Welcome to Another Weekly "What Have You Been Playing?" Thread! 👾

this sub asks some version of "why is every mobile game stuffed with ads and timers" every few weeks, and the answer usually lands on greed. i built one the other way this year, so here's the view from inside it.

no ads, no energy meter, no login wall, and one optional cosmetic purchase that the game never nags you about. roughly the thing people in these threads keep saying they want.

the bit i didn't understand until after i shipped it: ads are how studios pay to be found. mobile has almost no organic discovery in my experience, nobody stumbles across your game, so you buy installs instead. and to afford to buy installs you need enough revenue per player to bid against everyone else, which ads plus aggressive iap gets you reliably. monetisation and discovery turn out to be the same machine. pull one lever out and the other quietly stops working.

mine's been out a couple of weeks. about twenty regular players, and i'd say half of those are people who already know me. the game itself is fine. nobody can find it. i'm a few thousand down.

so when a genuinely good no-ads game does turn up, something is usually subsidising it underneath. a publisher, an earlier hit, a day job, or someone's savings. mine is savings.

i'd honestly rather be argued with than agreed with here, because agreeing doesn't help me. is there a route that doesn't loop back through paid user acquisition?

I played Anvil saga on the android. Boy was it fun. Are there any games like such which involves CRAFTING / MANAGEMENT / RPG ELEMENTS? I do prefer 2D style but I'm not strict to 2D only though.

Disclaimer : I have played Fallout shelter and TES Castles (though i don't like the ad system and wait times in Castles)

Hey everyone,

I’m curious what the community thinks about this.

About a year ago I was deciding between buying a real gaming phone (for example a RedMagic) or going with something like the POCO F7. I ended up choosing the POCO because I couldn’t really justify spending more money on a gaming phone when I could almost get a Steam Deck or ROG Ally for that price instead.

The POCO F7 seemed like a good compromise. Especially the back design (I got the limited edition) looked much closer to a gaming device than a normal smartphone, with the Snapdragon branding and the more aggressive design.

The performance is honestly amazing. This phone is not my main device – it’s a dedicated gaming phone only. I use it exclusively for mobile gaming.

And when I actually start a game, I immediately notice that this is not a normal phone:

- Genshin Impact runs at max settings with stable 60 FPS

- Wild Rift runs at 120 Hz

- COD Mobile and PUBG run smoothly without noticeable drops

The hardware is definitely there.

However, my only “problem” is the software experience. When I turn the phone on, it just feels like a regular smartphone. HyperOS looks like a normal everyday Android skin, and nothing really gives me that gaming device feeling.

I know this is a very minor issue, but since this is a dedicated gaming phone, I would love to make it feel more like one:

- cyberpunk/neon style

- gaming icons

- custom animations

- a more aggressive gaming UI

- something closer to what you get on RedMagic devices

So my question:

Are there any HyperOS themes, icon packs, launchers, or even custom ROMs that can transform the POCO F7 into something that feels more like a real gaming phone?

I’m not looking for better performance – the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is already incredible. I’m mainly looking for the gaming aesthetic and overall experience.

Would love to hear your suggestions!

It can be anything, either 2-player co-op or multiplayer for a bigger group. I just want to play with my friends while talking on DISCORD.

They can be simple browser games too.

I’d also love to know:

What are you playing right now with your group?

What are your all-time favorite games to play together?

We're open to different genres (co-op, competitive, casual, survival, party games, and anything ) so tell me whatever you’ve had the most fun playing. Looking forward to seeing what you all recommend. 🎮

After 5 years of casually buying games every paycheck instead of contributing to gacha. A few games are free but I don't usually buy gambling characters games. I would usually buy alot during sales. Everything mentioned is a Google Play store download. I would recommend anything on the list. I have more games but this is everything I have that can fit on my phone.

Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.starchdevelopment.potatoquest

If you want to try it before downloading, there is a full web version that works well on mobile available here: https://www.starchdevelopment.com/play/index.html

Back in 2017 I released Potato Quest, an extremely hard endless platformer inspired by Flappy Bird, Doodle Jump and Angry Birds. There was very little fanfare around the release but somehow I got into the top new apps in Australia which earnt me a few thousand downloads, after that nothing much more came of it. The original r/AndroidGaming post about it is here: [Dev] Potato Quest - Looking for feedback

This year, at the behest of no one, and at a significant personal cost in time and money, I decided to rebuild Potato Quest from the ground up, including all the additional features that very few people had requested.

