15 best Android multiplayer games

Android gaming has been steadily getting better. Before, we had simple puzzle games and we could invite our Facebook contacts to be our friends in games. Multiplayer games used to mean just leaderboards. There are now a ton of games that support actual multiplayer play, including real-time co-op or PvP. In fact, most games these days have some sort of multiplayer element in them. If you’re looking for something to play with your friends, here are the best Android multiplayer games.

We’d also like to mention Dead by Daylight, a one versus four online multiplayer game with some unique gameplay mechanics.

Among Us

Price: Free to play

Among Us was one of the most popular multiplayer mobile games in 2020 and people still play it quite a bit today. The game has a bunch of players moving around a ship to complete various tasks. Meanwhile, one or two of the players act as an imposter and they slowly try to kill off the whole crew. You can customize the game in a variety of ways and customize your character with a number of add-ons. You can buy more add-ons via in-app purchases and that’s how the game generates revenue. It’s not really kid friendly, but it’s a pretty fun game, especially if you know everybody in the group.

Apex Legends Mobile

Price: Free to play

Apex Legends Mobile is one of the biggest games of 2022. The game is a battle royale-style game where 20 teams of three drop in and fight each other until only one team still stands. Each player can choose from a cast of heroes, each with their separate abilities. Squads are encouraged to play different heroes to mix and match abilities to the greatest benefit. The game has excellent graphics, some of the best mobile shooter controls, and some other game modes for when the battle royale mode becomes stale. It’s very good.

Call of Duty: Mobile

Price: Free to play

Call of Duty: Mobile is one of the newer multiplayer games on the list. It’s also surprisingly good. It’s an online FPS game with a variety of multiplayer modes. That includes classic Call of Duty deathmatches as well as a 100-person battle royale mode similar to PUBG and Fortnite. The game also features some mild gacha elements as you collect famous people from the game series and customize them with various weapon and gear skins. There are a few bugs here and there, but these should get ironed out over time.

Garena Free Fire Max

Price: Free to play

Garena Free Fire Max is the latest game in the Garena series. Like many on the list, it’s a battle royale shooter with up to 50 players in a single fight. You can squad up in teams of four either randomly or with your friends. Players drop in, find weapons, and fight each other until only one squad or player remains. It has decent graphics, decent controls, and plenty of stuff to do. The game has a history of bugs, but usually, they get ironed out.

League of Legends: Wild Rift

Price: Free to play

League of Legends: Wild Rift is a MOBA game where you compete five versus five. You and friends team up to fight the other team in both casual and ranked playlists to see who’s the best. The game play is actually quite good, and it’s one of the best MOBAs on mobile. You can join games in duo, trio, or full five person teams. There are also a variety of champions that you unlock mostly through gameplay. We like it because it’s a true MOBA experience that doesn’t require you to pay to win. The big issue is getting teamed up with players who seem like they’re working against you. However, the game play itself is good.

Legends of Runeterra

Price: Free to play

Legends of Runeterra is one of the newer Android multiplayer games. It’s a PvP-style game with elements of dueling, card collecting, and auto battling. Players unlock cards, build decks, assign champions, and duke it out between one another. There are 24 champions and a bunch of cards. Additionally, the challenging but fun gameplay gives you ample opportunity to outwit your opponents. It’s F2P (free to play) friendly so you don’t have to spend money to have a good time. This game replaced Hearthstone on this list, but Hearthstone is still an excellent choice in this genre as well.

Minecraft

Price: $6.99 with in-app purchases

Minecraft is one of the most popular multiplayer games of all time on any platform. You’re dropped into a randomly generated world and then you can do pretty much whatever you want. The game includes cross-play with Xbox One and PC. That means you can play with your friends almost anywhere. The game includes three modes: survival, realms, and creative. The creative mode doesn’t let you die for any reason. Survival mode spawns bad guys, a food system, and you can die. Those looking for console-level quality in a mobile game can’t do much better than this. It is actually a PC and console game as well. The game costs $6.99 upfront. The in-app purchases are for character skins.

