We all know that free Android games aren’t always free these days, but many of them are very close if you have a little patience. Most Freemium bottlenecks occur when players get impatient and waiting the game out can usually get around those pitfalls. What we have here are the best free Android games that you should be able to play comfortably without engaging in in-app purchases and we hope you enjoy them!
If you were looking for the best free games with no in-app purchases, check these out!
And here are the best paid games with no in-app purchases!
Asphalt 8: Airborne
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
When it comes to racing games without an up-front price tag, Gameloft has a real winner with Asphalt 8: Airborne. It’s a full-fledged racing game with a ton of cars to unlock, a ton of tracks to race on, and various online multiplayer modes that allow you to challenge friends, strangers, and have even more fun. There are in-app purchases, but unless you want something game breaking, you can get along just fine without any of them. The game has decent graphics, good controls, and tons of active players so online multiplayer is actually useful. If you like racing games but not this one, check out our list of the best racing games for Android.
Download now on Google Play!
Critical Ops
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Critical Ops is among the newer generation of first person shooters and it’s one of the best. In this title, you’ll battle terrorists in a variety of urban-oriented levels or you can play as the terrorists if you want to. It has a strong online multiplayer community where you can play with your friends as well. It’s still a work in progress, but it seems to hit all the right marks and it’s updated frequently. If you’d like a first person shooter that’s completely free, NOVA 3: Freedom Edition is quite good as well.
Download now on Google Play!
Clash Royale
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Clash Royale is the latest game out of Supercell. They also made Clash of Clans, a former entrant on this list. In Clash Royale, you’ll collect cards, build decks, and then square off in one-on-one duels with online opponents. Much like Clash of Clans, everyone has trophies that can be earned or lost through online combat. You’ll also get to form clans to share cards, challenge clanmates to combat, and you’ll have a variety of chances to unlock new cards. It’s a solid card game and a great alternative if you just can’t get into Hearthstone.
Download now on Google Play!
Cut the Rope: Magic
[Price: Free with in-app purchase]
It’s safe to say that Cut the Rope has eclipsed Angry Birds as the must-have time wasting puzzle game on mobile. The series has evolved in a positive fashion and Cut the Rope: Magic is the latest iteration. The core mechanics involve you solving puzzles in unique ways to help Om Nom the monster eat the candy. There are a ton of levels, power ups, transformations, and tactics that will be required and you can complete each level without the use of in-app purchases. It will just take some time because this game does rely on an energy system.
Download now on Google Play!
Fallout Shelter
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Fallout Shelter made huge waves in 2015 and remains one of the best games released that year. In Fallout Shelter, you must build a shelter, take in survivors (called Dwellers), and create a thriving ecosystem. You’ll have obstacles such as fires, raids by AI bad guys, and the like but otherwise it’s a pretty standard builder simulation game. The in-app purchases take almost a blatant backseat in this title and the developers have been good (so far) on releasing new and updated content.
Download now on Google Play!
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is perhaps the best Final Fantasy-themed freemium game out there. It features tons of elements from the original games, including actual town and dungeon explorations, hidden treasures, secret dungeons, and tons of lore. The game play is simple to learn but you’ll need to think critically in order to beat bosses and hard opponents. You’re frequently rewarded for logging in daily and additional missions, quests, and activities helps keep the game fresh. This is about as good as it gets for freemium titles. If this one isn’t doing it for you, but you love Final Fantasy, you can also try out Mobius Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy Record Keeper which are both pretty good.
Download now on Google Play!
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is a card dueling game where you unlock cards, build decks, and then duel other players using the deck you built. You can build multiple decks and Blizzard has been pretty good with putting out regular updates to add more cards and content. You can also log into your account on mobile or on PC which is a really nice touch. If you don’t want to face real players in real-time PvP combat, you can always beat down on some bots for practice. It’s free to play which makes it easy and accessible for everyone to try out.
Download now on Google Play!
