this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2024
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cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/40448411

Hi, I have a primary school girl who wants her share of gaming on the family android tablet.

While finding open source or commercial games with no ads that boys like is doable, I haven't been able to find the kind of games a girl wants:

  • with cute graphics
  • where you care for dolls or pet
  • no ads or subscriptions, no endless DLC.

Do you have any recommendations for android games that fit the bill?

The image is a screenshot of cry babies, a game that she'd like to play very much but constantly nags you to buy new content.

all 44 comments
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[–] [email protected] 68 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Has she specifically requested games with dolls and pets? If not, just get her good games - doesn't matter who's playing them, games are games.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, OP apparently just relayed the game description from her. She specifically wants dolls, pets, and all that.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Ah ok, fair enough.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

You know what is a great android game for girls... Any good android game. And that's because girls are people. They have a diverse set of interests and are not one single thing.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 2 months ago (1 children)

As I said before: I absolutely agree. I just typed the description she gave me of the game she wants.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

well done you! instead of meeting the OP half-way by trying to understand their requirements, you chose to shame them on the easiest of technicalities. Rest well tonight, good warrior, you've earned your propers.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Have you tried minecraft? My 12 year old niece loves minecraft.

Also, pokemon. My niece loved it when she was younger.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

+1. My youngest sister plays some weird fake Minecraft clone that's free on mobile. I have no idea what the game is about, but she loves it and gets to socialize with her friends over there

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

probably minetest

yeah I've tried it, it's great :D

[–] [email protected] -3 points 2 months ago

Minecraft is already free on mobile, via Pojav Launcher, lol. And VoxelLibre is a pretty good FOSS clone on all platforms.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Which PokΓ©mon game would you recommend? She's tried house, go, and quest, but only liked the first.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Does she have a Nintendo Switch?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Not right now. Maybe in the future.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I personally grew up on red/blue, but I'm sure those will be too primitive for her.

Does she have a DS?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Neither, we have a Wii, but there is no good PokΓ©mon game for that, afaik.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 2 months ago

I think you meant minetest with a Minecraft mod.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Here you go! Never met a girl who didn't like the game

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I showed it to her, she didn't like it.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 months ago (2 children)

They haven't met her, so the statement still stands.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

The deamons you mean? They are lucky they haven't met her.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Here you go! Never met a girl ~~who didn't like the game~~

sorry

[–] [email protected] -3 points 2 months ago

dude, read the room

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You can also install an emulator for various consoles too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I've tried that, but the controls are sometimes less-than-optimal.

I wonder whether maybe you could attach some hardware controller to the android device.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Something like the Gamesir G8 or Backbone One are great when the emulator lets you map controls.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (2 children)

My daughters love "Battle for Polytopia". Some DLC but not infinite.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

Love that game. The dlc stuff is basically just to support the creators. I paid for all the add-on civilizations but still almost always pick Bardur.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I've played this a lot with my friends in high school. I can definitely recommend it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago

Try finding games on fdroid.

She might find some she likes in gcompris https://www.gcompris.net/index-en.html

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Oooooh I have some ideas! Some of these are paid/premium (but NOT micro transactions) and some have mild ads. But I share the distaste for data-mining, money grubbing, brain-melting-ad-ridden games, so I'm certain they are on the least intrusive end of the spectrum.

I really love biology (I'm a biologist...) so these are both pet games and usually breeding/evolution games!

  • Fish Tycoon -- This one specifically. A classic! Breed and care for cute fish!
  • Niche breed and evolve -- so neat and pretty educational about evolution/genetics. There's a slightly more complicated/difficult pc game if she decides she likes the nichelings/universe.
  • Pocket Frogs -- Simple, low stress collecting game. it would take years to collect all the frogs, and there's a relatively active community of people who trade sets of frogs to other people to help them complete collections. Would be fun to play with her friends at school!
  • Reigns Her Majesty -- a game about running a kingdom as a queen. When you die, you become your heir and retain some progress from your last lives. It doesn't fit the exact criteria you mentioned, but I think she might like it anyway!
[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

No ads or subscriptions, no endless DLC.

Unfortunately, if you're looking for a free download, the game you're describing doesn't exist.

The closest I can think of is Postknight 2. There's unobtrusive (optional) ads, and the full game is playableβ€”start to finishβ€”without spending any money.

It's very cute, and you can get pets... but it'll take some dedicated playtime to unlock them for free.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

No, I'm happy with buying games. Just no subscriptions or micro transactions.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

She didn't like the other RPGs she tried, but maybe in a few years...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Yes she has, I tried to clarify that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

I don't know if there's ads in there, but I think a bigger part of your description matches with "Pou".

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Guild of Dungeoneering is always a solid choice.