Shattered Pixel Dungeon is a great rogue-like! Available for iOS, Android, and on Steam. One-time purchase.
Ask HN: How do you find high quality mobile games?
71–80 of 117 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you find high quality mobile games?
#72Board game adaptations tend to be good. I can vouch for Through the Ages.
Also, King of Dragon Pass and Six Ages: Ride like the wind.
Rule of thumb: if it's a paid game where in-app purchases are limited to expansions, it's possibly good. If it's free to play with ads or microtransactions: it's garbage.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find high quality mobile games?
#73https://www.darkpattern.games/
My site to track games with dark patterns and those without.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find high quality mobile games?
#74The impossibility of finding good mobile games is why I develop desktop and console games. I have no idea how to get discovered in the soup of the mobile app stores and I don't want to build the kind of skinner's box it would take to compete alongside most of those games. There are great mobile games out there, but I have no idea to find them except by accident. It's so bad that something like 0.01% of mobile apps ma…
> I have no idea how to get discovered in the soup of the mobile app stores
If a mobile version isn't too much work, some fans or prospective fans may stumble upon your desktop game and check if there is an android/iOS version.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find high quality mobile games?
#75> What games do HN readers like?
Nethack or ported versions of older games (just finished Planescape: Torment, what a ride!)
Re: Ask HN: How do you find high quality mobile games?
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
Paying for the game
How much? Mobile games aren't any less expensive to develop than desktop or console games, but I doubt you'd be willing to pay $50 for one.
> Mobile games aren't any less expensive to develop than desktop or console games
What accounts for that? Even discounting AAA desktop/console games, mobile games are generally expected to have less content and they're written in higher level languages.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find high quality mobile games?
#77It's hard. Personally I've given up and I just carry my Steam Deck with me if I'm going somewhere that I might have some down time. If I don't have it, I'll read HN or news or something on my phone rather than play a game.
That said, I've had pretty good luck by looking at the Play store "Top Paid" list of games. The worst of the offenders allow you to play for "free" so won't be in that list. I've also had good luck by finding games on Steam that have Android ports. They tend to be higher quality.
A few games that are awesome:
1. Radiant by HEXAGE (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.hexage.rad...)
2. Oceanhorn by FDG Entertainment (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.FDGEnterta...)
3. Stardew Valley by ConcernedApe (though I much prefer playing this on Steam Deck) (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chucklefis...)
Re: Ask HN: How do you find high quality mobile games?
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
How much? Mobile games aren't any less expensive to develop than desktop or console games, but I doubt you'd be willing to pay $50 for one.
Depends on the game. I gladly paid for Monument Valley (one of the finest mobile games I ever played) but would never pay for crap like Flappy Bird.
You didn't say how much you'd pay. $50? Monument valley sells for $4 on iOS and $8 on steam.
The numbers on Monument Valley are interesting: https://medium.com/@ustwogames/monument-valley-in-numbers-ye...
Re: Ask HN: How do you find high quality mobile games?
#79Netflix Games[1] have higher quality than usual and no ads, no in-app purchases, and no predatory tactics (in the games I tried). Bonus points for being all free if you already have a Netflix account. I can vouch for Poinpy[2], Laya's Horizon[3], Lucky Luna[4], and Skies of Chaos[5]. I haven't tried the mobile ports, but the desktop versions were very good: Into the Breach[6], World of Good[7], and Kentucky Route Zer…
I haved loved Netflix games. Stranger Things original game was absolutely amazing!
Unfortunately they've made them require a netflix subscription, and to enforce that they require online play. I play a lot when I'm on airplanes or in the mountains and don't have service, so this is a major downside to me.
If anything from netflix games is reading, please figure out a way to do like a "re-check every 30 days" kind of thing.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find high quality mobile games?
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Paying for the game
How much? Mobile games aren't any less expensive to develop than desktop or console games, but I doubt you'd be willing to pay $50 for one.
> Mobile games aren't any less expensive to develop than desktop or console games,
This is not consistent with my experience. I suspect it's the overly broad nature that is wrong. Mobile games are usually much shorter and much simpler gameplay than desktop/console, which aboslutely are cheaper to make. If what you meant was "the same game on desktop and mobile is similar expense to make" then I agree, but you should specify those constraints as those are important qualifiers.