Summary
For better or worse, gacha has become a hugely popular mechanic in mobile gaming. On the one hand, with a small base of big spenders, it allowshigh-quality titleslike Genshin Impact to be available for free to the average player. On the other hand, it’s a frustrating and intrusive mechanic that encourages endless spending.
If you want to escape the gacha roundabout and progress using your skills, instead of your wallet, you should check out these games. Despite this list including RPGs, none of these titles include gacha mechanics.
8Papa’s Pizzeria To Go
If you ever played Papa’s Pizzeria or otherFlash games on your school’s computer, you’re able to revisit those memories now. Papa’s Pizzeria To Go is an updated version of the browser-based pizza serving classic.
Although it’s a premium app, the asking price is low. Once you pay that, you may serve customers and customize your restaurant to your heart’s content. The game has no ads to spoil the zen-like experience of making virtual pizzas.
7Lara Croft Go
Tomb Raider made a respectable mobile debut with Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light in 2010. However, it’s a game better enjoyed on consoles. Lara Croft Go, on the other hand, was made with mobile phones in mind.
It’s an isometric puzzle-strategy hybrid that evokes the feeling of the older Tomb Raider titles. The difficulty scales nicely, and later puzzles require you to think outside the box. It also preserves Lara Croft’s classic design, as opposed to the grittier rebooted version the mainline games adopted.
6Sorcery! Series
Role-playing video games were, in their infancy, made for one reason: to let you get the tabletop experience without having to argue with other players. The Sorcery! series transposes that gameplay to the modern age. The Sorcery! series games are text-based adventures with beautiful storybook illustrations. Instead of leveling and stats, the focus is on your choices.
The games are highly immersive: the ambiance and sound effects enhance the experience as you read your way through these choose-your-own-adventure titles. This is role-playing stripped down to the bare essentials, and is sure to stimulate your imagination.
5Crashlands
Have you ever wanted to play Don’t Starve without, well, starving? That’s what Crashlands is: a brighter, bubblier and friendlier survival game. The game is primarily story-driven, and much of the inventory manages itself for you. That’s not to say it’s easy though - you’d besthave your strategy planned out beforehand.
Crafting is quick and seamless, and there’s no limit to how many items you can carry. This means you can spend more time exploring the world and enjoying the witty writing. Crashlands also has cross-play support, so you can switch between your PC and mobile without losing progress.
4Night Of The Full Moon
Roguelike deckbuilding games have taken off in popularity in recent years. Night of the Full Moon provides a freeware experience of the genre for newcomers who may not be willing to shell out for Slay the Spire yet.
Night of the Full Moon is really impressive. It has beautiful art and is a compelling card battler. Its gothic, fairytale vibe makes it a charming first foray into this type of game. Night of the Full Moon has paid DLCs, but the base game is completely free.
Night of the Full Moon is listed on Steam and iOS stores as Night of Full Moon, but under its original title on the Play Store.
3Carnivores Series
Hunting games seem like a perfect fit for mobile gaming, but in recent years, so many have been delisted from app stores that the genre is all but extinct. The last hunting sims standing - those that are high quality, anyway - are Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter and Carnivores: Ice Age.
These games are enhanced ports of older PC games, but they’re optimized well for mobiles. The controls are well-thought-out, allowing a slow-burn FPS experience that’s as compelling as it would be on a console or PC. One caveat is that progression is slow, and you have to watch an ad to earn free supplies. But for 15 minutes of hunting prehistoric animals, it makes for a fun distraction.
2Kemco RPGs
In the late 2000s, Kemco saw the writing on the wall: mobile phones would soon overtake dedicated handhelds. Instead of struggling as a small publisher with no brand recognition, it withdrew from consoles. From then on, it made a name for itself in the mobile market, publishing budget RPGs.
Kemco RPGs are like comfort food: they have charming characters, cute stories, and can be completed in 15 hours or fewer. They lean heavily on you already being a JRPG enthusiast: they’re not the most polished or innovative, but they’ll tide you over until the next Final Fantasy comes out. The Asdivine and Revenant series were ported to other systems, and are quite enjoyable to play through.
1Ex Astris
Hypergryph is best known for the gacha hit Arknights, so it was a surprise when the studio published Ex Astris. A premium game that promises no microtransactions, Ex Astris has lived up to its premise so far: it’s a self-contained, console-worthy title. It can be played offline, and lets you enjoy its story and sidequests without being badgered by any predatory monetization.
Overall, Ex Astris feels like a JRPG that could be - andshouldbe - on consoles. It’s fun to play, has gorgeous character designs, and has no timed events to detract from the campaign. Hopefully, more mobile games copy this principle.
