8 forgotten Android classics that I still play today

Call me a boomer, but for me, the mobile game culminated in the early 2010s. The phones became powerful enough to carry out console-type experiences, but the industry had not drowned in Gatcha tactics, advertisements after all levels or endless battle passes. Instead, developers focused on convincing solare experiences, short but addictive gameplay loops and just the good balance between challenge and accessibility. During these first years, some mobile games looked more like passion projects than in monetization funnels. Beyond that, they have offered that many mobile games today do not – entertainment the size of a bite. While many of these titles have disappeared from the Play Store or become incompatible with modern Android versions, a handful remains playable and pleasant even today.

Here are eight forgotten Android classics that I always find myself revisiting for the magic they have brought to the years of training of the mobile game and, surprisingly, to be as fun.

While Call of Duty Modern could be all about team tactics and group games, I aspire to the experiences of FPS in Solo-player and focused on the storage offered by the shooters of the 2010s. And guess what, it was also possible to obtain them on mobile. Although one of my favorites of all time, Nova 3 is no longer supported on modern Android devices, another favorite and dead trigger is. Where modern zombie shooters continue to push you to micro-transactions to get better games or upgrades, Trigger was, more or less, a fairly pure experience. Of course, the first-person zombie shooter had things like daily challenges, the weapon upgrading paths, and more, but the amazing graphics for his time and a reasonable scenario allow you to look beyond.

At the time, the game was specifically optimized for Tegra chipsets and used material optimizations to push better quality graphics. It is obviously not a deterrent on the rapid screaming processors today. I always dive from time to time when I need a horror shooter. And although the game looks a little dated, it is really not a major problem for me, given what it can still make one of my favorite Android games. Even more due to the emphasis placed on the missions the size of a bite as surviving a zombie treasure for 70 seconds.

My love for the series of Asphalt Games returns to the Nokia ngage. Race games offer the perfect balance between substance and pleasure. In addition, these games do not require a significant time commitment, and you do not feel badly of the idea of getting the phone and restarting the track later if you receive a telephone call or if you have to get off the bus stop. Now there have been more than a few racing games on smartphones over the years. Many were good, some were great, but not much rivaled Asphalt 8. Okay, I’m going to give you the continuation of speed speed, but this game cannot be played on modern platforms, so this does not count in my books.

Asphalt games have always supported more arcade than simulation, but Asphalt 8 struck the ideal point with high -speed races, jumps defying gravity and magnificent urban landscapes. Even years after the launch, it remains playable and still receives occasional updates. Despite new entries like Asphalt 9, I would say that most fans still consider Asphalt 8 as the peak of the series before monetization really takes over. As pretty as Asphalt 9 looks, it simply does not strike as Ansphalt 8 does.

Without doubt, the kind of most common games, occasional titles like Flappy Bird, Crossy roadAnd many others, played a decisive role in taking mobile playing. Built around fun and addictive curls, these games are less on the long experiences focused on history and are designed for fast sessions. Honestly, this is the kind of games that I miss most. Modern titles do not completely strike the brand with regard to momentary pickup and play experiences. But, here is the thing, if you can look at the graphics dated beyond, the games can be perennial. The next group of titles that I find myself returning has not been updated for ages, but that does not take away the pleasure that I draw titles.

Take, for example, Flappy Bird. Although the original title has not been listed on the Play Store for years, the basic gameplay of the cultural phenomenon was so simple that it launched a thousand clones or more. The visuals of Pixel-Art, the mechanics of Tap with a tromically simple flight and the surprisingly difficult difficulty made it both addictive and constantly frustrating. While the original game was removed from the play store years ago, finding APK is child’s play, but, honestly, you don’t even have to do it. All the clones offer you the same experience without jumping in the gaps. I would say that Flappy Bird is the only game that represents the purest form of fast mobile game.