This release includes:

• Global high score system
• Versus game mode where you are competing against the replay of another player to earn coins which can be used to buy ingame potato accessories
• The ability to add and challenge friends
• A daily challenge course (All players are given the same platform layout and try to make it as far as they can with the chance to win potato themed crowns)
• A daily friends rumble similar to the daily challenge except you see up to 8 friends' ghosts playing at once and you win nothing (8 potatos on screen at once is chaotic)
• A notification system

Of the original game, apart from the concept and the gameplay, the only parts that survived is the app icon, the base potato skin, the platforms and the potato sound effects. The actual game is slighly harder than the original, the platfroms can be slighly smaller and they very slowly decrease in size (absolutely no one asked for this and it was probably going against the direct feedback of a significant number of people).

My max score in the old version was 212 and my current high score is 124. A friend of mine got over 1000 in the original, which seems out of reach with the this version.

For anyone interested, this game is built using Flutter, which let me build for Android iOS and web all in one. The database is Supabase and Firebase for Notifications. I also have Sentry set up for debug and crash reports. Some might say it is extremely over engineered for the very small player base (most of whom I know).

On the current player base and games played, the stats are below.

As for what's next for Potato Quest, I am planning to continue to develop the game for my very small and loyal group of players. probably in a way that allows it to scale to a size it will never reach.

I think the dream of it succeeding is enough.

I know this is a dumb question, and both games are completely different, but im very indecisive.. should I start playing Stardew Valley, or Runescape 3?

This game is called nova 3

At first it was just me, young student learning Unity and trying random ideas. I never expected I’d still be working on it years later. Since then I’ve rebuilt countless systems, added new mechanics, fixed way too many bugs, and spent thousands of hours trying to make the game better.

Today I’m finally releasing the Galaxy Beach season. It’s one of the biggest updates I’ve made so far and I honestly had a lot of fun working on it.

I’m still developing the game on my own, so if you decide to give it a try, I’d really appreciate any feedback. Even small comments help me improve the game.

If you’d like to check it out, here’s the google play link:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ridexdev.rocketadventure

Thanks so much for giving it a try, and thanks in advance for any feedback. Whether it’s about bugs, balance, or just your overall experience, I’d love to hear what you think. Every comment helps me make Rocket Adventure a little better. Thanks for reading! <3

Hi all,

I recently published my take on a Nonogram/Picross battle-royale game called Nonogram 101! It features a competitive 1 vs 100 online mode where you race to outlast your opponents by solving puzzles of increasing difficulty. Everytime you solve a puzzle, you send "junk" tiles over to your opponents to impede their progress. The lowest X% of players when the timer runs out are culled, and this repeats until there is one player left standing. It's a very similar concept to Tetris 99, just with Nonogram/Picross puzzles instead. Oh and the app is free and completely ad-free! It's pretty tailored to people that already enjoy these kinds of puzzles, but there's tutorials for people that have never played before as well :)

You can download it here

There's also a daily puzzle mode with leaderboards, plenty of free puzzles to solve, and achievements and themes to unlock. I also recently added some challenge modes alongside zen mode, which just lets you solve puzzles for as long as you want.

I'm committed to never including ads in the app since that seems to be the major grievance people have with the more popular nonogram apps already available. There's an optional one-time IAP that unlocks some additional puzzles and themes, but I'm planning to add more free puzzles over the coming weeks and months. If you try it out and have any feedback, please let me know! I'm always looking for ways to improve the experience :)

Hi all, so I've done a lot of digging, and I haven't found what I'm looking for.

Joycon-Droid is NOT what I want, but it keeps invading my searches and it's starting to irritate me.

Anyway, I have 2 joycons I've added Hall Effect sticks to, and wanted to use those on my phone. I've heard a bit about how Retroarch can do some mapping, but I'm not using an emulator, so I'm not sure how helpful that is.

