No internet connection is necessary to play the best offline Android games. They’re ideal for long commutes and passing the time when you’re not at home.
Here are our top picks for the best Android offline games in each major genre.
1. Runner: Alto’s Odyssey
At first glance, this appears to be another endless runner.But play Alto’s Odyssey for a while, and you’ll realize there’s something about it that makes it impossible to put down.
Perhaps it’s the graphics and music. Endless runners are typically frantic, but this game deviates from the norm to make it a soothing, calming experience. You’ll find yourself relaxing as you slide down sand dunes, jump to collect points, avoid obstacles, and perform back flips and double back flips for style bonuses.
Alto’s Odyssey does not introduce anything new to the world of runners, but it is extremely entertaining. It is one of the best free offline games for Android for this reason.
2. Action/Shooter: Into the Dead 2
While the original game is an endless runner with zombies, the sequel Into the Dead 2 has seven chapters and 60 levels. The best part of the game is undoubtedly its storyline: you, James, must find your sister Helen and daughter Maggie, who is also struggling to survive the zombie apocalypse.
What makes the story so compelling is your conversations with Helen and Maggie as they update you on their challenges, near-death experiences, escapes, and breakdowns. And if that wasn’t enough to make your skin crawl, the story has multiple endings!
We’re confident you’ll enjoy upgrading your arsenal of weapons and having a variety of animal companions assist you in killing zombies. Despite being an offline game, Into the Dead 2 has several side stories, an endless runner mode, and new events to compete in on a regular basis.
3. Puzzle: Mazes & More
Because of its simplicity, solving a maze is difficult. With some cunning twists, Mazes & More ups the ante on the classic game.
For example, in the Darkness mode, you can see the maze at the start. However, everything goes dark except for a small spotlight on you, and you must make your way to the exit. Try other modes, such as Ice Floor, where you end up sliding ahead of where you want to go, as well as the self-explanatory Time Trial and Traps modes.
There is always Classic mode if you want a simple maze-solving game. Each mode has a plethora of levels to keep you entertained until your connection comes back.
4. Chess: Really Bad Chess
Forget the traditional chess game you’re used to. Play Really Bad Chess offline to force new ways of thinking.
While the chess board remains standard in this game, the pieces are completely random. You might start with three queens and a single pawn, whereas the computer might start with a series of six rooks. It makes you throw away everything you know about chess and think outside the box.
As your ranking rises, the AI’s level remains constant, but it receives better pieces to start with.
This may be our favorite non-chess chess game ever.
5. Platform: Once Upon a
A lot of game elements are turned upside down in Once Upon a Tower. Instead of a prince saving a princess from a tower, the prince has died, and the princess is kicking some butt with a sledgehammer to escape the dragon. She’s digging down instead of climbing a tower.
She’ll have to fight monsters of all kinds along the way, from ogres to spiders that can climb walls. Then there are the traps that appear out of nowhere. If that wasn’t enough, she must act quickly, or the dragon will destroy everything with its fiery breath. Don’t forget about the other foe: gravity.
Collect coins and power-ups whenever possible; you’ll need them to pass the levels and escape the tower.
One of the best offline Android games available is Once Upon a Tower, which is incredibly fun and seems to go on forever.
6. Brainy: Quizoid
Quizoid, like other similar apps, asks a question with multiple answers, and you must select the correct one.
There are a few more game modes available because you are playing against the AI. You can, for example, play 20 questions with the computer or do a timed round to answer as many as you can.
Quizoid has over 7,000 trivia questions in 17 categories, including entertainment, sports, science, politics, and story. Unfortunately, category-based quizzes can only be found in the pro pack.
7. Arcade: Jungle Marble Blast
Unfortunately, the original Zuma does not work without an internet connection, but some of its many knock-offs do. The one we liked best was Jungle Marble Blast.
The graphics are not as smooth, but this isn’t a major issue. As fun as ever, the gameplay is. Tap anywhere on the screen to shoot, and tap on the beetle to switch between the two colored spheres you have. To make three or more sequences, shoot the spheres at the chain that circles the map.
And, whenever possible, use those power-ups to send the chain back, change a large chunk to one color, or blast them into oblivion.
