In a world full of microtransactions, nothing reigns more than mobile games. There's nothing worse than picking up a new game only to find out after a while that the only way to actually get anywhere is to dump real cash into it.
Typically, steering clear of free mobile games will save players the headache of both microtransactions and ads. However, there are some free games too that do well too, and not just puzzlers. Sometimes they have ads or time meters, but that's a small price to pay to not have to drop hundreds on microtransactions.
10 Cookie Clicker Is The Ruling Idle Game
Cookie Clicker is one of those games that changed the world, ushering in a whole reign of idle clicker games where the point is mostly just to see how big the numbers can get.
Typically it lives on as a browser game, but it also has an app on Android devices. A whole reign of cookie-induced hysteria, funny news lines, and a whole army of tiny kittens in hard hats are out there, ready for someone crazy enough to start their own cookie empire.
9 Genshin Impact Deserves The Love It Gets
Not all mobile games have to be puzzlers and have simple graphics. Genshin Impact is a massive action-adventure open world RPG that does have gatcha-style microtransactions, but that doesn't mean that the player has to utilize them in order to fully enjoy the game.
It has a very solid Breath of the Wild feel to it, which has spawned some controversy. The game itself received 23 million downloads within the first week of its release and is one of the highest-grossing mobile games of all time which just means that they can afford to keep updating and adding cool new stuff to the roster.
8 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Is Worth Its Time Meter
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is the Harry Potter game everyone wanted. There's a little personality quiz to help the player sort into different Hogwarts houses, but they can pick whatever they want anyway. There's a ton of customization, a full cast of characters including some beloved favorites and no annoying plot involving Harry himself.
It does have a time meter, with many actions requiring energy to use and a lot of things are locked behind gems which can get annoying. However, the player can watch ads and earn gems at an acceptable rate enough to make it worth it. Just don't cave and purchase any of the gems, as it's been noted that the free gems start getting harder to get after that point.
7 Hungry Shark Evolution Will Eat Up All Your Spare Time
If there was ever a game that didn't deserve to be as addicting as it is, it's Hungry Shark Evolution. With enough time and effort, all of the sharks and areas can be unlocked without spending a dime, and there's no energy bars to prevent the player from sinking hours into the Endless Survival game.
It can use gyro controls or touch, and has the player consuming everything in sight in this adorable game full of silly animations, powerups, and screaming people. There's also a pseudo-sequel Hungry Shark World, which is even more cartoony and silly than the original.
6 Neko Atsume Is Cute To Check In On
Neko Atsume earned much affection a handful of years ago when it first arrived on mobile devices. It has the player designing a little house and trying to attract various neighborhood cats, taking pictures of them for their book, and seeing what silly things the simple pictures can get into.
There's very little to the game other than being able to occasionally check in and see how the cats are doing, what cats have shown up, and if the player can manage to snap a shot of some of those seasonal kitties— but it is still extremely addicting.
5 Placed In Space Is A Uniquely Adorable Puzzler
Placed in Space is an adorable little indie puzzler by Ghost Bunny Games where the player is trying to make space for various aliens on their space ship. It has a cute little soundtrack to go along with its cute shell.
It's challenging enough to keep the interest going, but simple enough to not get frustrated at every turn. Finally a little puzzler that doesn't just rehash the same old games over and over. The best part is that there are no powerups to try and gouge the player with and there aren't many ads to get in the way despite being a freeware game.
4 Pokémon Go Is The King Of Mobile Games
Pokémon Go is the king of mobile games, requiring only going outside sometimes to play. It prompts players to go explore their local towns and find what they can, and even has monthly community days with special Pokémon appearing en masse to catch.
Now that it has Home compatibility too it makes it even better as now players can move caught monsters to their versions. Despite being a big game with a shop, it is awesome in the fact that nothing needs to be purchased to enjoy. Most things can be earned by placing monsters into gyms, and the optional event missions are not required to enjoy the events.
3 Threes! Started The Craze
Threes! had the unfortunate problem where a thousand and one clones appeared after it and managed to take up all of the popularity it should have had.
Nothing really compares to the original, matching numbers to make multiples of threes to try and get as high as possible. There's technically no real end so there's no real benefit in stressing over it, unlike how most of its clones have a definite number they're trying to build towards.
2 Wordscapes Has A Ton Of Different Word Puzzles
The original Wordscapes has the player filling in a puzzle with the available letters down on a dial, but the franchise is full of other word games that keep up the theme of having pretty backgrounds. Most of them past the original are so full of ads it makes them hard to play, but the original doesn't have quite as much of that issue.
Regardless, all of them are fun little word games that makes the player's brain just feel better after figuring out a few of the puzzles and does so while also being relaxing. There's no time limit, no reason to ever buy any of the powerups, and nothing more annoying than a handful of ads.
1 Zen Match Really Is Relaxing
A unique twist to a typical Mahjong-style tile matching game is Zen Match. It gives the player seven places to make matches of three tiles overlaid on pretty backgrounds while they earn these little blue lotuses that they can then use to color their rooms however they see fit.
It does have lives that end up getting used if the player is out of gold, but they will eventually respawn so there's no reason to buy more. If there's ever a point in the game where it becomes impossible to beat without buying extra turns, it's so far back there that it doesn't matter.