Whether on the Play Store (Google) or the App Store (Apple), free video games are more and more numerous and varied. There is something for everyone. But how to choose when faced with such extensive catalogs? To help you, we have selected below the best games for Android and iPhone. You will surely find your happiness without spending a cent in this article.
Video games for smartphones have come a long way since the 1990s. From the famous Snake in 1997 on Nokia to Angry Birds in the 2010s to the smartphone adaptation of Fortnite in the 2020s, mobile games are constantly being renewed.
It has never been easier, basically, to play video games. Apart from the smartphone itself, there is no need to buy any particular hardware and no need for any specific skills to get started. Despite the almost systematic presence of microtransactions, the process is simple and often free, since many mobile video games are initially downloadable and playable without paying a cent.
If you are looking for mobile games for your iPhone or Android smartphone, here is our non-exhaustive selection of the best games available for free download. Note that we have not included mobile games that only offer the beginning of the game for free, like the excellent Bastion, for example. Similarly, we have not added games that are free on one app store, but paid on the other, like the very good Alto’s Odyssey.
See also: Android: the 12 best free console emulators for retrogaming
Our selection of the 10 best free mobile games in 2022:
- Sky: Children of the Light
- Call of Duty Mobile
- Among Us!
- League of Legends: Wild Rift
- Apex Legends
- Pokémon Go
- Brawl Stars
- Genshin Impact
- Trivia Crack
- Candy Crush saga
1. Sky: Children of the Light
Sky:Children of the Light is a role-playing game designed by the creators of the excellent Flower and Journey, available for free on Android and iOS. Just like Journey, Sky is above all a game with a social dimension. It’s the ideal game if you’re looking for a dreamy adventure that’s smart, fun and relaxing.
As you navigate the sky, you’ll meet other players with whom you can befriend and interact using expressions, gestures and attitudes, all of which can be unlocked as you progress through the story. The game is playable solo, but encourages exploration and mutual aid between players to help solve puzzles and riddles. We recommend the use of headphones or earphones to fully enjoy the sound experience of the game, as well as a controller – if possible, of course – to facilitate movement.
Editor’s opinion: Sky is still our favorite little nugget, the mobile video game we enjoyed the most, the one we returned to the most. Zen, relaxing, different, it offers a dreamlike, original and moving adventure. We can only reproach it for the fact that there are not enough different worlds. Let’s mention that it is also available on Nintendo Switch, with the possibility of finding your backup.
2. Call of Duty Mobile
Shooting games and smartphones are a bit complicated. With the screen, it’s not easy to move, turn, aim, shoot, etc. However, Call of Duty Mobile managed to seduce us, with a gameplay that is dynamic, mastered and complete. Despite its millions of microtransactions, it is possible to play it without paying a cent.
Editor’s opinion: A must-have if you like FPS and even if you are not a fan of the franchise, Call of Duty Mobile will remain the shooting game that will have marked us the most. The controls are perfect, the shooting feeling is good and the games follow each other quickly. Overall, the desire to go back to it almost daily has pushed us to put it at the top of this ranking, downgrading Fortnite, which for the record is no longer available on the App Store.
Related content : Call of Duty Mobile: 5 Android touch controllers to improve your skills
3. Among Us
For the uninitiated, the game places you in a team of 4 to 15 people, on a spaceship. Among you, one or more players are imposters who are looking to eliminate you. Your teammates will fall one by one and each time a vote is offered to find out who is the killer, you will have to designate someone. If a person is “sus”, designated (even wrongly), he is eliminated from the game. The goal if you are not the impostor: survive. The goal if you are the impostor: to kill everyone, without being detected, of course.
Editor’s opinion: Even if the hype has more or less died down, Among Us remains for us one of the best games. For its originality already, but also for its gameplay. Its fun side with several players is also undeniable, especially with friends. Let’s also mention that it is free on smartphones.
4. League of Legends: Wild Rift
Riot Games, unstoppable? After the release of the excellent Arcane series on Netflix (see our review), the studio unveiled Wild Rift, a sort of mini LoL, but for mobiles. The game offers a similar gameplay to its elder, that is to say two teams of 5 players who compete on a square map made of 3 lanes, with the goal of pulverizing the enemy base. The game time is shorter and the map smaller than on PC, but the experience is not truncated. There are over 40 champions to collect and play, such as Yasuo, Ahri, etc.
Editor’s opinion: MOBAs are a bit like battle royale, there is no shortage of them. Nevertheless, Wild Rift is a 5 vs 5 strategy game that is quite successful. What’s nice is that for once you don’t have to pay to win, since the whole thing is pretty well balanced. The gameplay is addictive, the graphics are very nice and you’ll quickly find yourself starting a new game. Beginners won’t be left out either, as there are many tutorials to help them get started. At the first launch, plan to launch it connected to Wifi, as the game downloads several GB of data.