The best offline games for Android include Jungle Marble Blast. It’s small, long, and free.
8. Action: Tank Hero: Laser Wars
Despite being one of the best offline games, you’ll find on Google Play, Tank Hero: Laser Wars doesn’t appear in most “offline game” collections.
You play Tank Hero, taking out all the other tanks with your laser-powered cannon. You must destroy all of the other tanks on the map at each level. The top-down shooter makes you control your tank with a virtual joystick, and you can tap anywhere on the screen to shoot.
Of course, it’s not that simple. As you progress, you’ll find various types of tanks, power-ups, and perilous mazes that make your task difficult. But keep in mind that lasers bounce off walls, so take advantage of that.
9. Shooter: Smash Hit
Back in 2014, Smash Hit was one of the most addictive games, and it still holds up as a guaranteed good time.
It sounds strange to call it a shooter, but that’s exactly what it is, and it’s one of the best offline mobile games.
It is played in first person and requires you to throw steel balls at glass objects to smash them into pieces.
Building up a chain of successful hits and taking out all glasses grants you bonuses, such as increasing the number of steel balls you launch at the same time.
The entire time, you’re slowly progressing through levels, and the pace picks up as you go. You’ll beat the game in no time if you make sure you don’t get hit by any glass objects. But it’s not as easy as it seems.
10. Puzzle: Sudoku (by Fassor)
The Play Store is filled with Sudoku games, many of which work offline as well. Fassor’s Sudoku is not objectively superior; it is simply the one we prefer and works flawlessly.
This Sudoku gets the fundamentals right, which is all you need most of the time. There are four skill levels and a timer to see how fast you can complete each type. One of Fassor’s features is the ability to write multiple rough numbers in a cell—but be aware that this incurs a 30-second penalty.
You can check to see if you’ve solved everything correctly so far at any time, but there is a penalty for doing so. Your overall score will suffer as a result of those time penalties. And when you reconnect to the internet, that’s what your friends will see.
11. Racing: Traffic Rider
When you exit the information highway of the internet, hit a different virtual highway. In Traffic Rider, hop on your motorcycle and make a beeline for the finish line while dodging the city’s traffic.
Traffic Rider is a game that requires you to go faster and faster in order to reach the finish line without crashing.
However, the mission mode makes it a little more fun than other endless racers because you can race with specific targets rather than just mindlessly zooming on.
You can also choose from other modes, such as time trials or a simple endless runner. Just make sure you pass the mission mode first because it unlocks some cool superbikes to satisfy your thirst for speed.
If you don’t have 100MB of storage space for Traffic Rider, try the previous game from the same developer, Traffic Racer. It’s also quite good, but it’s limited to an endless runner and lacks mission modes.
12. Action/Shooter: Major Mayhem 2
It’s difficult to describe how much fun Major Mayhem 2 is. With a lengthy single-player campaign, it’s one of Adult Swim’s best mobile games.
You play as the titular character, taking out a slew of bad guys. The game is set up like a shootout. You tap to kill enemies that emerge from hiding places (or throw bombs if you’re particularly enraged).
The enemies will also try to shoot you, so make sure Major Mayhem doesn’t take too much damage. Earn bonuses for headshots, and cool kills, killing sprees, and upgrade your weapons as often as possible.
13. Platform: Swordigo
Swordigo has everything you’d expect from an old-fashioned platform game: an intriguing story, creative level design, a variety of monsters with unique powers, upgradeable weapons and armor, hidden treasure, magic spells, and a truly amazing ending that we won’t spoil for you.
Each map has a different vibe; some are relaxing and homey, while others are scary and filled with difficult puzzles, enemies, and mazes. The background music, which is perfectly suited to the vibe of each map, further enhances the experience.
The controls are also very responsive; during gameplay, we never had any problems. Although you can buy items in the game, you are not required to do so in order to win. Explore different maps, defeat monsters, and go on adventures in Swordigo!
14. Endless Runner: Crossy Road
Crossy Road is far more addictive than you might think and is impressively available for free despite the amount of work that went into it. The 8-bit pixel art style is stunning.
