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:
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Truly open source (repository available, ideally on F-Droid)
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No ads, no trackers, no in-app purchases
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Modern feel and polished experience — something that feels like a real game, not a tech demo
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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?
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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.
Uh oh… learning about this might be dangerous. I’m pretty sure I’ve still got my old cdkeys around here somewhere…
Shattered Pixel Dungeon
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.
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.
That Twilight Princess port called Dusk lol
Unciv and mindustry are two of my favorites. https://github.com/yairm210/Unciv https://github.com/Anuken/Mindustry
I like Breakout 71 by Renan LE CARO
Love this game, haven’t had that experience since DX ball on windows XP.
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.
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.
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.
I saw a mod to make the android UI more useable, not sure how it works as I play endless sky on pc
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)
Balatro.
One of the best games to play on mobile. It fits basically all of your criteria and you can just Google search a copy of it, you don’t have to pay for it from the play store.
Didn’t know Balatro became open-source.
Requiring the game to be open source is going to limit you a lot I think. Also, balatro is fuckin awesome - get it, play it, love it.
It isn’t. Which is why it said it fits almost all of its criteria and it is one of the best games on mobile that you can get right now.
It’s a full and complete game with no advertisements. No loot boxes, no engagement and you can just unlock the whole game from the game and play it to your heart’s content.
We’re not diagnosing schizophrenia here. We’re talking about mobile games.
OP: Hey I’m looking for something with ‘x’ requirements!
You: Here’s something completely different!
Not a bad recommendation, but doesn’t seem like what OP is asking for.
It’s not completely different. It fits almost all his requirements.
Why would I not recommend a free accessible completely playable game?
He doesn’t have to download it but the advice is sound.
Once again, this isn’t a medical diagnosis!
