I do like having games on my phone, but it’s always a struggle looking for games with 0 microtransactions. So would like a game I can out right pay for, or one with ads. The ability to disable ads for $5 is chill though.

I’ve played a lot of games that you can “have fun being f2p” but some days I just get really sick and tired of games I play trying to sell me things every 30 seconds.

So do you guys have any?

If not I may go back to playing GBA games on my phone XD

  • rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    9 months ago

    Well, backgammon is the best gambling game ever invented. Knowing how to play marks you as a person of distinction the world over. Computers can almost beat the best players in the world.

    Lots of backgammon Android apps, the best is Backgammon NJ

  • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    9 months ago

    iPhone or android?

    There are a decent number of indie games, at least on iPhone. I play Balatro, monster train, binding of Isaac, stardew valley, slay the spire, dead cells, dicey dungeons, alto’s odyssey on iPhone (some with a controller).

    • ericbomb@lemmy.worldOP
      0·
      9 months ago

      Oh Android, but those are all great suggestions and appear to be on android as well! I haven’t played all of those, but I’ve heard wonderful things about all of those on PC. Didn’t realize all of those have pc.

      • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
        0·
        9 months ago

        Yeah, discoverability kind of sucks (on both OSes) because they get flooded out by microtransaction slop. I have Apple Arcade (because I use the other Apple one stuff and it’s cheaper just to package it), and filtering by that makes life easier. Several of those are included.

        The other option that excels on Android is emulation. You might kind of need a controller for real time games, but there are a lot of substantial turn based games on older platforms that hold up well and are tolerable with on screen controller for menu navigation.

      • OwenEverbinde@lemmy.myserv.oneEnglish
        0·
        9 months ago

        Have you played Supreme Commander? It’s basically a simplified Supreme Commander.

        You gather credits by building extractors, and extractors can only be put on resource deposits, so your aim is to control those deposits.

        But where SupCom 2 has mass, energy, and research, Rusted Warfare has only credits.

        What I look for

        When I play RTS games, it’s almost-exclusively:

        • co-op against the AI
        • with teammates
          • ^^ teammates who don’t spend time practicing RTS skills

        So I’m looking for very specific things in a game. So far, of the games I’ve played, Rusted Warfare is top three when it comes to those things. (The other two in my top 3 are Age of Empires 3 and Nemesis of the Roman Empire (aka Celtic Kings 2)).

        It got into my top three by being strong in the following areas:

        Simplicity

        Rusted Warfare is simple enough that my teammates can follow my requests without needing to train and practice on their own.

        For instance, I can advise my teammates, “upgrade your extractors” and they can follow my advice without requiring a tutorial on resource management and energy shortages.

        For comparison, in Supreme Commander (the franchise that was very clearly the inspiration for this game), trying to upgrade your extractor without sufficient knowledge on energy shortages can lead to choking out your entire economy.

        Bull-headed AI

        This is the most important thing I look for in casual co-op RTS.

        In most RTS games, if the AI has 100 units? They are now attacking you on 100 different fronts. And focusing on any one front will deliver you losses at the other 99. It’s a game of whack-a-mole where you are punished for every mole you miss.

        I know I said Age of Empires 3 is in my top three, but Age of Empires 2? Exhausting, excrutiating, and infuriating. It’s basically impossible to enjoy playing against the AI.

        Same goes for Company of Heroes. I have broken a clavicle and wrist, and I can tell you without hesitation that playing against the AI in Company of Heroes is several times more painful than breaking bones.

        Some people like that in a game. I do not.

        Rusted Warfare, on the other hand, features an AI that mostly attacks you directly. Put a cluster of turrets between your base and theirs? You’re now battling 80% of their incursions. They’ll attack your flanks eventually, but you don’t have to divide your attention evenly between a dozen different locations. It’s almost like you and the AI are looking at the same place.

        It’s rare to find an RTS game where you are allowed to enjoy yourself. Most punish anyone who drops below 200 actions per minute.

        But in Rusted Warfare, you can just… play.

        Progression

        I have extraordinarily heavy ADHD (first percentile on impulse control and sustained focus). But as long as a game has the bare minimum of progression (upgrades, building tree, etc) then I don’t get bored and disengaged.

        And Rusted Warfare has that. It’s got at least the bare minimum.

        There’s always something for me to do: upgrade extractors, add turrets, build experimental factories, etc. And finishing this process does yield some pretty satisfying armadas… especially if I’m playing with mods.

        In summary

        I highly recommend it for casual co-op.

        • Biskii@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          0·
          9 months ago

          Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful. I will definitely be trying this out sooner than later. The main RTS I played was Command & Conquer Red Alert as a kid. I’ve been wanting to dabble in the genre again, but didn’t want anything too complicated. This sounds perfect

  • webpack@ani.social
    0·
    9 months ago

    mindustry is free on Android, it’s a tower defense/factory building game (it’s also open source)

    I got bloons td 6 for like 7 bucks, for some reason it also has microtransactions but they are not required or pushed onto you. I think btd6 is the best tower defense game, it just has so much content and is still getting regular updates.

  • Donut@leminal.spaceEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    I’m enjoying NecroMerger. It has optional ads (no forced short ads either) and the micro transactions are either some general buffs, ad-free version or gems. The gems are dished out royally imo, where I’ve purchased most of the premium currency content by just playing.

    Something you can’t play right now but can sign up to play for later: WalkScape. It’s an RPG game in a similar style to RuneScape, but you actually have to walk to craft, skill and walk around the map.

    The team has often said that they are against microtransactions and other monetization schemes that currently plague the industry, so they have plans to release a freemium version and a paid version.

  • CaptDust@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    9 months ago

    I didn’t see Unciv recommended yet, it’s a decent mobile open source version of Civilization.

    Pocket City 2 also gets a shout-out, it’s not very deep but a nice casual city builder with a one time purchase.

  • Caesium@lemmy.world
    0·
    9 months ago

    as a Rhythm Game Enjoyer I always gotta recommend Cytus. There are paid songs but the base game has over 100, each with at least three difficulties :3

    tho even if you like rhythm games I definitely recommend looking up the game first because I have yet to ever properly convince my other rhythm game-loving friends to genuinely play cytus. Still it is one of my all time favorite games

    • GrammarPolice@lemmy.world
      0·
      9 months ago

      As a rhythm game enjoyer, i must also chip in with Geometry Dash🤩. You could install the free version, but i highly recommend you get the full version as that includes not only the game’s levels, but also the levels of other users. It’s only $4 and that’s it. No other microtransactions.

    • leverage@lemdro.idEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      I am a rhythm game enjoyer, I’ve genuinely played Cytus. At this point I’d consider the best mobile rhythm game, but I don’t play it often as I’m not stuck playing only on a phone that often. Like, only play it on airplanes sometimes. I did fiend it for a bit when I first discovered it (10 years ago already?). Much easier to master than any other rhythm game I’ve played, might be part of why I don’t play it more.