The 12 Best Mobile Games To Play on the Go in 2024

What began as sudoku on little green-tinted screens with clunky buttons has evolved over the years into thousands of immersive, modern, on-the-go gaming options. 

As it is with PC and console gaming, there’s a diverse mix of paid and free games available on smartphones and tablets. But not all mobile games are made equal, and not all feel as intuitive and fun. In this guide, we explore some of the best mobile games you can enjoy, whether with friends or on your own.

The Best Mobile Games of 2024

1. RAID: Shadow Legends

• Genre: Turn-based RPG (role-playing game)
• Release date: February 2020
• Platforms: iOS, Android, PC, Mac
• Age rating: PEGI (16)
• Gameplay features: Collection and progression of champions (characters), dungeon exploration and battles, strategic team building and combat, campaign mode, faction wars, gacha system for acquiring new champions
• Price: Free to play with in-app purchases
• Developer: Plarium
• Best for: Players who enjoy turn-based combat, collecting and building character rosters, and strategic team building

RAID: Shadow Legends, a turn-based RPG with a dark fantasy theme, first entered the mobile gaming scene with a soft launch in December 2019. Initially available in select regions, the game gathered enough buzz to warrant a global launch in February 2020. Since then, it's amassed over 90 million players globally, solidifying its place as one of the most popular mobile titles.

The core gameplay revolves around collecting and building a team of legendary warriors, known as champions. Players delve into dungeons and engage in strategic turn-based battles, where champion selection and team composition play a crucial role in success.

The game offers a campaign mode to progress through the storyline, faction wars to test your team's mettle against specific factions, and various challenges that provide opportunities to earn valuable rewards and resources.

One of the biggest draws of RAID: Shadow Legends is its accessibility and compatibility. Designed specifically for smartphones (iOS and Android), the game offers a polished and intuitive experience on mobile devices. Plus, the game’s frequent updates and content rollouts ensure a steady stream of new adventures.

2. Among Us

• Genre: Social deduction
• Release date: June 2018 (iOS, Android)
• Platforms: Android, iOS, PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, VR
• Age rating: PEGI (7)
• Gameplay features: Online multiplayer (4-15 players), crewmate vs. imposter roles, completing tasks, sabotaging and eliminating crewmates
• Price: Free for mobile
• Developer: InnerSloth
• Best for: Gamers who enjoy playing with friends for a party-like social deduction experience with strategy, deduction, and bluffing

Among Us roared into the gaming world with a unique social element. Players are placed in an environment (like a spaceship or laboratory), and only one is designated an impostor, a player whose goal is to eliminate the rest of the players without being found out.

The game imposes an element of suspicion. You never know who you can trust, who’s bluffing, and who’s secretly out to corner and eliminate you without anyone else seeing. As players communicate over voice chat and piece together what they’ve seen and learned from each other, they get closer to unmasking the impostor and winning the game.

It’s a brave and successful attempt to build on collaboration, without which the game just wouldn’t work. Among Us became very popular as Twitch streamers picked it up in July of 2020, and before long, it had more active players than Minecraft and World of Warcraft by the end of 2023.

It features much less intense gameplay than RPGs and shooters. Among Us is a pioneer of casual gaming that provides a unique experience between friends or total strangers.

3. Wayward Souls

• Genre: Roguelike, action RPG
• Release date: March 2014
• Platforms: iOS, Android, PC
• Age rating: PEGI (12)
• Gameplay features: Permanent death (permadeath), engaging combat, upgradable equipment
• Price: $7.99 (one-time purchase, no in-app purchases)
• Developer: Massive Damage
• Best for: Fans of challenging action RPGs, permadeath mechanics, and exploration in a dark fantasy world

This dark fantasy gem, brought to life by Canadian indie developer Massive Damage, quickly carved a niche for itself with its emphasis on exploration and unforgiving permadeath mechanics. (If you die in the game, the game ends and you have to start over from scratch.) Following its mobile success, the game found a new audience on PC via Steam in December 2014.

Wayward Souls throws you headfirst into procedurally generated dungeons, each offering a fresh layout and a new challenge. With seven playable classes, each with distinct combat styles and abilities, players can find their own playstyle to suit their preferences.

The core gameplay loop revolves around mastering the art of dodging, attacking, and learning enemy patterns — a skill that becomes especially important when faced with the unforgiving consequence of permadeath. Think of games like Dark Souls or Elden Ring, where the combat forces you to be nimble, see hits coming, and dodge at the right moment.