Another title of this type is Crosy Road. While the endless runners were everywhere in the early 2010s, Crosy Road managed to stand out with his art Voxel style and charming humor. It is not my favorite of choice, but the modern touch on Frogger is still a lot of fun if you just need to kill a few minutes in the dentist’s office.

Speaking of endless runners, the following three of this list take the cake as far as the pleasure goes. I would go so far as to say that these three games rank roughly at the top of my personal game list that have nailed what a mobile game should be.

The Halfbrick studios had a series of successes, but Joyride jetpack was undoubtedly his most emblematic. This endless runner has an endless scrolling came out with original improvements, fun vehicles and daily missions that helped him find the perfect balance between the challenge and the reward. The control scheme to a touch made it universally accessible, and its random obstacles have ensured reward while offering you the type of dopamine hit that I had not felt since the dangerous Dave of 1988.

I rediscovered it a few months ago and I was surprised to see that the game always has an active and committed fans. Of course, there are minor problems like the game that does not fully fill the screen of my Pixel 9 Pro, but that does not move away from the pleasure of the game. Certainly one to repel.

In a similar vein, Metro surfers continues to be a classic of all time. With its brilliant visuals, its smooth orders and its addictive upgrade loop, metro surfers have become and continues to be a must for occasional players. Although he has since added more characters and seasonal events, the basic gameplay remains unchanged. It was one of the first endless runners to effectively use scanning gestures, and its world themes of the city tour maintained fresh content. You no longer really see games built around gameplay in one hand, and I would lie if I said that I would not miss them. But while I’m waiting for a new game built around these proven mechanisms, Subway Surfer continues to be a reliable companion every time I want to kill a few minutes. Unlike Jetpack Joyride, the game has been repaired over the years and works perfectly well on modern phones, making it the perfect nostalgic return to simpler mobile play days.

The og of the endless runner trifecta, I kept Run temple At the end of this section not because it is the worst, but because it is probably one of my favorite games of all time. Although the main formula remains simple, the game has mixed incredibly simple scanning -based mechanisms with an Indiana Jones, and I dare say, aesthetic, inspired, which has been imitated but has never been reproduced. Here, however, it worked wonderfully.

There is a feeling of adventure that brings you back to the game. Sliding actions have little or no latency, which makes the gameplay as tight as possible. All of this meets for a surprisingly fun experience for short gusts of entertainment. Unlike multi-cligo-micro-giga-free downloads necessary for modern games, Temple Run barely takes any space on your phone, making it one of these applications that I simply keep on my phone every time I could want to jump for a nostalgia trip. The game was popular enough to lead to a series of suites, but the original resists very well and works very well on almost any modern phone.

Think of strategy games, and Plants vs zombies This is probably not the first game that comes to mind. Yes, there were ports of classic strategy titles at the start of Android, but for me, Plants VS Zombies was the game that filled the gap between the advanced style strategy and the fast game sessions. The Tower Defense game is deceptively simple with bizarre, but totally my kind of humor and an incredible varnish. You have defended your house against increasingly strangers’ waves by using themed plants intelligently with unique capacities. While the subsequent versions of the games amplified the microtransactions, this was not the case with the first title. And as this first title is always playable on Android, that’s what I’m going.

Old games, timeless pleasure

Call me nostalgic, but there is something to say at a time when Android games were really just that – simple and fun experiences with few gadgets and fewer microtransactions. None of these titles was inflated with payment mechanisms for remuneration. They offered closely designed experiences designed to be played in short gusts, but with enough heart, varnish and recovery that I come back to them more than a decade later.

Almost none of the games on this list need internet access, they don’t ask you to log in to do the gameplay. In fact, for the most part, you can simply enter the game in a few seconds. And in 2025, it seems almost revolutionary.

Yes, nostalgia certainly plays a role here, but that is not the only reason why I play these games. I play them because they are always really, really good. And if anything, the titles remind me that the right game design is resistant, regardless of the number of years and Android versions.