It’s nice to play a board game without having to move all the pieces around, and sometimes, you can’t get your friends to play your favorite game. Mobile board game apps can fix both of these issues, and most of the time, they can even make the actual game feel like the app. Though, some digital board games are better at capturing the spirit of the real thing than others. The interface and controls must be easy to use. If the screen is full of text and buttons or the controls need to be smoother, the game might not be relaxing. Also, it isn’t enjoyable when an app’s artwork doesn’t match the original artwork (unless it’s an important update).
No matter what kind of games you like, the best Android games will keep you busy for hours. The Play Store offers strategy games, first-person shooters, puzzle games, and many more that you’re sure to enjoy. The hard part is going through all the games in the Play Store to find the best ones. Some games on Android require payment to play, but most of the best games are free. You might wonder if a specific paid game is really worth the money.
Don’t worry we’ve put together a list of the very best in a number of different areas. We’ve found the best Android games, so you can be sure to find something you and your friends will enjoy or a game that will test your planning skills.
Best Board Game Apps for Android and iPhone
Board games are great because they are easy to learn and fun to play with family and friends. These games could be old favorites or brand-new games made just for your phone. People who play board games are said to get better at handling problems, thinking about the future, and using logic and other skills while also feeling better.
1. Galaxy Trucker
For a game in which you have to use your hands a lot and read a lot of information from your board at once, this is a brilliant and faithful adaptation that eliminates the difficulty and care of the original.
Galaxy Trucker by Vlaada Chvátil is a real-time game in which you use plumbing parts to build rockets. Each player adds as many guns, engines, and cargo holds as they can to their ship to make it as good as possible for a dangerous trip. It’s wild and stressful, and there’s a good chance your ship won’t make it. But that’s the fun of it.
2. Star Realms
In digital form, this already quick deck-building game moves even faster. Star Realms is a space battle deck-building game created by Robert Dougherty and Darwin Kastle. Players buy ships from different factions and attack their opponents.
You can play against the easy AI for free since the card game costs $15. This is one of the best layouts I’ve seen. If you already know how to play the card game, you can skip the training because the controls are straightforward to use. If you want to play with friends, the online mode is well worth the money.
3. Ludo King
Most people have played Ludo when they were younger. Four people can play this game. Each person is a different colour, such as blue, red, green, or yellow. This is a simple game that you can play with or against any old friend or stranger you meet online.
Ludo is a game of chance, and you have to trust the numbers that come up on your dice in order to play. The first person to get all four men across the board and into the finish line wins.
4. Scrabble GO
A strong vocabulary is also needed for this famous board game, which requires you to think critically and logically. People who are playing with at least two others are given seven drawn letter tiles that they must use to connect the boxes on the board. The rule is that they must all fit together to make English words.
Each word on the board is assigned a point, and the board becomes more linked as more common letters are used. At a higher score, certain coloured parts of the board are revealed.
5. RISK
Another app like Terra Mystica is Global Domination. It has a victory board that can be used in a lot of different ways. People who use the app can travel to different places and meet famous people from history. The person with more power has dice with more significant numbers, so they can’t go against each other.
The board game RISK was used to make the table game. Different game settings for different parts of the world are available for users to choose from. They can trade cards with the system or other players when they win fights.
6. Terra Mystica
Terra Mystica is the online form of a historical board game with the same name that gets less attention. It takes place in a made-up world with 14 types of people living in 7 different settings. Because these species can’t live in someone else’s environment, they have to take it over and “terraform” it so they can live there.
In Terra Mystica, you don’t have to rely on luck to win. Instead, each move you make is essential. This game is suitable for people who like both board games and strategy planning games.
7. Catan Universe
Watch out for Catan Universe if you’re tired of well-known board games and want to try something different. This old-school game involves trading, building, and settling in a fantasy world while facing different situations and learning something from each one.
In this magical world, you have to work together with your friends and enemies to handle many of these tasks. The Rise of the Incas, dragon hunting, treasure finding, and building ships are all popular events.
8. Tokaido
The designer, Antoine Bauza, loves using Japanese themes in his games and making the graphics look beautiful to match. The app version of Tokaido has the same graphics and some cute movements to make the board feel less static. In the Edo era, the real Tōkaidō, or East Sea Road, was a significant road in Japan. It connected Kyoto to what is now Tokyo, which can be travelled on foot.
9. Patchwork
Patchwork is an intelligent two-player game from Uwe Rosenberg, who is best known for making heavy games that take two hours to set up and require collecting wood and taking care of farm animals. It’s like competitive Tetris. Each player takes an odd-shaped fabric from a rondel that limits their options and places it on their nine-by-nine boards. They may also get buttons, which are the game’s cash, which they can use to buy more significant fabric pieces or more options from the board. The images in the app don’t match the ones in the physical game, though, and they’re too cutesy.
10. Jaipur
Last year, my all-time favorite two-player game got a digital release with a surprise twist: a campaign mode with a lot of different rules than the base game. In Jaipur, each person has up to seven cards and tries to get sets of the six goods shown on the cards. Each card has a different value. The only cards you can take are the five that are in the “market” on the table.
Some cards are called “camels,” and they let you take more than one at once. One common strategy is to replace all of your goods cards with camels from your stack, forcing your opponent to take all five camel cards and giving you a chance to pick five new cards from the deck.
11. Card Thief
Card Thief is the game for you if you like games with a little more action. This card game is played across a board like solitaire, but instead of playing against other people, you have to beat the system’s smarts. This game does not have a group mode, which is a shame.
The user design of Card Thief is so interesting that it enhances the experience. New tasks are added to the game every day, making it even more fun to play.
12. Agricola
Agricola is the classic “heavy Euro” game, with all the tropes that have come to define the genre, such as worker placement, point salad, farming, sneakily harsh unforgivingness, boring wooden blocks, and so on. The app has an excellent training series that lets new players try out the game and genre. Experienced players can play in different modes, such as solo challenge and online play.
13. Ticket to Ride
A lot of people love the train-themed board game Ticket to Ride, and now you can play it on your phone. Pass-and-play lets up to five people play at the same time (or in the same area if everyone has the game on their phone). Technology really shines, and the game is quick and easy to play.
This game is great for parties or family get-togethers because it lets people compete healthily.
14. Small World
Days of Wonder, which is now part of the Asmodee family, made Small World and Ticket to Ride, two of the first popular board game apps. Both games have great images, are easy to play on tablets or phones, and have AI opponents who are good at what they do. They were also great for pass-and-play. For example, Small World (later updated and called Small World 2) has a feature that lets two players face each other across a table and play on a tablet without having to switch or move it. Small World is an area control game, and there needs to be more room for everyone to play.
15. 7 Wonders
After years of waiting, delays, and testing, the 7 Wonders app finally came out in November… It was worth the wait. 7 Wonders is one of the best board games we’ve seen because it’s a city-building game that can be played in just 30 minutes. Every round, each player gets a hand of seven cards.
They play one card, then pass the rest to the next player, who plays one card from their hand and passes the rest around. This way, each player plays six cards (and throws away one), but the cards they get to choose from change as the hands move around the table. You play 18 cards three times, each time building a small engine that gives you the coins and materials you need to play more buildings or finish your Wonder.
