Almost a year ago, Netflix entered the world of gaming. To add value to its service, the streaming service offers free mobile games in addition to the main content. Initially, only five games were available through the service, but the library quickly expanded. These games are available on both Android and iPhone. Some of them are even critically acclaimed.
Netflix bases its offer on the promise that its catalog is microtransaction-free, eliminating one of the App Store genre’s most pernicious qualities. Indeed, few people like being stumped on level five because they haven’t yet collected enough sapphires to continue the game. This is what sets it apart from the rest of the marketplace.
What games are available on Netflix?
Almost all Netflix games require an active subscription, although some of them are completely free because they were created to promote the streaming service’s property. For example, Stranger Things 3: The Game is a game based on a cult and popular TV series.
Games that require a Netflix subscription indicate in the game description that they are “available exclusively for Netflix members”. When you download these games, you will need to sign in with your Netflix account to gain access. This happens automatically if you are already logged in to the Netflix app.
Netflix’s mobile catalog currently includes access to:
- Arcanium: Rise of Akhan (Android, iPhone) — an open-world, roguelike strategy card game.
- Asphalt Xtreme (Android, iPhone) — an off-road racing game.
- Before Your Eyes (Android, iPhone) — a first-person adventure game.
- Bowling Ballers (Android, iPhone) — a whacky bowling game.
- Card Blast (Android, iPhone) — a casual poker game.
- Dominoes Café (Android, iPhone) — a casual dominoes game, with challenges.
- Dungeon Dwarves (Android, iPhone) — a dungeon-crawling idle game.
- Dragon Up (Android, iPhone) — a dragon breeding idle game.
- Exploding Kittens (Android, iPhone) — a digital version of the popular card game.
- Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story (Android, iPhone) — rhythm-based runner game themed on a League of Legends.
- Into the Breach (Android, iPhone) — a challenging turn-based strategy game.
- Into the Dead 2: Unleashed (Android, iPhone) — zombie-themed shooter.
- Knittens (Android, iPhone) — a feline-themed match-3 puzzler.
- Krispee Street (Android, iPhone) — a hidden object game based on the webcomic of the same name.
- Mahjong Solitaire (Android, iPhone) — a tile-matching puzzle game to play by yourself.
- Moonlighter (Android, iPhone) — a rogue-like dungeon crawler with unique shopkeeping mechanics.
- Poinpy (Android, iPhone) — a vertical climber from the creator of Downwell.
- Relic Hunters: Rebels (Android, iPhone) — a fast-paced shooter.
- Shatter Remastered (Android, iPhone) — not just your average brick breaker game.
- Shooting Hoops (Android, iPhone) — a whacky basketball game, now with guns.
- Stranger Things: 1984 (Android, iPhone) — a Stranger Things-themed adventure game.
- Stranger Things 3: The Game (Android, iPhone) — another Stranger Things-themed adventure game, made to promote the third season.
- Teeter (Up) (Android, iPhone) — a physics-based puzzler.
- This is a True Story (Android, iPhone) — a hand-painted narrative puzzle game based on real events.
- Townsmen – A Kingdom Rebuilt (Android, iPhone) — a kingdom management game, with city-building mechanics.
- Wonderputt Forever (Android, iPhone) — a visually impressive mini golf game.
Some are designed for mobile devices, others are adaptations of favorite console games. Here are some really worthwhile games you shouldn’t miss.
What are the 5 must-play games on Netflix?
Below you will see the top 5 games from Netflix in my opinion. I hope you’ll be able to choose one of them to your liking.
1. Exploding Kittens
Exploding Kittens is a card game in which five players dodge a cat time bomb waiting to explode somewhere in the deck. The developers iterated Exploding Kittens through various expansion packs and promotions, culminating in an animated series based on the game, to be released on Netflix later this year.
Naturally, the streaming service also brought a digital version of Exploding Kittens to its gaming division. So you can get a full look at the whole story before the franchise is permanently glued to the algorithm.
2. Stranger Things 3: The Game
Stranger Things 3: The Game gives the city of Hawkins, Indiana a gorgeous pixel-art look, immediately bringing to mind the NES classics on which the main characters were raised.
You’ll be immersed in an arcade-style romp in which you and your fellow D&D enthusiasts delve into the sinister government complexes and terrifying parallel dimensions that make up the ever-expanding Stranger Things universe. The game looks and plays like it was made in 1989. As such, you can fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere of that time.
3. Krispee Street
This is the most laid-back offering of the Netflix range. So casual, in fact, that it should be recommended to every mom. Based on the outrageously enjoyable Instagram comic of the same name, the game Krispee Street swells the “Where’s Waldo” formula into a huge panorama.
You’ll peer through landscapes rendered in the light pastel tones of the source material, trying to delineate the character you’re tasked with finding.
4. Moonlighter
Moonlighter plunges you into the inner life of the lost souls that populate everyone’s favorite role-playing game. The gist of the game is that you control an old man trying to make a living in a universe where everyone’s job is to fight monsters and explore dungeons.
At night, you go into creepy catacombs and mine in-demand materials, and during the day you display this newly acquired ammunition at a competitive price for your many customers. It’s a cute joke that’s turned into a surprisingly solid gameplay formula, and if you’re looking for something more strategic on the Netflix service, this is a better choice.
5. Hextech Mayhem
Lately, Riot Games has been devoting all of its attention to League of Legends, the most popular multiplayer game that has become synonymous with esports. But recently Riot started freeing up some of its resources to work with third-party studios on small, unusual projects. One such project is Hextech Mayhem, a rhythmic platformer that asks you to synchronize all your jumps with drum beats and downbeats.
Once you get into the atmosphere and tempo of this game, they won’t let you go. If you’ve been watching Netflix’s Arcane series and are curious about the eccentric contours of the League of Legends universe, Hextech Mayhem is a great place to start.
