What are the best mobile games on Android and iPhone right now? Smartphones have come a long way since the first apps made their way to app stores back in 2008. With more capable handsets, apps and games have become richer in terms of graphics and gameplay. Modern smartphones are capable of handling graphics intensive titles, while joining in massive multiplayer online games with gamers on other platforms. Some titles require high-end graphics in order to ensure a good experience, while some casual games work fine on older devices.
We’ve curated a list of some of the best mobile games you can download on your smartphone today, ranging from titles like Genshin Impact to Call of Duty: Mobile. Some of the titles in this list were released recently, while others have been around for a while, amassing a dedicated userbase. Keep in mind that these games are alphabetically sorted, and there are no rankings of any sort, considering they span different themes and genres. Here are all the best games you can pick up for your iPhone or Android smartphone today.
Alto’s Odyssey
Released as a successor to the popular endless snowboarding runner Alto’s Adventure, Noodlecake’s sequel features a new landscape. You step into the shoes of the protagonist Alto, as he hops on his sandboard and surfs across the desert. Players must jump over rocks and ravines by tapping and holding down on the screen to perform one-touch tricks to complete 180 goals. Like the original game, Alto’s scarf gets longer with more tricks, while allowing you to build up speed.
You can pick from canyons, dunes, and temples while playing Alto’s Odyssey. Each biome offers its own perks and challenges, and the game introduces interesting new abilities. It brings a new wall-riding move, as well as adds waterfalls to build up speed, along with tornadoes, bouncy balloons, and unstable platforms. Like the original title, you can also select the Zen mode for an endless snowboarding experience, even when you run into an obstacle.
Alto’s Odyssey Is the Sequel Alto’s Adventure Deserves
Asphalt 9: Legends
Probably one of the most popular racing games on mobile platforms, Asphalt 9: Legends is the ninth main instalment in the Asphalt franchise. Despite being a free-to-play title, you get a lot of features like good graphics, exciting arcade-style gameplay, stunning courses based on real-world places, and an impressive roster of vehicles.
in Asphalt 9, you can unlock powerful new cars by collecting blueprints, which are gained by completing races and purchasing card packs from the shop. While the game is free-to-play, you will have to pay in order to progress faster in the game or to get access to better vehicles and upgrades. Or you can keep grinding by completing races and events to gain tokens and in-game currency to unlock new vehicles and upgrade existing ones.
Battlegrounds Mobile India
Battle royale favourite Battlegrounds Mobile India — colloquially known as BGMI — was brought to life after the Indian government decided to put an end to a number of “Chinese” apps, which much to the distress of gamers in India, included PUBG Mobile. BGMI is very much like its predecessor, but as the name suggests, is an Indianised version of the game. Almost all the features of this game are similar to PUBG Mobile, which includes the maps, the guns, and the overall mechanism.
BGMI has set some statutory warnings before the player enters the game. It puts emphasis on the fact that this is a game and it does not imitate the real world. In order to minimise violence, kills are now shown as finishes to keep it sanitised for gamers under 18. The UI and menus all look the same and so does the gameplay. With BGMI, you’ll be able to only hop into Indian servers and none of the other global ones like before.
You’ll find the AKM, AWM, Kar98K, and all the familiar guns across the maps, so there’s nothing new on that front. While players could pick up from where they last stopped in PUBG Mobile thanks to data migration, the deadline for that has now unfortunately passed. Still, for new and old players alike, the end goal of the game remains the same: be the last person standing.
Bridge Constructor
As the name suggests, the game revolves around you building bridges. Sounds quite easy, right? It isn’t. Bridge Constructor is a physics-based puzzle game that requires you to be fully aware of how and where a certain thing should be. The main objective of the game is to build bridges that are able to let a pair of trucks cross without falling down into the river. The game provides you with a couple of materials that can be used to build up a safe and secure bridge. The materials consist of wood, cables, concrete pillars and metal beams.
It also allows you to get a little preview of the bridge once you think you are levelling up and building a sturdy bridge. The preview structure is colour-coded, so the stronger sections are highlighted in green while the weaker parts are painted in yellow or dark red. This makes it easier for you to see where you can make the necessary changes.
Call of Duty: Mobile
Another popular multiplayer mobile battle royale, Call of Duty: Mobile, hit the market back in 2019. The game features core modes like Frontline, Team Deathmatch, Domination, Search & Destroy, Gunfight, Kill Confirmed, Hardpoint and Free for All. You can also play special modes that are introduced for specific events.
The game is also regularly updated with new maps, events, operators and weapons. Call of Duty: Mobile recently achieved its highest revenue in lifetime microtransactions by crossing the $1.5 billion(roughly Rs. 11,433 crore) revenue mark.
