Mobile is now one of the major gaming platforms of the industry, if not the major gaming platform. As revealed by NewZoo in their 2019 industry report, mobile gaming accounts for 45 percent of global game revenue, the majority of which is from smartphone games. As nearly everyone has a mobile phone and nearly everyone will have the desire to pass some time on a fun game, mobiles as a platform are able to reach a huge audience.
Apple has finally accepted that the App Store is a bona fide games store, creating the Apple Arcade to incentivize developers to create compelling games not necessarily within the free-to-play template, per Wired. Android devices are experiencing a similar influx of gaming on the mobile platform, with there being a huge range of exciting and engaging games that people love to dip into or sink hours into via their smartphones.
Getting games from Google Play
As you will know, the Google Play Store is the go-to app for getting all sorts of apps for Android phones, including a diverse and ever-expanding range of games. Most of these games are of the freemium model, sitting high in the charts for a few weeks before fading away, but there are also some time-honored, truly great games nestled in the top games charts.
The best place to start has to be with the award-winning farming role-playing game which has kept jittery Animal Crossing fans from breaking into a riot; Stardew Valley. Costing less than $10 to buy, it’s a fully-fledged indie game that has you building a farm, exploring the area, and learning to live off of the land – all without time-delay paywalls. Another colossus of Android gaming is Pokémon Go. It smashed records around its release in July 2016 and still commands a huge audience due to its developers, Niantic, regularly adding new events, ways to play, and new Pokémon to catch.
As for more recently released games, in an unexpected team-up between Microsoft’s Xbox and the collectible toy range Funko Pop!, the Gears Pop! mobile game is rather entertaining, requires skill, and features adorable versions of characters from the otherwise brutish-looking Xbox game franchise. Then, of course, there’s the undeniably appealing Mario Kart Tour, which brings the globally-loved Nintendo game line to Android devices for racing on the go.
Looking beyond the Play Store
The Google Play Store is a convenient way to find new and popular games, but due to the adoption of mobile phones, gaming websites have optimized their offering for mobile players to enjoy their games via Chrome. This is particularly useful to those who are short on storage space, don’t have enough data to download a new app on the go, or just want to quickly dive into some games.
To make the comeback game as appealing and accessible as possible, not only did bingo brand Buzz Bingo have to move online, but it also had to make all of its games, from Bingo Millions to slots like Age of the Gods: Prince of Olympus, available to mobile browsers. Another browser gaming brand, Miniclip, offers links to the Play Store for games that it hosts that also have dedicated apps. It also, however, has a line of ‘Play Now’ titles which Android users can sink into with one tap, such as Stacky Zoo and Foot Chinko.
Not only are big-name developers continuing to release new and exciting apps for Android gamers, but online brands are also making their games easy to find and play via Chrome.