Looking for games for my friend. She’s mostly looking for a casual timewaster for a bit of enjoyable escapism. She historically liked some of the “merge games” where it’s about merging icons on a grid, and a couple of the more traditional idle games but its so hard to find any without summy practices like dark patterns and abusive monitization.

So, what are some good casual mobile games? Ideally, the sort of thing your grandma could enjoy, but without the scummy practices that are widespread.

Edit: I’m looking for more “pure” casual games, rather than ones that are primarily puzzle or arcade games. Something more akin to Cookie Clicker, those old shovelware hidden object games, or Bejeweled’s zen mode rather than Tetris or Brickbreaker.

    • PlzGibHugs@piefed.caOPEnglish
      0·
      21 days ago

      Unfortunately, I’m looking for more “pure” casual games, rather than ones that are primarily puzzle or arcade games. Something more akin to Cookie Clicker or Bejeweled’s zen mode rather than Tetris or Brickbreaker. F-Droid doesn’t seem to really have much like that.

      • pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip
        0·
        21 days ago

        There’s less, but still some great ones.

        Since you asked for non-predatory games, I still recommend spending some time searching F-Droid. It’s the only place I find most non-predatory mobile games.

        On f-droid, I would try out:

        • Burger Party
        • Breakout 71
        • Duck Run
        • Gurgle (Wordle)
        • Gridle (Wordle variant)
        • Luanti
        • SuperTuxKart

        And on Google Play or Aurora, check out (paid, but nice if they haven’t enshitified yet):

        • Mini Motor X
        • You Must Build A Boat
        • Ridiculous Fishing
        • aramis87@fedia.io
          0·
          21 days ago

          Ridiculous Fishing

          “As of December 10, 2025, the Android version is no longer downloadable from the Google Play store.”

          :(

  • bitofarambler@crazypeople.onlineEnglish
    0·
    21 days ago

    Walkscape is a fun mobile analog to runescape where xp in a dozen skills is gained by real-world steps.

    It’s still being built and expanded but its alpha stage is very playable and besides the skills has quests, challenges, items, apparel, pets and a lot of fun stuff going for it, all while being a casual, healthy game.

    Looks like signups are open now.

  • ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    21 days ago

    On Android, there’s a good collection called Offline Games that has a lot of decent ‘grandma friendly’ mini games inside it.

      • pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip
        0·
        21 days ago

        Yes. Always Simon Tatham’s Puzzle Collection.

        It’s freaking fantastic. Anyone sleeping on it needs to check it out.

        It runs on just about anything, too, including some eReaders.

  • Godort@lemmy.ca
    0·
    21 days ago

    I have probably clocked hundreds of hours into Gauguin. It’s a sudoku-esque puzzle game about filling numbers in a grid. It keeps my quick math sharp.

    Also, it might be a bit on the intense side of casual, but Balatro is probably the best mobile game ever made.

  • RepleteLocum@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    0·
    21 days ago

    Considering valves translation layer for arm we might be able to play all games on phones. Main issue would be controls, but I guess emulators exist.

      • Mugita Sokio@lemmy.todayEnglish
        0·
        21 days ago

        Yeah, honestly, I can see why. The big issue is that there are two other games in the series, and they’re likely monetized like onion soup on a cake.

  • jeffep@lemmy.world
    0·
    20 days ago

    Clues by Sam. It runs on a website, do no installation necessary. Perfect for a quick round on the commute.

    Another one that I found fun to start with and it grows with your skill is shattered pixel dungeon

  • macncheese@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    21 days ago

    I like Meow Tower. It’s a nonogram puzzle game which was new to me, you get the hang of it pretty quick and it’s nice to have something other than a merge puzzle. Plus cute cats!

  • wraekscadu@vargar.org
    0·
    21 days ago

    Unciv is a pretty cool game! It’s basically FOSS civ 5 that can be played on mobile. Huge timewaster haha

  • Zathras@lemmy.zip
    0·
    21 days ago

    Zen Koi - You are a koi (fish). You eat, grow, breed, ascend to your final dragon form. Collect different combinations of fish colors and patterns. Very chill, soothing music.

  • tooks@lemmy.world
    0·
    20 days ago

    I’ve been mildly addicted to Threes for nearly 13 years now. It’s my go-to when having to wait for anything, which is especially handy when you’re as impatient as I am (getting old). Also keeps me from doom scrolling. Just best score chasing, run based, number matching goodness.