Your phone is one of the best gaming devices you own, and you don't need a console or a gaming PC to prove it. Between meetings, on your commute, or waiting for a pot of water to boil, your phone can hand you anything from a full farming simulator to a first-person shooter with console-level graphics.
I tested 12 different mobile game apps for iOS and Android and picked the top six that are undoubtedly entertaining. Choose from an idle chicken farm I genuinely can't stop checking to a strategy game that scratches my Civilization itch without demanding a PC.
Read on for a full review of each app, with actual mobile gameplay images.
Cheap unlimited data for endless gaming
A farming sim like Egg, Inc. barely touches your data plan, but a multiplayer shooter or a game with cloud storage saves is a different story. Before you download all six, check what your current plan actually supports.
Check out some of the most popular budget-friendly unlimited data plans below:
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Mint Mobile
Unlimited Data Plan
$15.00/mo
$45 for 3 months of service
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Visible
$19 Visible Plan
$19.00/mo
Taxes & Fees included
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T-Mobile
Essentials Saver 2.0
$50.00/mo
with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees NOT included
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Best mobile games compared
| Game | Available on | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stardew Valley | iPhone and Android | $4.99 one-time purchase | A deep, story-driven farming simulation |
| Rise of Kingdoms | iPhone and Android | Free (optional VIP and gem purchases) | Civilization-style strategy and empire building |
| Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete | iPhone and Android | $19.99 one-time purchase | A cozy life sim that syncs across devices |
| Call of Duty: Mobile | iPhone and Android | Free (cosmetics and battle pass optional) | Console-style first-person shooter matches |
| Egg, Inc. | iPhone and Android | Free, no ads encountered | Idle farming with hands-off progress |
| Vampire Survivors | iPhone and Android | Free (optional revives and DLC) | Fast, one-thumb horde-survival action |
1. Stardew Valley: The gold standard for mobile farming sims
5 out of 5 overall
- $4.99, one-time purchase
- Available for iOS and Android
Stardew Valley is one of the best purchases I've made all year, and if you're willing to spend a few dollars on a mobile game, this is the one to pick. As a longtime Harvest Moon fan (now called Story of Seasons), I fell for Stardew Valley the moment I first played it on Nintendo Switch back in 2018. But with my Switch gathering dust in a closet, I decided to try the mobile version and am so glad I came back.
Image: Jessica Santero | WhistleOut
You just inherited your grandfather's farm and need to fix it up. There are trees to cut, weeds to pluck, and logs to move, plus your little cabin is barebones and needs sprucing up too. But Stardew Valley is so much more than a simple farming simulator.
You can mine, fish, gather wildflowers, and stumble across special sprites hidden around the map. Better yet, you need to build relationships with the town's villagers, and maybe even find a spouse along the way. I love the fact that romance can take place in this game, and as the song goes: First comes love, then comes marriage…and then the baby in the baby carriage because you can start a family too!
The best $4.99 you'll spend on your phone, ever.
Things can go wrong, so be careful. Animals get sick, and blights can hit your crops, which keeps the game from ever feeling too easy.
I love the art direction just as much as the gameplay. The animals are adorable (my personal favorite being the chickens), and even the pixel fruits and vegetables are outright charming. I think Stardew Valley is the ideal game for everyone. The story changes depending on what you do, which makes the fun endless. You can always just make a new game as a man or woman to see what the other half experiences.
Reddit agrees that Stardew Valley is amazing
Mobile players in r/StardewValley rave about the mobile version, especially about the auto-attack in the mines. Many commenters say it's a real advantage over manual PC combat. Plus, gates open and close automatically as you walk through them, which makes for a smoother overall experience.
2. Rise of Kingdoms: Civilization-style strategy without the steep learning curve
4 out of 5 overall
- Free, with optional VIP and gem purchases
- Available for iOS and Android
As a longtime Sid Meier's Civilization fan, I get a similar rush from Rise of Kingdoms without the crushing losses I usually rack up on PC. It's a simplified version that lets you advance an ancient empire through the ages while conquering lands near or far. The action buttons are more limited on this mobile version, considering it's a much smaller surface. You can't scroll freely across the whole map right away, and the delegation, spying, and alliances don't come close to the possibilities on a PC. Still, the main gameplay holds up; you scout territories, defeat barbarians, and train your infantry—and neglecting your citizens can get your kingdom taken over fast.