PewDiePie’s Tuber Simulator
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
PewDiePie’s Tuber Simulator is a simulation game where you create and manage your own YouTube channel. You’ll be able to customize and upgrade your space, gain a following, and more. As your progress, you’ll unlock more abilities, items, and stuff to do that will help you reach the top. It features retro graphics, a fun premise, and tons of quirky humor from everyone’s favorite YouTuber. There are also mini games as well as a social element so you can gift stuff and receive gifts. It’s not bad overall.
Download now on Google Play!
See also: The best Android games, ever!183
Pokemon Go
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Love it or hate it, no one can deny that Pokemon Go was a massive hit in 2016. Even though its popularity has tapered off a bit, the game is still a very solid free option. Players can explore the real world around them all while catching Pokemon, taking down gyms, and finding Pokestops. New features have been added on a regular basis that have helped improve the game play. There’s a real problem with GPS spoofers owning all of the best Pokemon, but thankfully that only affects certain parts of the game. It’s a great game to play while going for a walk.
Download now on Google Play!
Smash Hit
[Price: Free / $1.99]
Smash Hit has been around for a while but it remains one of the most solid infinite runner experiences available. The graphics are pretty decent and you play from a first-person perspective. Your job is to throw balls at obstacles in your path with the balls also doubling as your life total. The entire game is free to play without advertising and you can’t buy power ups. The one purchase you can make unlocks things like saving your game and access to game stats, but you can play through entirely without that stuff if you don’t mind a challenge.
Download now on Google Play!
Sky Force Reloaded
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Sky Force Reloaded is the latest in the Sky Force franchise (which are all pretty good). Like its predecessors, Sky Force Reloaded is a top-down, scrolling shooter where you fly a plane and your goal is to defeat bad guys, avoid bullets, and perform all kinds of various quests. It’s an ode to the old school top-down shooters and it’s managed to keep faithful to those old games. The difference being that this one has better graphics. It’s a good overall experience just like the previous iterations were.
Download now on Google Play!
Plague, Inc
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Plague, Inc is a strategy game where you must mutate diseases and use them to destroy the world. The basic idea is that this pathogen you made has infested someone and now you can get to see it in action. There are 12 diseases in the game, each with their own outbreak strategy and the game is realistic enough that the developers were once invited to speak at the CDC. Since its release, expansions have been added to pile on the content that you can play through and the game comes with save and load game functionality for multiple files so you can play many times at once. It’s one challenging game, but one that’s also worth checking out.
Download now on Google Play!
UNKILLED
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
UNKILLED is likely one of the most underrated games of 2015. This is a zombie shooter where your job is to accept missions and then dive into the various scenarios and slaughter all of the zombies. There are over 300 missions and many of them include boss fights. You’ll also find over 50 weapons, some of the best mobile graphics we’ve seen so far, and there are some online multiplayer aspects to the game as well. It comes from the same developers who did Dead Trigger 2 (Madfinger Games) which was a mainstay on previous versions of this very list for years. You can pick this up for free but there are in-app purchases so do beware of those.
Download now on Google Play!
Vainglory
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Vainglory is perhaps the best MOBA currently available on Android. It boasts high frame rates, unlimited free play, and solid connections. You’ll be able to team up with people and go head to head against other teams much like you see in all MOBAs. There are also decent graphics, more than 25 heroes to unlock and play with, and you can play with (or against) bots if you so choose. There is also a beta version that can use the Vulkan API if you want to check that out.
Download now on Google Play!
Yodo1 Games collection
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Yodo1 Games is a game developer that has a bunch of very enjoyable and very engaging freemium games. Most have probably heard of their hit titles such as Crossy Road, Rodeo Stampede, and Looty Dungeon. There are also a few others including Rooms of Doom. Most of these games are infinite runners where you must continue moving forward or you lose. The graphics are charming and the game play mechanics are simple to learn and understand. They’re also extremely kid friendly which makes them great overall family games. You can click the button below and check out the whole collection!
Download now on Google Play!
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Emulators cost money, but ROMs are usually free. Here are the best Android emulators!
If we missed any of the best free Android games, tell us about them in the comments! To see our complete list of best app lists, click here.