Very recently, Activision announced that players will get to experience Snoop Dogg as an operator.
Genshin Impact
Action role-playing games are a dime a dozen on mobile, but few can match miHoYo’s anime themed Genshin Impact in terms of depth and style. The game is set in the imaginary world of Tevyat, with seven different element-based nations. Separated from their sibling, players must wade through the politics of Tevyat’s various regions in search of their sibling, accompanied by the diminutive guide Paimon. Genshin Impact features easy to understand combat mechanics, even though you might have to grind in order to level up in the game.
Certain regions, challenges, and events are only accessible once you hit a certain level. It is worth noting that gamers who do not want to grind to gain new weapons, characters, andresources can make use of the gacha game mechanics to upgrade their inventory. One of the better free-to-play titles for smartphones — provided you have a capable enough smartphone.
Genshin Impact is also available on Windows, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
Minecraft
Very few games have been able to replicate what Minecraft provides for its players. While it is generally referred to as a survival game, Minecraft also offers powerful creation tools. You must use blocks to build structures in the game using raw materials that can be extracted from the limitless world. Building structures will enable you to fight computer controlled “mobs”, but you can also choose to compete with other players, opening up various possibilities in the open world game.
Minecraft has over 140 million active monthly users, and the popular game has also seen several spin-offs like Minecraft Dungeons, Minecraft Story Mode, and Minecraft Earth. Like a couple of other titles on this list, Minecraft is a cross-platform title, available on virtually every gaming platform, from consoles and PC to handheld devices.
Mini Metro
This popular title first started out as a browser-based game back in 2014, before launching on PC and then smartphones. Mini Metro, as you might have already guessed, is a strategy puzzle game that is about creating subway maps. The end goal of the game is to create a path that is efficient for everyone, allowing citizens to reach their stations on time.
You have to lay down subway tracks and connect stations by just using lines, as simple as that. The lines represent the tracks and the trains travel from one end to another, picking up and dropping off passengers. However, there are some limitations, how else would it be fun?
You can connect as many stations as you want, but you are allotted a certain number of lines to use and each train has a passenger limit, so you cannot take on more until the boarded ones get off. As you move forward, new subway stations will keep popping up and changing symbols which ultimately forces you to create a new line for them. Despite that all, the UI of the app is pretty straightforward and minimal.
Mini Metro offers around 13 different maps, ranging from New York, Paris, London, and more. This makes it more interesting as you will have new blueprints of subway tracks and new stations to connect.
Monument Valley 2
Ustwo delighted gamers when it brought Monument Valley to smartphones in 2014, and the sequel to the popular indie puzzle game features a new story featuring Ro and her child. This time, you get to navigate beautifully designed three-dimensional puzzles and mazes in order to complete the level. Just like the original title, you can spin, drag and move the puzzle around to reveal new paths to move around the geometric structures. The best part? You don’t even need to play Monument Valley to enjoy the sequel.
Depending on which chapter you’re playing, Monument Valley 2 will allow you to control either Ro, or her child, who will move around the puzzle, step on switches, and walk through doors to reach other levels. Monument Valley 2 features incredibly well designed puzzles that will have you racking your brain for ways for a solution, while featuring melodic soundscapes that respond to various interactions — using a pair of headphones is recommended.
Ordia
Timing is everything when you’re playing Ordia, a one-finger action game from developer Loju that lets users play as a new life form taking its first steps in a primordial new world. Ordia features lots of jumping, bouncing, and sliding, in order to get from the bottom of the level to the top, in order to complete the level. There are 30 levels that get more challenging as you progress — you can play across three worlds, while tackling “challenge” modes that are even more difficult, after beating a level.
While playing Ordia, quick reflexes are your best friend, and timing your moves can make the difference between getting squished or breezing past an obstacle. Jumping between little notches in the game, you will have to slide, bounce, and get past dangerous threats to progress to the next level. The regular game mode allows users to pick up after certain checkpoints, but one of the challenge modes removes that luxury, so you start at the beginning of the level the moment you perish.
Real Racing 3
Almost a decade old, Real Racing 3 can be considered one of the best racing games available on Android and iOS. Backed by EA, Real Racing 3 has had constant updates that bring official Formula 1 content, new cars, and race tracks. It focusses on simulation-style racing, which means cars handle and feel quite similar to their real-life counterparts.
You can pick from over 300 licensed cars across 33 manufacturers, including the likes of Bugatti, Ferrari, Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, McLaren, and Porsche.
Real Racing 3 is free to download and play, but follows a freemium model. That means certain features require in-game purchases using in-game currency — R$, gold coins, and M$ — which can be purchased, or gained for free by watching advertisements. You will also have to use the in-game currency to maintain and service vehicles.