Old School RuneScape

Price: Free / $10.99 per month / $99.99 per year

Old School RuneScape is, obviously, one of the older multiplayer games on the list. This one is an MMORPG and a rarity in the Android space. It uses a subscription service rather than freemium elements to drive revenue and that’s not something you see every day. The game itself is quite good. You traverse a huge world, perform many quests, find loot, trade with other players, and take on tons of bad guys. It has a large community and surprisingly responsive developers. There is a free version of the game that is a bit scaled-down, but it’s still fun. The official Runescape has a Google Play app as well.

Pokemon Go

Price: Free to play

Pokemon Go is one of the most popular multiplayer mobile games. Players roam the real world in search of Pokemon, gym battles, and Poke Stops to refill on items. The game is technically single-player. However, gym battles, trainer battles, and just playing them is totally doable with groups of people. In fact, many people who play the game do so solely for the social elements. The player base isn’t nearly as big as it used to be, but many places have official Facebook groups for players to find one another.

PUBG New State

Price: Free to play

PUBG New State is the newer PUBG game on the Google Play Store. It plays like any PUBG game. You parachute down onto the map with a bunch of other people and then shoot it out until only one remain. The game supports up to 64 players. There are also more mechanics, like dodging along with more weapons and items for players to pick up. It’s not quite as chaotic as the 100-player PUBG Mobile game, but it’s still quite fun. The game had some issues upon launch, but the developers are fixing it up pretty nicely.

Check out these games too:

Riptide GP: Renegade

Price: $2.99

Riptide GP: Renegade is probably the best racing game available. The campaign mode is fun and has plenty of events. There is even a storyline, multiple wave runners to buy and upgrade, and more. The online multiplayer option is above average. Up to eight total players can compete in head-to-head matchups. It also supports split-screen multiplayer mode, hardware controllers, and more. There’s even a challenge mode where you can compete against the best times of your friends. It has no in-app purchases to get in the way and we liked that a lot.

Rocket League Sideswipe

Price: Free to play

Rocket League Sideswipe is the official Rocket League game on mobile. It’s not quite the same as the PC version, but it’s still quite a bit of fun. Players compete in one vs one or two vs two matches. Yes, you can play with friends as well. You use your car to knock the ball into the goal. Games take place in less than two minutes for the most part, so it’s a good mobile phone experience. It’s not the huge multiplayer experience of some other games on this list, but sometimes you just want to play with one friend.

Streets of Rage 4

Price: $8.99 + $2.99

Streets of Rage 4 is an old-school beat ’em up, much like you found in the arcades in the 1990s. You pick a character, battle your way through levels, and fight bosses until you reach the end. The game is a good port of the console and PC version, and there is also an optional DLC that adds even more content. For multiplayer, you join a friend in co-op mode to finish the levels together. This one is nice because it also has offline support, controller support, no in-app purchases, and more. The only downside is that the multiplayer isn’t quite as huge as some of the battle royale games on this list.

Supercell games

Price: Free to play

Supercell developed some of the most popular multiplayer games in recent memory. Their biggest hits include Clash Royale, Clash of Clans, and Boom Beach. Clash of Clans and Boom Beach are strategy games. Players build up bases and armies and fight each other for resources. Clash Royale is a card dueling game similar to Hearthstone. Each game has tons of active players. That means it’s not difficult to find people to play with. Their latest game is Brawl Stars, a competitive multiplayer beat ’em up. They’re not perfect, though, and they change the game balance fairly frequently. As long as you don’t mind that, these games provide decent experiences.

Terraria is kind of like a 2D version of Minecraft. There’s a huge, open world for you to explore. You mine resources, craft stuff, build stuff, and defeat enemies. There is a multiplayer mode that works online or over local Wi-Fi if you want to play with friends at home. Much like Minecraft, there is a metric ton of things to do. The ceiling is your imagination. We think Minecraft is the better game, but Terraria is something in the same genre that’s also a little bit different.