I just thought it might be fun to write up a very little article recommending three of the free and open-source games I tried and loved from F-droid!
Not only do I spend a ton of time on Android systems because I review retro handhelds, but I also enjoy exploring the more unusual corners of the platform, especially when they involve open-source software and games. I’m a daily user of F-droid (and have convinced my whole family to do the same), and turning my attention to the gaming side of things seemed a fun idea for an article.
In this one I try and show off three games:
- Breakout 71
- Shattered Pixel Dungeon
- AAAAXY
Read on if you’re looking for fun F-droid games you can control easily (which itself is a damn miracle) with the on-screen touch controls.
https://gardinerbryant.com/some-of-androids-most-interesting-games/
And if you’ve got any recommendations, I’d love to hear them!
Author’s note:
I’ve had plenty of people let me know that these games are in fact available on Google’s own Play Store. Oh the irony. Rather than edit the whole angle of this article, I’ll just say that this is quite funny. Since Google’s Play Store is such a little part of my life (I never use it outside of emulation/retro handheld reviews), that totally passed me by.
All my apologies for not checking things better before posting this one! That is 100% on me. Instead try to read over it with an angle of “…you’re better to play these from F-droid than Play Store”…!
Oh, okay. So basically this was just something they shit out and published without due diligence.
Why share this, then?
Unciv - civ 5 clone
Slice and Dice - weird dice game, bit of a learning curve but it’s neat
Slice and Dice is an amazing game. I love the amount of variety in game types.
Sadly I feel like most games that are any good are PC ports:
- Peglin
- Willfrost
- Balatoro
- Slay the Spire
- Gambonanza
- PawnBarian
- Baba is You
- Monster Train
- Shotgun King
- Throne fall
- Wargroove 2
- Dicey Dungeons
I don’t think that Balatro and Slay the Spire are available on Android outside the Play Store. Also these games aren’t Open Source. I have absolutely nothing against good game recommendations or proprietary games, but this post is about F-Droid (Open Source).
Sorry to be that guy, but the 3 games you listed are all on the Play Store.
Oh no, you’re totally fine. And you’re not the only one of ‘that guy’ who let me know! I hope you’ll forgive me pasting a comment from above explaining my unexplainable stupidity on this one:
because yes…I was a complete idiot and didn’t realize these were in fact on Play Store. That is unforgivable because research for articles is like my thing, but I just never use Play Store, outside of being for emulation on retro handhelds I review.
Sorry for the confusion! I did add the callout at the bottom of my intro to explain my idiocy
Shattered, for one. Thought that was a bit odd.
The title of this post on Lemmy is wrong! The “Just” part is missing. Original blog post title is “Some of Android’s Most Interesting Games Aren’t Just on the Play Store”. My guess is, it was edited after posting here? That’s why some people pointed out the games are available on Play Store as well.
My guess is, it was edited after posting here? That’s why some people pointed out the games are available on Play Store as well.
This was news to me, too! Gardiner edited it overnight (it is morning here in Australia now), because yes…I was a complete idiot and didn’t realize these were in fact on Play Store. That is unforgivable because research for articles is like my thing, but I just never use Play Store, outside of being for emulation on retro handhelds I review.
Sorry for the confusion! I did add the callout at the bottom of my intro to explain my idiocy, but the title was definitely a late edit.
Ah, no need to be that harsh. I like your articles. I wouldn’t say it wasn’t entirely “your fault”, because one would assume the original title and blog post is correct. So let’s say you was “fooled” by the original title at the time of posting here. He realized the wrong title too and corrected it and you noticed it at next day. These are normal “human” mistakes that happen and no need to blame anyone. I replied here not to blame your or Gardiner, just to inform to eliminate the confusion.
In short, everything fine, no one is an idiot, just because you are a human and made a human mistake. :-) my2cents
You’re very kind, but I still think I am an idiot for not making sure of that!!!
:)
I just looked up each of these games… On google play store. They are all on there.
@PerfectDark Here are some that I’ve found on F-Droid. I don’t know if they’re on the Play Store, though.
* Vector Pinball: an oldy, but a goody.
* PipePanic: a Pipe Dreams clone.
* FlowIt!: color in all the squares. It’s harder than it sound.
* Ball2Box: get the ball through the obstacles, and into the box.
* IED: Minesweeper, but in 3D. Made with the Godot Engine.
* Gurgle: a Wordle clone.
* Roboyard: Move the robots around a maze to where they need to go.Shattered Pixel Dungeon looks like a fun one.
I’ve never been interested in playing games on my phone but over the last 2 months I’ve actually been playing more and more. Mostly PSP emulation but also some Balatro and Don’t Starve.
Shattered pixel dungeon is addictive–beware
The learning curve is steep. There’s a lot of subtle little bits to pick up on and you will die a ton. Very addictive and worth playing. Very good game.
if memory serves, I lost 48 times before winning my first game. Then it started to become more like a win every 2 or 3 games. Game has been around since like 2014 and still gets balance updates and tweaks.
Game is a lot nicer to play with a touch pen instead of your finger, IMO.
The reply value is exceptional.
it’s both awesome and quite addictive :)
Shattered Pixel Dungeon is SO good. It’s horrendously difficult early on because you don’t know what you’re doing, but once you got a grasp it’s so fun.
I love AAAAXY! Favorite game available on Android.
Space trader is pretty fun. It was origionally for the plam pilot but got ported to andriod.
Egyption mouse pounce is a fun card game based on real rules from when i was a kid.
What a wonderful, original and well written post, a truly great read, thanks a lot for writing and sharing it.
I use Lemuroid, it’s freaking great. I’ll try Mindustry, which seems to be also available for Linux on Flathub (very convenient).
Which begs the question… would you consider writing a post about FOSS games on PC?
Flathub is chock-full of great games that would greatly benefit from a little exposure, and it’s so vast and diverse that there’s a guaranteed varied selection for any genre.
It could even span 2 posts: the most popular ones & hidden gems. If they do well, there’s also game tools & launchers for games that nobody knows that are playable on the Steam Deck / Steam Machine / Linux.
With the imminent release of the Machine, I think these kind of posts would do well. After all, we’re talking about free games, 1 click away.
Hoped to find some cool new suggestions, instead I learned about three games I’ve already got installed. Breakout 71 is absolutely incredible, and at 492 kB(!!) you should install it to your phone, tablet, and floppy disk right now. It’s also on the Play store, so you can recommend it to people less concerned with privacy.
I think I’ve played another variant on the open source Pixel Dungeon but after not playing it for many years I uninstalled it because Shattered Pixel Dungeon was actively being developed and it wasn’t. I continued to not play it. And I’ve never opened AAAXY so no opinions there.
Not sure if exclusive, but Andor’s Trail is on F-Droid and really good.
Breakout 71 and Shattered Pixel Dungeon are super addictive
I wish there was more, honestly. Not exclusive to FDroid, but Mindustry is probably the best open source game I’ve played. I enjoyed Breakout71, but once you are just trying to unlock jew apps it gets repetitive and too luck based with getting the upgrades you need