Image: Jessica Santero | WhistleOut
I appreciate that you get to choose your civilization, whether that's Greece, Babylonia, Japan, or my personal favorite, the Vikings (even though France tends to dominate the leaderboards). The graphics aren't quite as nostalgic as the PC version for me, but the animations and music are soothing. Plus, the first 15 minutes include a much-needed tutorial to walk you through the basics without overwhelming you.
Image: Jessica Santero | WhistleOut
I played on and off for a month, mostly during downtime, and never ran into an ad. The game also has a rotating calendar of events. During my testing, the featured event was a discovery challenge that sent players exploring different areas for special runes. I never faced a boring moment. Since you're mostly fighting AI-controlled barbarians rather than other players, there's no shortage of enemies to keep the early game interesting.
I highly recommend Rise of Kingdoms if you like a strategy game that is fast-paced and unexpected. As you advance in the game, it takes longer to upgrade your City Hall or train your warriors, but that's the fun part of the game. If you're attacked while everyone is in training, you can lose all your hard work instantly.
See more of your empire on a bigger screen
Games like Rise of Kingdoms include vast maps that are easier to manage on a bigger screen. Choose a foldable phone for double the screen size to better manage your empire.
Check out the most popular foldable phones below:
Pixel 10 Pro Fold 256GB
- 8 inch display
- Rear Cameras: 48MP, 10.5MP, 10.8MP
- Front Cameras: 10MP, 10MP
Pixel 11 Pro Fold 5G 256GB
- 8 inch display
- Rear Cameras: 48MP, 10.5MP, 10.8MP
- Front Cameras: 10MP, 10MP
Galaxy Z Fold8 5G 256GB
- 7.6 inch display
- Rear Cameras: 50MP, 50MP
- Front Cameras: 10MP, 10MP
3. Call of Duty: Mobile: Console-quality shooting matches in eight minutes or less
4.5 out of 5 overall
- Free, with optional cosmetics and a battle pass
- Available for iOS and Android
Call of Duty: Mobile brings impressive shooter mechanics to your phone, with graphics that feel closer to a gaming PC than most mobile titles manage. I expected very little going into testing COD: Mobile, especially since I've been a Black Ops lover on PC since its release. That said, I fell in love—in an extremely competitive way.
Half of your touchscreen handles movement, while the other half controls your perspective, and it works together more smoothly than I expected. The auto-shoot option is a nice touch too, since it means you're not scrambling to find enough fingers to tap, move, and turn all at once. Matches run around eight minutes, including load time, with the goal of eliminating the other team as many times as possible.
Image: Jessica Santero | WhistleOut
There is one catch that I didn't appreciate, though. If you don't want to create an account (whether you prefer protecting your digital footprint or personal data) the app pushes you toward creating an account before you even get a chance to try it as a guest.
Let me be clear: You don't need to sign up. You can tap out of the account prompt and play as a guest right away, but it's an easy thing to miss if you're moving quickly through the setup screens. Beyond that, the actual shooting experience is hard to put down and will probably make you want to sign in to save your stats anyway.
If you like first-person shooters, Call of Duty: Mobile is an excellent pick. And it's free, which is huge considering I remember paying full price for the same franchise on Steam.
Better 5G coverage for zero lag
T-Mobile offers coverage on the most extensive 5G network in the nation, which means you get better speeds and smoother gameplay. Check out T-Mobile's most popular plans with premium data so you can game on the go.
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T-Mobile
Essentials Saver 2.0
$50.00/mo
with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees NOT included
|
|
T-Mobile
Essentials 2.0
$60.00/mo
with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees NOT included
|
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T-Mobile
Experience More 2.0
$85.00/mo
with Auto-Pay + Taxes and fees
|
4. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete: A cozy life sim that follows you across devices
5 out of 5 overall
- $19.99, one-time purchase (frequently discounted)
- Available for iOS and Android
I've been playing Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete daily for over a year, and I still haven't gotten tired of it. Between building out my house, my cabin, and my campsite, renovating my RV, and getting to know every townsperson, there's always something new to work toward. Plus, the holiday events (including international holidays) constantly give you new challenges to complete.
My personal favorite is the fishing competition, since each one introduces new fish to catch. I've recently heard you can snag a whale shark, and I've been fishing every event since trying to land one.
Image: App Store
If you've never dabbled in the world of Animal Crossing, it's full of animal villagers that live in your town (or rather visit your campground in Pocket Complete), and you can maintain relationships with them to encourage them to stay longer, or not. For example, I've just finished filling my campsite with all the crocodile townies and decorated it with a swamp theme—and it's just adorable.
