Red Dead Redemption
Our first pick needs no introduction. Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption was a massive hit when it dropped in 2010 on the PS3 and Xbox 360, and now you can play the full game on your smartphone. What a time to be alive!In case you have been living under a rock for the past two decades, Red Dead Redemption is an open-world action game set in the Wild West. It somehow succeeds in converting the Grand Theft Auto gameplay that put Rockstar on the map with an immersive cowboy narrative that will stick with you well after the credits roll. Or you can just play the game as a sandbox, riding around on your horse, hunting bounties, and navigating random world events.The Android release features the full game and the zombified Undead Nightmare expansion, but it isn’t cheap. The game costs an eye-watering to buy outright, but it’s included for free with a Netflix subscription, which is an incredible deal to experience this game.
Subnautica
Subnautica is yet another PC port, but it trades a Western open world for the watery depths. Nominally a survival horror game (especially if you suffer from thalassophobia, like me), it has you crash-land on an oceanic alien planet, foraging for whatever you can to find a way home.Apart from being a fantastic game, the Android port of Subnautica is very well done. The UI is perfect for touch controls (it supports controllers, too), and performance is optimized enough that it can run on any flagship device from the past five years.The full game runs just , but there’s no demo or trial before you buy. Considering you can dump literally hundreds of hours into this game, it’s worth the price of entry.
Persona 5: The Phantom X
At first glance, you might think Persona 5: The Phantom X is a mobile port of the 2017 RPG, but it’s actually a gacha-styled revamp of the world and gameplay in a way that keeps things fresh and accessible. Most importantly, it still looks and feels like a full-fat Persona game, with alternate reality ties to the original Persona 5’s story and cast, but a brand new crop of Phantom Thieves to fight as and befriend.P5X’s global rollout had a slightly rocky start as it followed the same beats and schedule as its Chinese release in 2024. That meant new players had to endure an opening storyline that mixed cringey dialogue and a ridiculously uninspiring villain who checks notes slammed into people on the subway (see the trailer above… it’s very silly). However, things have improved dramatically since then, with new characters and content dropping regularly, particularly since the debut of chapter three, which saw the introduction of a writing team that wasn’t a fan of subway slamming.There’s certainly a lot of game here, and the Tokyo-hopping, dungeon-crawling, and social link aspects from the original have been smartly adapted to feel familiar but also fit the revised format. It even has full controller support, although the touch controls more than suffice due to the turn-based gameplay.While the live service and gacha elements may turn off some Persona fans looking to play through a traditional Persona RPG, our resident Persona addict (our Managing Editor Ollie Cragg) says there’s enough DNA and style in there to keep fans of the series going, with no end in sight. It’s also very free-to-play friendly, with plenty of non-premium characters who are more than strong enough to get you through the story and the many other modes. In fact, it’s currently celebrating its one-year anniversary and is giving away a bunch of freebies. So if you like RPGs or beautiful anime-inspired worlds (and somehow aren’t already hooked on Persona), give this one a download.
Where Winds Meet
My favorite mobile games of 2025 were dominated by PC ports, but Where Winds Meet is special because it’s more than just a port. It’s the same game as the PC and PS5 versions, launching less than a month later with full cross-progression support.The open-world wuxia game puts you in the shoes of an unnamed protagonist, completing quests and helping locals by using a mix of martial arts and mystic arts. It definitely takes itself a little too seriously sometimes, but the scenery and graphics are among the best I’ve ever seen in a mobile game. It’s also fully controller-compatible, with a few quality-of-life improvements for mobile.Unlike most NetEase games, monetization in Where Winds Meet is fairly light, and it’s mostly limited to cosmetics. The only downside is that it’s very demanding to run, with the devs recommending a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 or above for the best experience.
