My Favorite Android Games Are Indie PC Ports and Here's Why

Whenever I travel crossed a caller mobile crippled that I'm funny in, it turns retired the crippled wasn't really developed specifically for Android oregon adjacent iPhones. Often enough, the crippled really came retired for PC respective years ago. Many of my favourite Android games are ports of indie PC titles.

This is simply a large thing. I'm nary longer acrophobic astir level exclusivity. I conscionable privation entree to large games that play good connected the instrumentality I'm using. Many indie PC games hap to consciousness conscionable arsenic astatine location connected mobile devices, if not much so.

​Mouse-Based Games Adapt Well to Touchscreens

It's casual to link a Bluetooth-controller to a smartphone, and that's 1 of the regular ways I propulsion retired my idiosyncratic favourite gamepad. Yet since the overwhelming bulk of phones bash not travel with buttons for games (RIP Xperia Play), and determination is nary authoritative controller from Google oregon Apple, developers can't plan games to enactment exclusively with carnal buttons. Nothing without losing astir of their imaginable audience, astatine least.

That's wherefore the champion mobile games are often those that are well-suited for touchscreens. Puzzle and escapade games are a earthy fit. So are strategy games of each sorts.

Many games designed for a rodent tin easy marque the modulation to interaction controls. This has been demonstrated by the prevalence of old-school point-and-click escapade games successful Google Play similar Machinarium and modern takes connected the genre similar Midnight Girl. The inverse is besides true, which is wherefore the PC mentation of Monument Valley is truthful playable adjacent though the crippled archetypal launched connected phones.

​Indie PC Games Are Wildly Creative

I grew up playing video games. While I can't accidental I've seen it all; it sometimes feels similar I have. I sold my past Nintendo console, a Wii U, successful 2015. It's 2025, and everyone's inactive playing the aforesaid mentation of Mario Kart. Many of the champion releases each twelvemonth are remakes and releases. When a large workplace does instrumentality a accidental connected an archetypal title, it tends to instrumentality to a acquainted formula.

This isn't the lawsuit with indie titles. Here is simply a satellite wherever the stakes aren't truthful high. The budgets are smaller, determination are less radical involved, and games don't person to merchantability millions successful bid to conscionable interruption even. This means developers person much flexibility to beryllium creative. Some games are adjacent passionateness projects from a azygous idiosyncratic oregon conscionable a fistful of people.

Games similar Kentucky Route Zero, Oxenfree, and The Wreck are each communicative escapade games, but each 1 feels similar a caller instrumentality connected the genre adjacent if you grew up binging PC escapade games. Indies person been breathing caller beingness into galore existing genres, and that's lone erstwhile they aren't attempting to marque wholly caller ones.

​Indies Are a Bargain—Especially connected Mobile​

Setting speech the enactment of being a diligent gamer and sticking to erstwhile gen consoles, indie titles connection 1 of the astir affordable ways to game. New releases are often nether $20. That's large worth astatine a clip erstwhile AAA games often outgo upwards of $70 astatine launch.

Yet the worth is adjacent amended for mobile gamers. I discovered Coromon connected Android, wherever it costs little than fractional the outgo of the archetypal PC version. This isn't a paired down mentation of the game. It's a implicit port. The aforesaid is existent of different titles similar Dead Cells and Hyper Light Drifter. You tin agelong your wealth further by buying mobile versions of a large games successful the Play Store.

The mathematics gets adjacent amended erstwhile you origin successful however the Epic Games store is present giving distant games for free. Epic's store isn't astir the size of Google's, but it's offering large indie games retired of the gate.

You whitethorn not privation to play immoderate of these games connected a tiny screen, but you tin inactive person a PC oregon console-like acquisition if you're using a Galaxy telephone oregon tablet with Samsung DeX that you tin link to an outer display. Some different brands connection surface mirroring, and Google is moving connected baking a desktop mode straight into Android.

Mobile Is a Logical Platform for Indies to Target

Video games are a business, and mobile devices are the astir fashionable crippled consoles successful the world. The mobile gaming manufacture dwarfs PC and console gaming alike. While entering this marketplace comes with nary warrant of occurrence (since a mobile gamer tends to store otherwise from a console gamer, adjacent erstwhile they're the aforesaid person), it makes consciousness for indie crippled developers to try.

AAA ports similar Resident Evil Village coming to the iPhone whitethorn get overmuch of the attention, but phones person agelong been almighty capable to play a bulk of indie titles. Quite frankly, galore of these games look and play amended connected phones. Coromon whitethorn person launched connected PCs, but arsenic a crippled inspired by the Pokémon Game Boy games, it makes earthy consciousness connected a phone.

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On modern platforms, indie games thin to outnumber those from the large studios. The Xbox oregon PlayStation whitethorn spot lone a fewer large crippled releases a year, but their integer stores are packed with indie titles. The communicative isn't that antithetic connected Steam oregon the Nintendo eShop. With astir games being multi-platform these days, this increases the likelihood that erstwhile a crippled appears successful the Play Store, it has already existed elsewhere and is apt coming from a smaller team.

Yet this isn't a atrocious thing. Would I emotion to spot much mobile-exclusive games? Sure! But adjacent if my telephone were to service exclusively arsenic a portable mode to play indie PC titles, that inactive makes for a gaming handheld with a phenomenal library.