Image: Jessica Santero | WhistleOut
$19.99 may seem like a lot for a mobile game, but it's a multi-device world that's packed full of possibilities. The graphics are more detailed than the original free-to-play Pocket Camp, and your progress syncs across the cloud, so you can pick up your campsite on a different device without losing anything. A home screen widget also shows a rotating calendar with fun trivia about the townspeople, a small touch I didn't expect to like as much as I do.
Plus, this version of Pocket Camp allows you to buy special furniture sets in the store by cracking open fortune cookies. I recently snagged a Harry Potter-inspired wizard hat and wand that I'm excited to use in October!
5. Egg, Inc.: Build a free chicken empire without watching a single ad
4.5 out of 5 overall
- Free, with no ads encountered during testing
- Available for iOS and Android
Egg, Inc. tasks you with building and growing a chicken farm, and it's a much more detailed game than that premise lets on. You hatch eggs, keep your chickens happy, and ship your product off to the egg industry, all while customizing your farm with everything from crystal-covered coops to a volcano standing in for your silo. For a free download, it's surprisingly high quality and doesn't have any bugs or lag. The graphics are crisp, the colors are vibrant, and the little drones flying over your farm add a strange but charming touch.
Image: Jessica Santero | WhistleOut
To generate more chickens, you tap a button repeatedly, and the faster you tap, the more chickens you get. You also need to research chicken life (like a Temple Grandin but for chicken coops) to boost egg production and chicken happiness, which in turn lets you sell more eggs and reinvest in your farm. The game keeps generating income by the second, so closing the app and going to bed doesn't stop your farm from working.
I played for two straight hours and never ran into a single ad, which is rare for a free game and made the whole experience feel unusually smooth. It's not going to replace a more in-depth full-on simulator like The Sims or Animal Crossing for me, but as a low-effort time filler, it's one of the best around.
Egg, Inc. is a fun pastime that you can keep adding to, creating chicken mansions (state-of-the-art modern coops). I could see myself revisiting this game while waiting for the family to get ready or while sitting in the movie theater before the previews start.
Not sure how to update your apps?
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6. Vampire Survivors: The simple arcade game I still can't beat
4 out of 5 overall
- Free, with optional revives
- Available for iOS and Android
If you love arcade games, Vampire Survivors is the choice for you. You start by choosing a character, but all new players are limited to Antonio. Once you've built up experience points, you can choose from the other survivors, but in the meantime you have to make progress with Antonio the slasher.
From there, you move your character around the screen while your attacks fire automatically. It sounds simple, and it is, but it's difficult to win. Since you don't control your attacks directly, you have to time your movement to line up your character against the swarm following you, or you'll take damage fast and die even faster.
Image: Jessica Santero | WhistleOut
You don't have to think much while playing, which is exactly the point. It's a great time filler with arcade-style graphics and sound effects. It reminded me of Space Invaders with a vampire theme and higher stakes, since the enemies deal serious damage if you let your guard down.
Vampire Survivors is perfect for arcade lovers who want to challenge themselves with limited attacks and abilities. I still haven't beaten it, so it isn't as easy as it looks.
How I evaluated the best mobile games
I judged each game on whether it holds up as something you'd actually keep on your phone past the first week, not just whether it looks good in a store listing. Here's what I looked for:
- Ease of entry: Can you start playing immediately, or does the tutorial take up your first 10 minutes?
- Ads and monetization: Is the free version playable without constant interruptions, or is it built to push you toward paying?
- Depth and replayability: Does the game give you a reason to come back tomorrow?
- Practicality: Is this a game you'd open during a five-minute break, or one that demands your full attention?
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Best mobile games: FAQ
What is the best free mobile game right now?
Call of Duty: Mobile and Egg, Inc. are the best free mobile games available, with no ads encountered during testing and enough depth to keep you coming back.
Are free-to-play mobile games actually free?
Yes, most free-to-play games, including Rise of Kingdoms and Call of Duty: Mobile, are fully playable without spending a dollar, though optional in-app purchases can speed up progress or unlock cosmetics.
What is the best mobile game for iPhone and Android?
Stardew Valley is my top pick overall for its depth and replay value, though the best game for you depends on whether you want a quick arcade session or a long-term farming sim.
Jessica Santero
Staff Writer
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