Summary
- Mobile gaming offers cross-platform play, allowing seamless progression between devices.
- Farlight 84 features unique gameplay with heroes, companions, and crossplay between PC and mobile devices.
- Shadowverse offers anime-inspired digital card game matches between two players, leaders, with various cards and strategies.
Mobile gameplay is fast solidifying its place in every genre in the gaming world. The concept of being able to play the most complex games on mobile devices the size of palms is genuinely intriguing. Most developers today offer mobile-friendly technology, which is another factor in the popularity of mobile gaming.
Best Mobile Horror Games
Playing horror games on mobile devices can be as thrilling as playing on other gaming platforms, and these titles are great choices for horror fans.
Most game software companies now offer their games with the same display and gameplay quality across all devices. Mobile gaming gets even more interesting when cross-platform play is thrown into the mix. Imagine playing the same game on a smartphone, tablet, laptop, PlayStation 5, or Nintendo. That’s what these games are here to provide!
Updated February 2, 2025, by Mehrdad Khayyat: With the mobile platforms becoming more powerful hardware-wise, the game experience has also elevated significantly with more graphically advanced games coming to mobile phones, some of which bring the identical console or PC experience to mobile.
In between, these technological advancements have helped multiplayer games a lot, allowing a massive community of mobile players to also join the console and PC servers with no need to sacrifice any content or visual quality, delivering a seamless progression between multiple platforms.
19 Farlight 84
A Battle Royale Experience Inspired By Pokemon
Farlight 84
- Released
- April 23, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
Farlight 84 is one of the many Battle Royale games out there, but it does have a unique approach. Aside from gunplay, which is the core mechanic to defeat rivals, the game also features heroes and companions known as Buddies.
Each hero comes with a unique set of active abilities that help the players dominate the battlefield differently. But, aside from battling it out to be the last one surviving, there is also a rivalry for catching buddies. Each buddy, like heroes, comes with a unique ability that helps the player. Some of the buddies can turn into vehicles, some can trap the opponents, and some others can detect the enemies and giveaway their positions. There are many different buddies and each comes with unique abilities.
Farlight 84 features crossplay between PC and mobile, but PC players cannot force themselves into mobile lobbies.
18 Old School RuneScape
Timeless MMORPG Now in Your Pocket
Old School RuneScape
- Released
- January 4, 2001
WHERE TO PLAY
Old School RuneScape is one of the top Android MMORPGs for a good reason. Many players remember RuneScape fondly because it was one of the first freely available massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Jagex spared no expense in bringing the cherished classic to mobile devices.
The user interface has been refined for mobile use, yet it retains all of the functionality of the desktop version. It's easy to pick up and play, and it works well for quick bursts of gameplay. Players can always resume where they left off because their progress will be saved between devices.
17 Shadowverse
Anime-Inspired Strategy
Shadowverse
- Released
- June 17, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
For iOS and Android devices, Cygames released Shadowverse as a free-to-play digital collectible card game in the middle of 2016. The Windows and macOS versions were released later in the same year. The game features anime-style art reminiscent of a previous title from the developer, Rage of Bahamut.
In Shadowverse, card game matches are set between two players referred to as leaders in the game. Each leader starts with a defense level of 20 and three cards. Players take turns playing from their decks with the objective of reducing the opponent’s defense level to zero. Another way to get a win here is to use special cards, such as the Victory Card.
16 Brawlhalla
2D Fighting Action
Brawlhalla
- Released
- October 17, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
Brawlhalla is a free-to-play fighting game in the vein of Super Smash Brothers. And like Super Smash Bros, it features a large roster of characters that players can select to fight multiple rounds in a 2D arena with the goal of defeating the opposing character in a best of three.
In addition to the standard 1v1 format, Brawlhalla also has the option for 2v2s, where four players slug it out in a hectic frenzy of action that's as chaotic as it is fun. There is an ELO system in place that ensures that players are only facing off against others of their level. And since the game has crossplay built into it from the ground up, this means that someone on a PC can match against someone on a console and have a fair match without any hiccups.
15 Teamfight Tactics
Auto Chess on the Go
Teamfight Tactics
- Released
- June 26, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Riot Games
- Franchise
- League of Legends
- Genre(s)
- Strategy
Although it was originally implemented as a mode in League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics has since branched off into its own game genre and acquired significant traction. Each of the four teams of eight players will face a new opponent at each level of the game. Users can engage in friendly competition across platforms to find the best synergies and resources.