While the story itself unfolds through environmental details and item descriptions, the essence of the game lies in the thrill of discovery and the constant push to delve deeper into the dungeon's labyrinthine depths. The game’s replayability, alongside the absence of in-app purchases, makes Wayward Souls a refreshing experience for those seeking a deep, challenging, and uninterrupted mobile RPG adventure.

4. Clash of Clans

• Genre: Real-time strategy
• Release date: August 2012
• Platforms: iOS, Android
• Age rating: 10+
• Gameplay features: Strategy, building and defending a base, PvP wars, clan-based social element, clan wars, single-player campaign
• Price: Free to play
• Developer: Supercell
• Best for: Players who enjoy competitive strategy games with base-building, resource management, troop training, and social features 

While development officially stopped in August 2022, Supercell's Clash of Clans remains a unique name in the mobile strategy genre. This free-to-play game achieved immense success, solidifying its place in popular culture. 

Players take on the role of a village chief, tasked with building and defending their base. Resources are key and can be acquired through attacking other player villages in thrilling real-time battles or by strategically managing your own village's production. 

Clash of Clans isn't just a solo experience — a core feature is the ability to join or create a "clan" of up to 50 players. Clans work together, donating troops, sharing strategies, and even engaging in epic Clan Wars against rival groups. With its strategic base-building, exciting combat, and strong social features, Clash of Clans continues to captivate millions of players worldwide.

5. PUBG Mobile

• Genre: Battle royale
• Release date: March 19, 2018 (Android, iOS)
• Platforms: Android, iOS
• Age rating: PEGI (16)
• Gameplay features: 100-player online battles, solo, duo, and squad modes, ranked competitive
• Price: Free to play with in-app purchases
• Developer: Lightspeed & Quantum Studio, PUBG Studios, Tencent Games
• Best for: Players who enjoy fast-paced, competitive online shooters with high stakes and strategic survival elements

PUBG Mobile isn't just a game; it's a mobile gaming juggernaut. Released in March 2018, it took the battle royale genre by storm, bringing the intense last-man-standing concept to smartphones for the first time. 

This free-to-play title has amassed over 30 million daily active players. What makes it unique? PUBG Mobile captures the essence of Player Unknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) experience, distilling it for mobile devices without sacrificing strategic depth.

The core gameplay revolves around 100-player online battles. Players parachute onto a vast and varied map, forced to scavenge for weapons, armor, and vehicles. The strategic twist comes with the constantly shrinking "play zone," which compresses the playable area and forces players into intense confrontations.

All in all, the game works well on mobile and can be a fun way to get through queues, commutes, and lazy Sunday afternoons.

6. Candy Crush Saga

• Genre: Puzzle
• Release date: April 12, 2012
• Platforms: iOS, Android, Facebook (browser), PC, Mac
• Age rating: PEGI (3)
• Gameplay features: Match-3 mechanic, cascading elements, various game modes 
• Price: Free to play with in-app purchases
• Developer: King
• Best for: Casual gamers seeking a fun and relaxing puzzle experience 

Back in 2012, Candy Crush became a global addiction. As one of those casual games designed specifically for the mobile and tablet experience, Candy Crush took a simple match-3 puzzler, where you swap candies to create an explosion of points, and turned it into an unexpected billion-dollar behemoth. It’s one of the first fun mobile games to utilize the freemium mobile gaming model, with paid-for add-ons that helped turn over a revenue of $1.21 billion in 2023.

At its core, the game is a fun activity that’s a combination of intuitive gameplay, an expertly crafted "just one more level" loop, and a vibrant social aspect that has friends and family vying for candy-crushing dominance.

The core game remains free, but players can choose to invest in in-app purchases for that extra boost.

7. Pokémon GO

• Genre: Augmented reality (AR) location-based RPG
• Release date: July 1, 2016
• Platforms: iOS, Android
• Age rating: PEGI (3)
• Gameplay features: AR-based RPG, catch, collect, and train Pokémon, location-based gameplay
• Price: Free to play
• Developer: Niantic (in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company)
• Best for: Fans of the Pokémon franchise, players who enjoy getting exercise and exploring their surroundings, and those who appreciate social and community-driven gameplay experiences

Launched in 2016, Pokémon GO ingeniously fused the thrill of the Pokémon franchise with real-world exploration using GPS and AR technology. This unique blend turned catching Pokémon from a virtual pastime into an active, social adventure.

Instead of tapping away on a screen, you literally walk through your neighborhood, park, or anywhere your feet can take you to discover Pokémon in the real world. The iconic flicking motion on your phone screen to throw a Poké Ball turns catching Pokémon into a fun and intuitive mechanic.

As you play, you become a Pokémon trainer, collecting Candy and Stardust to power up your Pokémon and strategically evolving them to unlock new forms and abilities. The classic gym battles are also taken to the real world, where you can team up with friends to take on gyms controlled by other trainers or challenge the villainous Team Rocket.

