Battle royale games are still among the most played genres, and whether you play on the latest PS5 or Xbox Series console, or your trusty Android tablet, their accessibility makes them especially appealing as some of the best Android games around.
Origins of the genre can be traced back to the year 2000, to a brutal Japanese thriller of the same name, Battle Royale. Both this movie and the video game genre share the same premise. And while nuances vary by title, they generally share one condition: whoever remains the last standing wins.
Games like Apex Legends, Call of Duty Mobile, and Fortnite maintain their dominance within the genre. Some of them also double as solid FPS games. But there’s more to the genre than meets the eye. In this roundup, we cover the best battle royale games on Android in 2023.
1 Apex Legends Mobile
Apex Legends took the battle royale ecosystem by surprise when it launched back in 2019, with the standalone mobile version landing just this year. Respawn Entertainment, the studio behind Apex Legends, is renowned for creating exceptional shooters, such as Titanfall. Each character in Apex Legends Mobile offers unique quirks and ultimate abilities, keeping gameplay fresh. Not only that, but the mobile version also features characters not available in any other version of the game.
If first-person shooters are not your cup of tea, Apex Legends Mobile allows you to switch between first-person and third-person modes seamlessly. And with the financial backing from the industry juggernaut Electronic Arts, you can be sure that the game will receive regular content updates for the foreseeable future.
2 Call of Duty Mobile
Published by another gaming industry big-gun, Activision, Call of Duty needs little introduction; it’s been the biggest FPS franchise for decades. Call of Duty Mobile features the shooter experience you’ve come to expect from the mainline series. With Call of Duty Mobile, the series brings a plethora of game modes, including classics like Team Deathmatch and Domination, as well as a massive 100-player battle royale mode.
Call of Duty Mobile allows you to fully customize your guns, including barrels, stocks, and grips, and achieve stats appropriate for different combat instances. Each season introduces new content, with Season 9 bringing the fan-favorite zombies mode to the Call of Duty Mobile universe.
3 Fog – MOBA Battle Royale Game
Where most battle royale games tend to be first or third-person shooters, FOG mixes up the formula by being a MOBA. In other words, a multiplayer online battle arena. If you’ve played other games in the genre, such as the exceptionally popular League of Legends, you’ll feel right at home.
In FOG, you’ll use melee weapons and magic to stave off enemies, both monsters, and player-controlled. FOG gives you a boatload of options for customizing your characters. And these customizations not only change their appearance but also improve their stats. You’re getting a battle royale, a MOBA, and an RPG mixed into one game.
4 Fortnite
Epic Games made a name for itself by developing top-notch video game series like Gears of War, Bulletstorm, and Shadow Complex Remastered. But Fortnite is by far the company’s most significant commercial achievement to date. Fortnite combines the exhilarating winner-takes-it-all aspect of battle royale with the novel idea of erecting temporary structures to protect yourself from harm or access otherwise hard-to-reach areas. Plus, there’s a mode without building for those that prefer a more traditional battle royale experience.
On top of that, Fortnite enjoys frequent crossovers involving characters from other franchises. This means you can play as characters from DC and Marvel, as well as characters from other games and movies. Previous crossovers include Tomb Raider, Uncharted, and The Evil Dead, to name a few. And, even though Fortnite is not currently available for download via the Play Store, the game is still one of the highest-grossing battle royale games out there.
So if you’d like to install the game, you can grab the APK from Epic right here.
5 Garena Free Fire
If you’re looking for an alternative to Fortnite or simply don’t wish to sideload the game through an APK, Garena Free Fire may be your next best option. Much like Fortnite, it’s a third-person battle royale game for up to 50 players, although it lacks the fort-building mechanics Fortnite is known for.
However, Garena features a ton of character customization options and a choice of other modes to play in and has received frequent content updates since its release in 2021. It’s a constantly updated game with new characters and skins, as well as new maps and weapons, so you’re unlikely to run out of things to do anytime soon.
6 Happy Zone – Battle Royale
Battle royale is a genre with high stakes, and stakes rarely get any higher than in prison. Happy Zone pits cops, inmates, and other ne’er-do-wells in a chaotic battle to the death. There’s no such thing as a get-out-of-jail-free card in this game, so you’ll have to use other means to escape.
Pick up weapons from defeated enemies. Anything goes: from baseball bats and wrenches to shotguns, rocket launchers, and even airstrikes. As of right now, Happy Zone only features a battle royale mode. But on the bright side, matches last only up to 3 minutes. So if you’re after something more bite-sized, Happy Zone could easily scratch that itch.
7 Modern Combat 5
Unlike Fortnite and Garena Free Fire, Modern Combat 5 focuses on realism above all else. It could easily compete for the title of the best-looking game on Android. But on top of looking great, Modern Combat 5 plays the part as well.
This first-person shooter features customization options for your character and weapons, both of which affect not only how you look but your potential success or failure. In addition to classic game modes like Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag, Modern Combat 5 features a proper single-player campaign. And, while it’s not at the forefront of the game’s offerings, it does feature a free-for-all battle royale mode as well.
8 PUBG Mobile
PUBG is among the best battle royale games out there, possibly only overshadowed by the unprecedented success of Fortnite. It boasts an ever-growing player base of over one billion players and a battle royale mode for up to 100 of those players per round.
In other words, you won’t have a shortage of participants to battle against. PUBG Mobile also offers a multitude of other game modes to select from, including Payload, Arena, and Infection Mode. Seasonal updates, including new cosmetics, weapons, vehicles, and structures, mean that you won’t run out of content to enjoy.
9 Scarfall: The Royale Combat
Scarfall allows for switching between first-person and third-person modes, much like Apex Legends, though it may have a harder time living up to the latter’s exceptional shooting mechanics. But that’s a high mark to hit, and other than that, Scarfall has everything you need from a great battle royale game. It features a classic battle royale mode for up to 100 players, as well as Survival and Team Deathmatch modes.
Choose from a variety of characters to play with and an arsenal of weapons and vehicles to surprise your opponents. Furthermore, you can expect daily, weekly, and monthly challenges to earn various rewards and prevent the experience from becoming monotonous.
10 Stumble Guys
You’ve probably heard of Fall Guys. It’s a game-show-like battle royale game in which contestants don colorful costumes and participate in various challenges. A portion of players gets eliminated after every round, and only one — the fastest, the nimblest, or simply the luckiest — is crowned a champion.
Stumble Guys is pretty much that, but on mobile. In this colorful and family-friendly battle royale game, you’ll compete against up to 32 players online. Stumble Guys features vivid characters and costumes to customize them with. Don your favorite, jump online, compete with strangers, or just play around with the game’s physics.
There’s more to the battle royale genre than meets the eye
We all know of the big names by now. But there’s more to battle royale games. FOG puts a unique take on the genre with its relatively novel MOBA approach. And Stumble Guys, while clearly replicating Fall Guys, acts as a noteworthy alternative to the latter.
That is until, hopefully, Fall Guys makes it to mobile. Similar to Call of Duty Warzone, which is still available for pre-registration. Are you looking forward to its launch? Perhaps you lament the discontinuation of Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier? Tell us all about it in the comments below.
