Best free Android games in 2023

Needless to say, Pokemon Go has seen a whirlwind of success. It’s turned everyone from long-time fans to your best mate’s Mum into a mobile Pokemon trainer. Covid-19 forced developer Niantic to think outside the box as to not encourage people in lockdowns to go wandering outside. The end result was remote legendary raids, remote raid passes, larger Pokestop spin distances, and increases in gift hoarding. Some of these features have remained in-game post lockdown. This has increased the game’s accessibility and offers players in remote areas to join in the fun too.

The winning formula for Pokemon GO is exploration, be it physically by walking towards various landmarks for new items and Pokemon or digitally by evolving and managing your Pokemon collections. It came at a time when the Pokemon franchise was growing stale with tried and tested mechanics and a lack of innovation bar slight adjustments to mainstay game storylines.

Pokemon GO originally has no battling bar Gyms, only allowing players to catch wild Pokemon. Today, people can battle their friendslist or battle in Great/Ultra and other special leagues alongside join various types of raids to catch legendary, mega evolved, and other rare Pokemon. It’s an absolute blast that doesn’t force an in-game item purchase. Even raid passes are given out daily, with one remote raid pass given out on raid hour days. There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t be giving Pokemon GO a try.

Released way back in October 2019, Call Of Duty mobile smashed through a combined 35 million downloads on Google Play and Apple’s App Store in its first three days. It reached 100 million in its first week. As of May 2021, it has surpassed 500 million downloads and generated $1 billion in revenue.

Call Of Duty Mobile is a celebration of CoD games past, from Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Featuring maps, weapons, and characters from CoDs annualized backlog, Call Of Duty Mobile translates this award-winning aim and shoot mechanic successfully into touch-screen controls. Players can choose to fire themselves, with a much more intuitive auto shoot mechanic when the cross-hair highlights an enemy.

The game features a battle royale mode similar to Blackout mode from Warzone. Other ranked modes include Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint, and Search and Destroy. Players can also opt for non-ranked multiplayer matches which gives them more gameplay options. Overall, it feels like a natural retelling of the Call of Duty formula for a mobile platform. It stands on its own two feet instead of feeling like a gimmick.

Originally surfacing as ‘Mage and Minions’ in 2014, Eternium launched in 2017 as a serious isometric ARPG built specifically for mobile. It takes many of the great mechanics from Mage and Minions and focuses on a solid experience. There are a few Diablo clones on the Google Play Store right now. However, Eternium feels more accessible yet authentic than the rest.

The main selling point for Eternium for many is its interpretation of point and click isometric ARPG movement. Users simply need to touch anywhere in the in-game world to move their character, the same applies for using standard attacks on enemies, just tap to damage. Special attacks are mapped the specific touch-screen gestures, for example, drawing a ‘V’ shape will use a mage’s special attack, which feels super immersive.

The story is a typical loose fantasy sprawling affair, which is mostly there to support the game’s aesthetic and gameplay choices, but it works. It’s optimized for most handsets, for example, it runs smoothly on a Google Pixel 5, which some may consider being a mid-range or budget handset. As far as ARPGs go, Eternium is a great pick-up and play effort.

Waiting for Diablo: Immortal but need a gothic isometric RPG fix? Great, then you should really check out AnimA ARPG. Launched in 2019, AnimA is a thumbstick and button-based ARPG that feels authentic thanks to its great on-screen button layout. Its combat flows well, unlike most ARPGs attempting to recreate the magic of Diablo and Dungeon and Dragon big box PC titles of the 90s.

Featuring the classic RPG classes of Warrior, Mage, or Rogue, each one has its strengths and drawbacks for players to consider. Once chosen, AnimA has no issue asserting its difficulty curves early on, which are achievable yet unforgiving. It adopts level grinding as a method of succession when it comes to difficult bosses and hard-to-handle hordes, which will be welcomed by old-school fans of the genre.

For the title’s shortcomings, it makes up for optimization. A player’s abilities are mapped to easy-to-tap buttons for example, which come in really handy when battling AnimAs array of monsters and demons. Antagonists also have their own powers, which may weaken yours alongside deal damage. You can buy updates and special items with real-world currently, but AnimA doesn’t press players too heavily for it.

Yes, we know that The Elder Scrolls: Legends doesn’t have content updates anymore, but hear us out. Whilst other digital card games such as Hearthstone remove cards from play during content updates, The Elder Scrolls: Legends has kept every card intact, making for some healthy competition with the option to buy cards if needed.

In-game events and tournaments still happen in-game, with the latest starting on September 17th at the time of writing. Featuring two-player turn-based gameplay across two lanes, each player starts with a 50 – 100 card deck based on the characters, monsters, and locations of the Elder Scrolls franchise. Its single-player mode is very pick up and play, making fitting a quick match in between breaks or on commutes easy. 

Each player has a reserve of Magika that can be spent to play certain cards within a player Magika reserve. Cards are divided into Support, Action, Creatures, and Items. Support cards provide ongoing effects, Action cards provide instant effects, creatures are the meat of gameplay that attacks and defend, and finally, items modify creatures. Additional cards can be bought in-game, but the title is quite enjoyable without spending a penny.