8. Genshin Impact

• Genre: Open-world action RPG
• Release date: September 28, 2020
• Platforms: iOS, Android, PlayStation 4/5, PC
• Age rating: PEGI (12)
• Gameplay features: Open-world map, dynamic elemental combat, gacha system, character progression, co-op mode
• Price: Free to play
• Developer: miHoYo
• Best for: Fans of open-world exploration, action RPG combat, character collecting and gacha mechanics, and anime-style visuals

This free-to-play open-world action RPG took the world by storm in 2020, captivating players with its stunning visuals, expansive world, and innovative combat system. Finding immense popularity worldwide, Genshin Impact brought the vastness of open-world gameplay to mobile (no easy feat!).

Teyvat, the vast world of Genshin Impact, is a living tapestry of diverse landscapes brimming with secrets to uncover and challenges to conquer. Exploration is at the heart of the experience, with players free to scale mountains, delve into hidden dungeons, or simply wander and soak in the beauty of the world.

Combat is a pleasant element in this game, with its intuitive and engaging mechanics. Characters wield unique elemental abilities that can be combined to create powerful reactions and strategic advantages. Mastering these elemental interactions is key to overcoming increasingly difficult enemies and bosses.

This unique blend of open-world exploration, deep combat mechanics, and engaging character collecting has redefined the mobile gaming landscape, offering a console-quality experience of vast open worlds on the go.

9. Fatal Fury 3 ACA NEOGEO

• Genre: Fighting game
• Release date: August 30, 2017
• Platforms: iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S
• Age rating: PEGI (12)
• Gameplay features: Classic arcade-perfect port of Fatal Fury 3, original fighting mechanics (Oversway and Combination Art systems), arcade mode, versus mode, online leaderboards
• Price: $3.99 on Apple App Store, $7.99 on Nintendo Switch
• Developer: Hamster Co.
• Best for: Fans of classic fighting games, players who enjoy the fast-paced action and technical depth of the Fatal Fury series

Fatal Fury 3 is one of the most nostalgic beat ’em up fighter games from the NeoGeo era. SNK teamed up with Hamster Corporation to unleash a mobile version of Fatal Fury 3, available on Android and iOS. 

The original dates back to 1995, and the mobile release consists of online features including online leaderboard modes. You’ll be transported back to South Town City as you lock horns with multiple characters in your quest for domination of the streets. It's a far cry from next-generation fighting games like robot games, where you're more likely to fight machines than people.

This game is a love letter to mid-1990s gaming, with its unique characters, fast-paced action, and innovative mechanics like the "Oversway" system for reversals and the "Combination Art" system for chaining powerful combos. This ACA NEOGEO iteration recreates that classic experience, transporting players back to the days of pixelated childish glory. While the core gameplay remains unchanged, modern features like online leaderboards and rewind/slow-motion modes cater to a new generation of fighting game fans.

10. Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile

• Genre: Battle royale
• Release date: March 21, 2024
• Platforms: iOS, Android
• Age rating: PEGI (16)
• Gameplay features: 120-player online battles, iconic COD combat; FPS, solo, duo, and squad modes
• Price: Free to play
• Developer: Activision
• Best for: Fans of the Call of Duty franchise who want a fast-paced and intense battle royale experience on mobile

Released in March 2024, this free-to-play battle royale behemoth throws you into intense 120-player online battles in the iconic Call of Duty fashion. The core gameplay loop remains familiar: Parachute onto a sprawling map, scavenge for weapons, armor, and equipment, and fight for survival. Warzone Mobile captures the essence of Call of Duty combat, offering a diverse arsenal of authentic weapons, equipment, and vehicles to choose from.

It also does a great job of creating an experience that isn’t purely realistic but draws elements of realism to create a unique visual and audio experience. The feeling of running in the game, the reload animations, and how fluid movement can be are all testament to Activision’s dedication to recreating that experience in a battle royale setting.

Prior Call of Duty games have attempted to create this experience via the many Zombie survival modes that are added on, but this is the first CoD to take the jump into the mobile world and come out a winner.

Shared progression with mainline Call of Duty titles like Modern Warfare III allows you to level up weapons and unlock content across different games. If you play Warzone on Mobile and other CoD games on PC or console, you may unlock a host of new equipment and cosmetics on both.