The game is broken up into levels and rounds, and each round begins with an instant battle between the two players who were drawn at random to fight each other or against automated foes. They can play it for free on your Android or iOS smartphone, and it's one of the best player-versus-player games out there.
14 Among Us
Crewmate or Impostor?
Among Us
- Released
- June 5, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- InnerSloth
- Franchise
- Among Us
- Platform(s)
- PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Party Game
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
The American company Innersloth created the multiplayer social deduction game Among Us. It was published in 2018 and released across eight platforms by the end of 2021. Among Us takes inspiration from the horror movies The Thing and The Party Game Mafia. Among Us features a mixture of cool and bright colors. The game is set in space with cartoon-like astronauts who do the major work here.
Each player gets to play as an impostor or crewmate. The crewmates have to complete certain tasks in the form of minigames and puzzles and hopefully eject the impostors. The impostors just have to sabotage the ship and kill or eject all the crewmates in order to win. The impostors are usually up to three and unable to complete real tasks that do not involve sabotage.
13 Pokémon Unite
Fast-Paced MOBA Action
Pokémon Unite
- Released
- July 21, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- TiMi Studios
- Franchise
- Pokemon
- Platform(s)
- Mobile, Nintendo Switch
- Genre(s)
- MOBA
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
The gameplay in Pokémon Unite, a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), is more streamlined and takes place at a faster pace, making it ideal for unexpected team battles. Goals can be scored with wild Pokemon that have been captured, trained, and eventually used in battle.
Players can invite others to join them as they battle wild Pokémon, discover new areas, get experience, and level up. It has a vast roster of playable characters, all of whom have their own special moves and abilities. Matches in Pokémon Unite last 10 minutes, much as in the free-to-play MOBA League of Legends. Pokémon Unite is available for both iOS and Android devices.
12 Roblox
Play, Build, and Explore
Roblox
- Released
- September 1, 2006
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Roblox Corporation
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Android, iOS, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro
- Genre(s)
- Game Creation System
Roblox is actually more than just a game. It is a platform with a creation system that lets users create games and play games created by others. It was released for Windows in 2006 and soon came to other platforms in the years after. At launch, its reach was relatively small, but its use and popularity began to grow rapidly in the 2010s, a growth that surged during the pandemic.
Roblox gives users the creative freedom to make experiences (games) of their own using the Roblox Studio engine and the Luau language. These games are also buyable on the platform through one-time purchases and repeated microtransactions. The platform has grown to be a minor-friendly space in which players can buy, sell, and create games.
11 Mindustry
Tower Defense Meets RTS
Mindustry
- Released
- September 26, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
Mindustry is a mix of a lot of different gaming concepts that are hard to grasp at first but quickly start making sense with more playtime. It combines Factorio's building mechanics with monster wave attacks of tower defense games and a light sprinkling of StarCraft-style RTS mechanics to set up mobile defenses before the waves start coming. It's an addictive, fun romp that can get incredibly intense at times and fairly chill at others.
In addition to mobile, Mindustry is also available on PC, and for fairly cheap as well, and has full crossplay ability for two players, one on mobile and the other on PC, to play with each other in seamless crossplay.
10 Frozen Synapse
Tactical Combat, Turn-Based Mastery
Frozen Synapse
- Released
- May 26, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Strategy, Tactical
Frozen Synapse is one of the most underrated mobile games out there, with an incredibly unique concept that's executed with perfection. It's a turn-based tactical battler where two sides face each other, in a top-down view inside a pre-rendered environment with a select number of combatants on each side. On a player's turn, they simulate how the battle would play out by placing their units and watching what happens. Then, they lock in their choice and see what the other player did, who has exactly the same information as well as the ability to simulate battles from their sides. It's a
Unlike most multiplayer games, Frozen Synapse uses a system similar to chess, where one player makes a move and then waits for the other one to make a move before it's their turn. Best of all, this is all in asynchronous multiplayer, which plays out even when the other player is not in the game itself. One party can select their optimal course of action, set it for that match, and close the game. Whenever they re-open the game sometime in the future, whether it be an hour, a day, or a week later, they'll find what their opponent decided to do and go from there. It's a stress-free think-as-much-as-needed approach that's very rare to see in online multiplayer games like this. And of course, Frozen Synapse supports seamless crossplay across all platforms, mobile included.