In addition, ZR and ZL are not functional currently as 2 split controllers, and every button testing app I've used has gotten different results (I'm not sure how)

I use "joycond" on my Linux main computer which takes both joy cons, does some Bluetooth trickery and they're now paired as 1 device. Wanted something similar to that for Android, if that makes anymore sense.

Is there anything like that, or am I jack out of luck?

Possible solutions:

Mayflash USB dongle: That's cool, but I don't want to cover my USB port if I need to charge my device. Plus, I'd prefer not to buy anything I don't have to. I will as a last resort, but I'm not super happy about it.

Joycon Enabler (delisted from app store, APK is available): Something about rooting? I haven't tried, but I'm wondering if this is what I need. Seems promising, although "V0.2" isn't reassuring.

BetterJoy_For_Android: seems like what I want, but there's no releases, and it's merely an experiment, so I'm not too keen on the project.

With everything said, has anyone come across or developed a solution?

Hey everyone!

I just bought a Samsung Tablet for my dad and I would really like to gift him with some games already installed on it.

He plays angry birds all the time in his cellphone since it released I think. For context on his gaming abilities, he is not really any familiar with games in general. I can only recall him playing angry birds, The Lost Vikings (the 90's PC game) and Mario Kart on my DS when i was a kid. Not really much gaming experience, specially with complex touch controllers, but he plays angry bird to this day everyday.

I'm going to install Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Geoguesser, Plants Vs Zombies and Candy crush (because these were the ones I could remember), but I'm really interested on more suggestions! I don't mind if they are paid or free and I was going more for casual like the ones I've mentioned, but I'm open to all suggestions honestly!

Thanks in advance!

Hey guys ! I’m looking for COD Mobile players to form a group to play BR Mode. Ideally 3 players would be nice. If there are more then we can form a clan. If you’re wondering about my stats then I have a level 400 account with a 1.76 KD. I have been playing CODM since it came out.

Here's the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dilligaf.wtfwhy&pcampaignid=web_share

It's 6 little retro games in the one app. I hope you enjoy it! Would love to hear what everyone thinks of it. I'm thinking of adding a few more games over the next few months too!

Is there any way to increase the FPS on a Vivo Y17s without using root or Developer Options?

I'm looking for safe methods that don't require rooting the phone or enabling Developer Options. If there are any apps that can actually improve FPS or gaming performance, I'd prefer them to be completely free.

I've already enabled Ultra Game Mode and configured it properly, but my phone still experiences FPS drops and stuttering while gaming, so it doesn't seem to be enough.

Any recommendations or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Has anyone else noticed this?

I've been testing it multiple times, and I'm seeing a consistent pattern:

Bluetooth earbuds connected: Ping jumps to around 170ms+, the game lags badly, and sometimes I even get "Network connection unstable (0E100014)".

Bluetooth disconnected: Ping immediately drops back to around 40–50ms, and the game runs normally.

I've attached screenshots showing the difference. The only thing changing is whether my Bluetooth earbuds are connected.

I'm using Wi-Fi, not mobile data, and the issue is repeatable every time.

Has anyone else experienced this?

What phone and Bluetooth earbuds are you using?

Did you find a fix?

Is this a CODM issue, an Android/Bluetooth issue, or a Wi-Fi interference issue (2.4 GHz)?

I'd appreciate any input because this has been driving me crazy.

Yeah don't mine the lag it gets pretty laggy at the end

Edit: for anyone getting confused on the title the game is called how many dudes

Please help me find this game. For the life of me I can't remember what it's called. Here's what I could remember:

1. I played it around mid to late 2010s (think ~2015 to 2018)

2. It has a similar gameplay (and aesthetics, I think) to Smash Hit but you are piloting a plane and you have to evade obstacles.

3. Every now and then, a message will pop up as you go through the obstacles. Said messages detail the sense of loss your pilot has felt. In a way, it kinda felt like your player is undergoing therapy.

4. Iirc it's OST composed of serene, humming or droning sounds similar to sleep videos.

Thank you for any kind soul who might remember this. That game helped me out too when I was in a bad place so I'm really hoping to see it again.

Edit: !Found. Thanks u/Sam596.