11. Flash Party

• Genre: Platform fighter
• Release date: December 14, 2017
• Platforms: iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
• Age rating: PEGI (7)
• Gameplay features: Multiple playable characters, local and online multiplayer, social dojo features
• Price: Free to play
• Developer: XD Inc.
• Best for: Fans of platform fighting games like Super Smash Bros. with fast-paced and competitive multiplayer gameplay

If you’re looking for a fun,  lighthearted, casual fighting game akin to the Smash Bros. franchise, look no further than Flash Party. This platform fighter game features players battling it out in colorful arenas with a variety of attacks and special moves to master to knock opponents off the stage. 

The mobile version, which seamlessly integrates with its console and PC counterparts, brings the vibrant world of Flash Party to your smartphone. 

The gameplay is still as humorous and unique as ever, with intricate movesets for each of the characters on the roster and a unique blend of platforming action and fighting game mechanics, all wrapped up in a package that's fun, casual, and fiercely competitive.

12. Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis

• Genre: Episodic RPG
• Release date: September 7, 2023
• Platforms: Android , iOS, PC
• Age rating: PEGI (12)
• Gameplay features: Episodic storytelling, reimagined combat system, party building 
• Price: Freemium model with optional in-app purchases
• Developer: Square Enix
• Best for: Fans of the original Final Fantasy VII who want to revisit the story in a new format

Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis isn't just a mobile retelling of a beloved classic; it's a multi-layered homage to the entire Final Fantasy VII story arc. Released in late 2023 for mobile devices and later for PC, it offers a unique episodic format, allowing players to relive the iconic story of Final Fantasy VII with the added context of brand-new chapters featuring characters like Zack Fair.

The combat system takes inspiration from the original's beloved Active Time Battle (ATB) system but streamlines it for mobile gameplay. Strategic turn-based combat remains core but with a focus on quick decision-making and mastering the unique abilities of your party members. 

Visually, Ever Crisis is just a beautiful game for what’s expected of mobile releases. The high-quality visuals blend a charming retro aesthetic reminiscent of the original game with modern graphical particularities for a visually stunning experience that respects the source material.

The Best Mobile Games at a Glance

To help navigate the vast library of mobile games vying for your attention, we’ve compiled a list of the best mobile games currently available. Here’s what you need to know.

How To Choose the Best Mobile Game

Mobile games can be difficult to wade through. The market (for the most part) is saturated with low-quality attempts at games, but the titles we listed above are stunning games from reliable publishers that are in it for more than just the download count. That said, here's how to choose the best mobile game for you:

• Try games with mechanics that you like: If you find the gameplay boring, you’ll uninstall the app after two or three attempts. Try to go for games that have mechanics you think you’d enjoy. Some people prefer first-person shooters, others like the competitiveness of Battle Royales. Try different games from our list to see what you like.
• Find mobile games that provide at least some story and character development: Not all games will have a story to tell or a huge character roster, but mobile games that emphasize storytelling and progression are always more captivating and fun to play.
• Is the game worth it? Think about replayability and time investment: Since it’s a mobile game, you want it to be interesting enough to put time into, but at the same time, you want it to be a fresh experience that you can get right back into on the bus ride home. A good mobile game is one you’ll invest time into and replay again down the line.
• How it handles rotation and reaction to smartphones: This criterion should be the “make it or break it” element for mobile games. Games like Call of Duty: Warzone and PUBG Mobile leverage smartphone technology to build a unique experience around the device’s rotation and angling. This can be a much more intuitive gameplay experience.

Mobile Games FAQ

Still have questions about the best mobile games to play? Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the topic.

What Is the Largest Mobile Game in the World?

It depends on the criteria. The largest mobile games by player base would be Candy Crush Saga and Pokémon GO, for their hundreds of millions of downloads and global following. However, the largest mobile games by revenue would be Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile, as they've both brought in billions of dollars through in-app purchases since their release.

What Is the #1 Game on Mobile?

If we’re basing the number one mobile game on player participation, PUBG Mobile sits comfortably at the top of the pile, with estimates suggesting over 30 million daily players.

What Is the Best Free Mobile Game?

It’s difficult to determine the best free mobile game as it largely depends on individual preferences. Whether you prefer puzzle-solving, role-playing, or strategy, there’s a game out there for everyone. However, if you enjoy collecting characters, strategic battles, and building powerful teams, then the free-to-play game RAID: Shadow Legends may be your next gaming obsession.

Trial and Error: The Ultimate Mobile Gaming Experience

With countless options available, finding the perfect mobile game can be a trial-and-error process. You’ll go through your fair share of installing and uninstalling, but the games above all promise a unique and enjoyable gaming experience. 
While you’re on the hunt for your next mobile obsession, remember to try games outside of your usual gaming style. Even the most serious of strategists need to crush candy sometimes. For your next epic battle or strategic challenge, look to our collection of top-tier mobile games.