RetroArch anyways)
  • no entire repositories. You can recommend them in the comments if you really want, but this list is for games you’d like to recommend
  • if it’s a Play Store game, it should be compatible with the latest Android version at the time of entry
  • must include a link to the game, especially if from sources outside the Play Store. Not direct-download links, just links to the page
  • sketchy sources won’t be considered. Play Store, GitHub, and F-droid are welcome

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.

 

THE LIST

 

Legend

✅️ - Free and open-source software (FOSS)

☕️ - includes a fair donation button, with or without minimal cosmetics only

[Game title] - removed from Play Store

 

Shooter

 

Stealth

 

Platform

 

Rhythm

 

Arcade

 

RPG

 

Roguelike dungeon crawler

 

Deck builder

 

Adventure

 

Puzzle

 

Tower defense

 

Strategy

 

Racing

 

Management

 

Simulation

 

Casual

 

Sport/Competition

 

Visual novel

 

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.

  • char_stats@lemm.eeOPEnglish
    6·
    21 days ago

    First of all, thanks for your observations and suggestions. I love to be precise with my posts and learning more about markdown formatting.

    Headers require a space after the number signs

    A question about this: does it change the way it actually looks? I’ll fix it, but I’d love to know if there’s a practical difference in using space vs no space?

    I think “Introduction” and “Entry Criteria” should both be headers as well

    You’re probably right, as general rules go, but the reason why headers in my list are formatted this way is because I wanted to draw attention to the actual list and genres, rather than to the introduction/criteria. As I’m expecting most users to browse this list when they want to checkout some games.

    Each of your genre headers should get three number signs, since those are all headers that fall within the “THE LIST” section

    I’ve actually tried that recently, but didn’t like the way it looked. I think something was off with the spacing between genre headers and first line when using three hashtags. Might give it another try soon.*

    *fixed the genre headers with three hashtagas

    • SatyrSack@feddit.orgEnglish
      3·
      25 days ago

      A question about this: does it change the way it actually looks? I’ll fix it, but I’d love to know if there’s a practical difference in using space vs no space?

      Without the space, they don’t render as a header at all.

      No space:

      ##THE LIST

      With space:

      THE LIST

      • char_stats@lemm.eeOPEnglish
        5·
        25 days ago

        They both always looked the same for me, but once I tried on Obsidian I could see the difference! I think it depends on what app the formatting is displayed on. Thanks, I’m gonna fix all headers

        • SatyrSack@feddit.orgEnglish
          5·
          25 days ago

          I think it depends on what app the formatting is displayed on.

          That is probably where the confusion lies here. Because in the default Lemmy web UI, omitting the space literally displays the number signs as-is without making the line a larger font at all.