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.

    • propter_hog [any, any]
      ·
      4 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.

  • Thordros [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    4 months ago

    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 playable—start to finish—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.

    • muzzle@lemm.ee
      ·
      4 months ago

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

  • stoneparchment@possumpat.io
    ·
    4 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!
    • muzzle@lemm.ee
      ·
      4 months ago

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