5. Apex Legends
If you like Battle Royale type games a la Fortnite, you’ll love Apex Legends. Choose your legendary hero according to his characteristics and go to the arena where you will have to fight the other players (60 participants). There must be only one left! Note that it is possible to play solo or in teams of 3 players. In this case, the last team to play wins the game.
Editor’s opinion: Apex Legends is a success in both graphics and gameplay. New seasons, new weapons and new challenges regularly renew the player’s experience. Players will also appreciate its cross-platform system that allows them to play together, regardless of the terminal or platform used. As a reminder, Apex Legends is available on PC, consoles and mobiles.
6. Pokémon Go
Although the goal is unchanged from the other games in the franchise – which is to catch Pokémon, of course – the gameplay system differs. Through the use of augmented reality, players can use their smartphone’s camera to observe and catch Pokémon within range. The Pokémon encountered vary depending on the different locations the player visits.
In the same way, the player can come across PokéStops, points of interest located everywhere in France and in the world, which can be cultural places, stores, statues, original and specific places in a city, etc. Each PokéStop encountered gives the player random items useful for the progression in the game, such as PokéBalls, elixirs, incense, as well as XP.
Editor’s opinion: Would it have been wise to make this selection of the best free mobile games without mentioning Pokémon Go? A real social phenomenon when it was released in 2016, Pokémon Go is still widely appreciated and played by hundreds of thousands of players around the world. Still among the
7. Brawl Stars
Brawl Stars is a nice surprise for all Supercell fans: a solid shooter with a competitive soul, four cool game modes and a set of characters to unlock and upgrade. Still perched in the top of the most downloaded games on the App Store, the title promises hours and hours of fun, shooting, solo or with friends.
Editor’s Opinion: Brawl Stars is a 3 vs 3 multiplayer game, free, fun, well adapted to touch screens and quick games. No need to worry here: you just launch the game, play a game and you’re right into the action, whether you’re in the mood to relax and shoot stuff or you want to be strategic.
8. Genshin Impact
It’s hard not to mention Genshin Impact in this selection, as the title has been so much talked about in sponsored spots on YouTube. For the uninitiated, it’s an action-RPG with familiar graphics that lets you explore a vast open world, fight with weapons and magic, earn XP, complete quests, etc. In short, an RPG. In short, an RPG. During the adventure, you have the possibility to control several characters, each with a unique personality and different elemental abilities.
The game takes place in Teyvat, where a sister and brother find themselves separated by an unknown goddess. The player begins his or her adventure as a Traveler, whose origin is unknown, and goes in search of the other.
Editor’s note: Despite its strange similarity to a certain popular game on Nintendo Switch, Genshin Impact has now got something to stand out. It is even different from many other games in what it offers. Its combat system is quite fun and its open world is quite vast to explore. However, it has a certain repetitiveness, a dubious character design and some very annoying dubbing.
9. Trivia Crack
If you like to test your knowledge and play trivia games, then try Trivia Crack. The game and reward system is well designed and addictive. There are no boring Trivial Pursuit-style questions here, but a colorful interface and progressively more difficult questions. Players will be able to enjoy the single player mode and answer thematic questions, before moving on to the standard one-on-one mode. Several difficulty levels are offered and you can play against one of your friends or against a randomly chosen opponent. Other game modes are available, and in all cases, you’ll win coins, gifts and rewards.
Editor’s Opinion: Colorful and addictive, Trivia Crack allows you to test your knowledge, but also to learn while having fun. Players appreciate the distribution of questions in the 6 categories (history, sports, science, art, entertainment and geography), the colorful interface and the fun reward system. However, it seems that the ads are a bit too intrusive.
10. Candy Crush Saga
Who has never heard of Candy Crush? Addictive and strong of a craze of all generations since its release in 2012, Candy Crush Saga counts several million downloads worldwide. One might think that the principle of making candy areas disappear would have no intellectual interest, but it is not so. Indeed, it is not simply a matter of moving colored candies to make them disappear, the player has a minimum number of moves to earn more points and rewards. It is therefore necessary to use your thinking and your sense of observation to achieve your goal. Candies with special powers will also spice up the game.
Editor’s Opinion: Although the childish graphics give the impression that this is a simple, even simple game, Candy Crush Saga and others are more intelligent than they look. And players looking for a challenge will have to rack their brains to win the game in a minimum of moves.
Discover also our selection of the best games for iPhone and iPad :
- The best free sports games
- The best free role playing games
- The best free quiz games
- The best free action games
- The best free shooting games (FPS and TPS)
- The best free platform games