Looking for the best indie app game you can play anywhere, any time? We’ve got you covered.
From classics like Snake.io to platformers, tabletops, and card games, these are the 10 best indie games to play on the go in 2022.
Related: Best IO Games of 2022
- Snake.io
Bringing back the original snake game that’s loved by millions worldwide, Snake.io seems simple on the surface. You eat whatever comes your way to grow your snake into a larger version of itself. With bright, fun graphics, you can adjust your slither to perfectly match your taste.
You can choose a classic snake, dragon, ninja, corgi, and more! It’s perhaps the most replayable game and includes a multiplayer mode so that you can play with your friends or random players from anywhere in the world. We love Snake.io because you can play by yourself or with friends for minutes or hours at a time, any time, anywhere.
Play Snake.io for free right in your browser or download free on iOS and Android!
- Dead Cells
In Dead Cells, you better be ready to confront the wonderful and weird world that the action platformer presents. With a host of skills and weapons, you’ll have to master the challenges of the frantic 2D combat.
It’s a game where you play at your own pace while aiming to uncover what happened on the gloomy island you find your character on. Dead Cells is a roguelike mobile game where you progressively explore a world that’s connected together, slowly making progress towards your overall goal. It’s extremely replayable — you won’t get bored any time soon. We love the customizable controls that allow you to place buttons and swap touch gestures as you please.
- Threes
Threes is a small indie card game, and it’s one of our favorite indie games to play on the go. In the beginning, it seems simple and straightforward; you merge different numbers to create bigger ones, repeating the action to avoid getting gridlocked. However, it’s more challenging than it sounds and quickly drew us in, firing up our brain cells to get to work.
The gameplay is quite unique; Threes is an original game that rewards you for thoughtful strategy while offering endless opportunities to play in different ways. From the brilliant design to the excellent soundtrack, Threes offers an exceptional experience that will make you want to keep on playing.
Related: Best Word Games
- Wide Ocean Big Jacket
Wide Ocean Big Jacket is a slice-of-life indie game with a brief story about a family going on a camping trip. Players can roast hot dogs on the campfire, listen to spooky ghost stories, go bird watching, and participate in other family camping activities. The game’s charming, realistic, and well-written characters make it far more memorable than the seemingly prosaic concept suggests.
If you’re looking for an indie adventure where you feel like you know each character personally, Wide Ocean Big Jacket is the app you need.
- Bright Paw
Bright Paw is heavily inspired by the popular GO games; it’s a card-based movement puzzle that puts you in the shoes (well, paws) of a cat who’s exploring a secret lair reminiscent of a villain you’d see in the James Bond series. Despite the tension caused by avoiding traps and guards, Bright Paw is a relaxing, mellow game — the calming narrator adds to the experience, and the forgiving puzzles allow you to retry as often as you need.
Even though the game had a rocky start on Android with some bugs, the devs stepped up and released updates quickly to squash them.
- Cartographers
Cartographers took the mobile tabletop scene by storm, offering lightning-fast play for between one and one hundred players. It’s a fantasy-themed card game where no round is ever the same. The mobile port is excellent but can be challenging to get into for those who haven’t played the physical version. However, it doesn’t take too long to learn Cartographers!
The sound design is exceptional, with its aggressive and epic style perfectly suited for a fast-paced mobile game. The only downside to Cartographers is it plays much better on a large screen (we prefer it on a tablet vs. phone).
- Root
Another tabletop-style game, Root is about anthropomorphic animals living in the woods. At its heart, it’s a brilliant war game with tense and engaging characters and gameplay. The mobile app smooths out many of the game’s complexities by keeping track of the rules so that you can concentrate on scheming your way to victory.
It’s not an easy game to explain; we recommend trying it for yourself if you’re a tabletop fan!
- Creaks
Creaks is a dark game, both visually and thematically. Players explore a dimly-lit, crumbling manor filled to the brim with haunted furniture. Its hyper-creative qualities made us instantly fall in love with Creaks, and you get a real sense of being in a living world.
There are plenty of secrets to discover, and you’ll have to learn the intricacies as you play. The wordless narration is extremely effective at creating a haunted house story that will leave you wanting more.
- Finished!
At first glance, Finished! looks like a simple solitaire game about people stuck at work. However, you never shuffle your deck, and you need to sequence it from 1-48 before your character drinks eight coffees.
The twist is that there are specialty cards that let you sort your hand, bring back additional cards, or send them into the future. It’s a genius and mesmerizing card game with procedurally-generated music that gets more frantic as time goes on.
- A Monster’s Expedition
This mobile game stands out because of how much the devs did with a simple concept. The game involves pushing trees over—that’s it. However, pushing trees over allows you to create items like rafts and bridges, leading to puzzles with increased complexity.
The goal is to travel between small islands, solving each one’s puzzle. While it can be a challenge, you can reset levels, rewind moves, and backtrack to older puzzles when you get stuck—it feels like the devs are on your side.
Get your game on (the go) with Snake.io—Play for free on Android, iOS, or in your browser!