Free Android games are a dime a dozen. Wrong, they’re free; they only seem to multiply when we look away. You won’t have any problem finding free games on the Play Store. Still, the titles that dominate the charts are often. But not always, grim grinds loaded with in-app purchase prompts, punitive timers and aggressive ads.
Luckily, that’s not true across the board. Many free Android games deliver fun gameplay, respect your time. And offer reasonable yet entirely optional purchases for players who want a little more out of the experience. Here are our 10 favorites from the year, some of which you’ve undoubtedly encountered. But others that surely warrant your time.

Crossy Road

We’re probably not blowing anyone’s mind with this pick. Crossy Road was one of the year’s biggest mobile smashes, but it’s also a genuinely excellent free Android game. It effectively merges the endless runner genre with Frogger, plus a dash of Minecraft-like. Design creates the kind of ultra-compelling score chase you can’t help but play repeatedly. Crossy Road is also one of the kindest free-to-play games, which has little to do with its success. There are dozens upon dozens of optional costumes to buy, but no play restrictions, ads, or in-your-face purchase prompts. And if you play a lot, you’ll get enough free coins to load up on most of the costumes anyway.

Crossy Road (Free)

Vainglory

MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games like League of Legends and Dota 2 are only meant for hardcore players. Not anymore! Vainglory does an excellent job of streamlining the team-based combat experience for touch. Resulting in a smooth, exciting online multiplayer experience that’s great even on a compact phone screen.
Across a 15-30 minute match. You’ll work with two other live players to take down the opposing team’s defenses and smash up their base. You’ll do so by bashing the enemy players’ A.I. minions with fantastical attacks, spending experience on ability boosts. And earning coins on items’ for weapons. It’s simpler than some counterparts but still great fun.

Vainglory (Free)

Alphabear

Alphabear isn’t your average word game. First of all, bears everywhere appear when you complete a word. Bears that expand as you clear more of the tiles and bear power-ups that boost your score. But the game also stands apart for delivering tactical elements. That make it about more than spelling the most significant best words.
Each tile on the board has a limited lifespan; if you don’t use it within a few turns. It’ll turn to a stone and block progress on the board. As such, success relies not only on wordplay but also on strategic letter usage planning. Alphabear has an energy system that can limit long sessions. But it’s a perfect game for quick games here and there throughout the day.

Alphabear (Free)

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

We’ve seen mobile card-battling spin-offs come and go, but Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is the real deal. Ask the millions upon millions of active players across Android and iOS. Hearthstone mines the rich setting of the Warcraft franchise to deliver a free collectible card game. With plenty of character, heart, and strategy in tow. And your phone is perfect for it. You can hop on for a quick battle on the couch or in your cubicle. Hearthstone has a lot of opportunities to spend. To be truly competitive against entrenched players, you’ll need money or a lot of time. But even for casual, free play, it’s a fun, addictive experience.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Free)

Four Letters

Had your fill of ponderous word games that try to test the depth of your vocabulary? How about one that spotlights speed instead? That’s the enormous appeal of Four Letters. Which keeps you in the game so long as you can continue cranking out four-letter words. The letters are jumbled at the bottom. You’ll need to tap out words to bring up the next set of letters. The faster you input them, the better your performance. Not only is a timer ticking down, replenished slightly with each finished word. But you also get a score boost for rapid-fire responses. And despite the short terms, Four Letters still manages to toss some real head-scratchers in the mix.

Four Letters (Free)

Does Not Commute

Does Not Commute is a delightfully odd game about driving cars, bikes, and boats through small city sections. You’ll only guide each for a few seconds before moving on to the next vehicle. But once you’ve driven one, it stays on that path continuously. Getting through a city is easy when you’re the only driver. Still, when a dozen other cars are frantically trying to navigate the same cramped roads, it’s a recipe for disaster. The time-shifted premise is fun but Does Not Commute also builds a ton of character charm. Via its strange, hilarious driver descriptions. Which deliver compact narratives amidst the arcade-style action. You can pay to unlock a checkpoint feature. Otherwise, the game is entirely free.

Does Not Commute (Free)

Magic Touch: Wizard for Hire

Nitrome makes consistently excellent, offbeat mobile games, Magic Touch: Wizard for Hire is my favorite so far. Armored, robotic enemies are storming your castle from above. You’ll need to draw the symbols listed on their balloons. Which makes them fall flat on their faces and explode into piles of bolts. Magic Touch puts your Android phone’s touch display to great use by being entirely gesture-based. You scribble outlines, arrows, and other shapes to keep the enemies from falling gracefully upon your fortress. The pace livens up quickly in the primary mode. Although there’s a Zen mode if you want to keep things chill or an insane mode to go even crazier. How fast are your fingers?

Magic Touch: Wizard for Hire (Free)

Brickies

Brick breakers have more or less followed the same core rules since Breakout and Arkanoid set the mold decades back. Which is fine; it’s a fun premise. But Brickies is one of the freshest feeling riffs we’ve ever seen on Android. You’re still batting a ball to destroy a heap of bricks, but significant tweaks make it feel distinctive. Most notably, there’s no life system. You don’t lose a life if you miss the ball. Brickies is all about speed instead, challenging you to clear all the bricks before time runs out. And missing the ball deactivates it until you hit it again. The game has loads of stages with exciting layouts and awesome power-ups; the paid time bonuses are optional.

Brickies (Free)

Pac-Man 256

Hipster Whale scored a home run with Crossy Road. Then promptly signed up with Bandai Namco to do something new and exciting with Pac-Man on mobile. Enter Pac-Man 256, which turns the arcade classic into an endless maze runner. You’ll wind through the tight corridors as you collect dots, snag special items, and munch pesky ghosts. And there’s something else: an ever-pursuing mass of glitchy, broken game code from the bottom of the screen. It’s an homage to a classic Pac-Man glitch. But here, it’s also a constant threat that forces you to move upward at all times. The free-to-play credits system may limit your play. But you can still get a lot out of Pac-Man 256 without paying.

Pac-Man 256 (Free)

Beneath the Lighthouse

Remember what we said about Nitrome? Beneath the Lighthouse is another one of its great 2015 games. Although it shares a 16-bit-like aesthetic with Magic Touch, this entry has a much calmer tone. It also plays very differently, Lighthouse is a puzzler in which you’ll rotate the screen. To guide your rolling hero through tight, obstacle-packed levels. It would be best to avoid spikes and quickly roll past crumbling floors to make it to the goal. Although the game has a pleasant demeanor, the stages rapidly become challenging. As a free game, Lighthouse has a life system that encourages precision play. Die too many times, and you’ll start a world over again. Paying a few bucks removes that limitation, but the added stakes in the free version are arguably an enhancement.

Beneath the Lighthouse (Free)