I’m moving away from proprietary apps and want to find open-source games on Android that are genuinely good, not just time-killers or kids’ titles.

My criteria:

  • Truly open source (repository available, ideally on F-Droid)

  • No ads, no trackers, no in-app purchases

  • Modern feel and polished experience — something that feels like a real game, not a tech demo

  • Made for adults: deep gameplay, challenge, real progression (any genre welcome — strategy, roguelike, RPG, racing, puzzle…)

I trust actual players over AI-generated lists, so: what open-source game on Android gave you the best experience, and why?

  • coffeecake@programming.devEnglish
    2·
    6 hours ago

    Andor’d trail. I sank so many hours in it that I had to uninstall lest I become negligent of my daily tasks and work. Also has some funny moments.

  • ZeroOne@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    7 hours ago

    I would really love to see an Open-Source clone of Plants Vs Zombies.

    (No I cannot code)

    • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
      14·
      2 days ago

      Yeah, this is probably what I’d call the strongest open-source Android game (though I do like roguelikes, so gotta take personal preference into account).

      Also, !pixeldungeon@lemmy.world is moderated by the Shattered Pixel dev, who came over to the Fediverse, so that’s cool.

      It isn’t as deep as some other roguelikes, but roguelikes in general are deep, and it’s well-adapted to the Android environment — touchscreen, easier to play in bursts, where you don’t have to remember a lot to get back into a run if you play a bit, then pick it up later. It’s got a reasonably gentle learning curve, as roguelikes go.

      • rowinxavier@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        Tbh I would call it the strongest game on Android based on hours played. Getting your first win is really hard, but getting consistent wins is a whole other level I have not been able to manage. Good fun, lots of options, and really good balancing.

    • randomwords@futurology.todayEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      I like Mindustry a lot. I even picked it up for PC to enjoy playing it on the desktop as well.

      As much as I love civ, I haven’t been able to translate it to the phone. I just really want a mouse for that game.

  • Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.worldEnglish
    111·
    2 days ago

    D2Android

    It’s not quite what you describe but I’d argue it’s very much what you’re looking for. It runs Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction on Android with some quality of life mods and the option to mod it more heavily.

    D2Lod is actually very different from D2 Resurrected or Eternal, mostly because it was made when games weren’t live services. There were a lot of changed made to D2R that increased the grind which aren’t present in D2Lod. It’s the full game with an engaging story, cinematics, decent replayability, a solid gameplay loop, and you’ll probably recognize the birth of a lot of familiar mechanics in it (borderlands is literally just d2 with guns)

    It’s a really reliable and open source app, I’ve been playing for weeks and it only crashed once on the very first run of the game, but I think that’s because it took too long and graphene killed it. It does use the original d2Lod files which aren’t open source but they were programmed for windows 95 so they’re closed source like a picket fense is secure.

    That is possibly the only issue I expect you’ll have with the game, it’s by no means retro but the graphics fit the age. Great for what they are historically but even I can see the improvements made for D2R. Lastly you do have to own a copy of D2Lod and use the cd keys to activate it. The github tells you how to get them officially but I’d be happy to just give you the files and keys from my 2001 Battle box. I bought the game and I’ll gladly remind Blizzard of that every chance I get.

  • Hapankaali@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    2 days ago

    Chess on Lichess ticks all your boxes except maybe “modern” (though it has a modern UI).

    I like to play chess puzzles on the shitter at work, while traveling or at home when I’m bored with other games.

  • Maerman@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    2 days ago

    Endless Sky is available from F-Droid. I personally found the UI to be a tad clunky, but that might simply be because I’m used to playing it on desktop. You might find that worth your time.

    • makingStuffForFun@lemmy.mlEnglish
      1·
      1 day ago

      I play it on my tablet and it is absolutely fantastic. There is a fork for tablets out there, I think on F-Droid, and it’s literally a perfect tablet experience.

    • celeste@kbin.earth
      2·
      2 days ago

      I played it the first time on my phone but the desktop version is way less of a pain in the ass and I don’t think I can go back to the android one.

    • Sturgist@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      I saw a mod to make the android UI more useable, not sure how it works as I play endless sky on pc

    • astanix@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      7 hours ago

      I enjoy this game quite a bit. It’s nice that it is being updated so frequently.

  • tomatosametomato@piefed.zipEnglish
    74·
    2 days ago

    I’m sorry I don’t have a list to add to the conversation but one of your points made me curious:

    What do you mean by “Made for adults: deep gameplay, challenge, real progression (any genre welcome — strategy, roguelike, RPG, racing, puzzle…)”?

    As far as I’m concerned, real adult “games” don’t have progression: Basketball, football, baseball (do you count muscle growth?), chess (ELO is progression? one value?), backgammon (ELO I guess?).

    What do you see as “real (adult) progression”?

    edited (to make my misunderstanding bold)

    • vogi@piefed.socialEnglish
      2·
      1 day ago

      It also works with the Wii ISO now!! For anybody who does not feel like paying the GC prices.