You are in control of a chicken who simply wants to cross the street. Tap to go ahead one lane; swipe in any direction to move that side. Avoid the cars on the highways and the streams in your path, and make it to the safe green grass as often as you can. And you must act quickly! You’ll go insane trying to beat your own high score.
Most importantly, despite being repetitive, it never becomes tedious, allowing you to play it for hours.
15. Casual: Power Hover
If a robot riding a hoverboard through a desolate world doesn’t sound like fun, we don’t know what will.
Your mission in this seemingly desolate world is to restore power to your robot village, which had its Power stolen, by following the trail of batteries left by the thief.
Most of what makes Power Hover so appealing is its beautiful graphics and level design. Hovering through deserts, icy mountains, oceans, caves, towers, and other creative obstacles isn’t something you see very often in mobile games.
The game’s concept and play are both fairly easy, but it’s not until you get to the higher levels that you realize it’s not as simple as it appears. If you’re looking for a fun, casual way to kill some time, we recommend Power Hover.
16. Fighting: Shadow Fight 2
One-on-one combat games have been a great way to pass the time since the days of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. Shadow Fight 2 is a good game to try on Android.
To become a true warrior, you’ll need to learn a lot of moves. The game has two action buttons (kick and punch) and a directional pad. You’ll soon be a fantastic ninja if you learn the combinations.
The two-dimensional art style of Shadow Fight, with silhouettes instead of characters, adds to its charm. It’s all about the fighting here, no frills. A game for Android that can be played offline is highly recommended!
17. Racing: Asphalt Nitro
Asphalt Nitro, in contrast to its brothers, requires only 110 MB of space and can work on older hardware.
Nitro is a scaled-down version of the well-known high-end Asphalt car racing series. While the gameplay is solid, the graphics aren’t as good. Get in your car, start competing, and keep improving it. There are 125 levels of increasing difficulty for you to complete, giving you plenty of racing time.
There are many good racing games available, but they frequently require an internet connection. Asphalt Nitro perfectly meets the “free, offline, and long game time” requirements. It’s no surprise that it has previously been named one of the best free Android games.
18. Strategy: Plants vs. Zombies 2
When it first came out way back in 2013, Plants vs. Zombies 2 was a hit. Although some years have passed, it still holds up as one of the best strategy games on mobile.
In PvZ2, your task is fairly simple. You have a variety of plants with varying abilities. Zombies want to kill you and infiltrate your yard. Plot the plants so that they can destroy the zombies before the undead can do any harm.
As with any strategy game, it becomes more difficult as you progress. While the game aggressively promotes in-app purchases, you do not need to buy anything to enjoy it.
19. Board Game (and Bluetooth Multiplayer): Sea Battle 2
Remember the good old game Battleship? You and your opponent plot your ships on a grid map and shoot missiles at coordinates in an attempt to sink all of them. Sea Battle 2 is a digital recreation that is just as much fun as the original.
Offline, you can continue to improve as you play against the AI. However, you can play this game in multiplayer via Bluetooth. That’s right; this is the only game on the list that supports two players without requiring an internet connection.
In fact, two people can play it simultaneously on a single phone, taking turns. So even if your co-passenger doesn’t have it, you two can have a good time on the flight. Other board games are playable on smartphones, but none compare to Sea Battle 2.
20. Sports: Flick Soccer 22
The Play Store is full of soccer games because soccer (football) is the most popular sport in the world. Many of them are great, but when you’re offline, you want to be able to play without having to wait for retries.
Flick Soccer is a game that is updated on a regular basis and has nice graphics, accurate gameplay, and a good physics engine. Just score goals. Swipe the ball in the correct direction to get it past the goalkeeper and defenders, and if possible, hit the moving bullseye.
Increase your score by aiming for boosts such as more time, double points, and so on. Flick Soccer will keep you entertained whether you want limited-time kicks or precision kicks.
Not Just Games: Mobile Apps Go Offline Too
Aside from these fantastic offline games, the Play Store has a plethora of other good games. You’ll get much better quality if you’re willing to pay, especially with titles like Lara Croft GO. Check out Fallout Shelter for another great offline game.
And while you’re offline, don’t think you’re only limited to games. On your Android device, you can also download necessary offline apps.