Best Skateboard Games for Android, Free and Paid

True Skate is the one to buy if you want a board that behaves like a board. You flick it with your fingers the way your feet would, and drag a finger along the ground to push. It costs $1.99 on Google Play in the US, and its listing now adds gamepad support.

To pay nothing, take Touchgrind Skate 2 for the same fingers-on-the-board idea, or Skateboard Party 3 if you would rather steer a skater with buttons through a career mode.

We read the Google Play listing of every game on this page, and the descriptions come from those listings. Seven of the ten games on our old list are still in the store, one of them under a new name.

Skateboard games for Android at a glance

The costs are what Google Play shows in the US. It sets a local price in other countries: True Skate is ₦2,930 on the Nigerian store and ₹199 on the Indian one.

Fingers on the board

True Skate

True Axis calls it a skateboarding sim, and the controls are the whole point. One finger, two fingers or two thumbs act as feet on the deck, and the listing says the same flick lands differently depending on where on the board you touch. A gamepad paired over Bluetooth works too.

You start in a skatepark called the Underpass. The listing says ten fantasy parks can be unlocked for free by completing objectives, and that more than 20 real-world spots, The Berrics and MACBA among them, open up through events.

The price is not the end of the spending. Google Play flags adverts and in-app purchases on it, and the listing describes a subscription called Sandbox for custom boards and community-made parks. It also notes that some features need an internet connection.

Touchgrind Skate 2

Illusion Labs’ game works on the same principle. Your fingers stand in for feet, and the listing says it takes ten minutes to understand and a lifetime to master. There are three modes, called Training, Competition and Jam Session, plus tutorial videos to copy and hundreds of challenges that unlock new board parts.

The catch is in the last line of the listing. The game is free with one skatepark, and the other eight are in-app purchases. The listing also tells Huawei owners to switch off HiTouch, which otherwise throws up pop-ups during play.

A skater on screen

Skateboard Party 3

This is the nearest thing here to a console skating game: a skater you steer with on-screen buttons through a career of more than 70 objectives and achievements. Maple Media’s listing counts eight locations, 16 skaters and over 40 tricks, with the professional skater Greg Lutzka as its face.

The listing says it is compatible with most game controllers, and the button layout can be rearranged. The free version carries adverts and in-app purchases. A separate Skateboard Party 3 Pro costs $3.99 and adds online multiplayer, though Google Play shows the adverts and in-app purchases flags on that listing as well.

Mike V: Skateboard Party

The first game in the same series, built around the skater Mike Vallely. It is smaller, with eight skaters and a career of more than 30 achievements. Skateboard Party 2 is still listed too. Both are free with adverts and in-app purchases, and we see no reason to start with either while the third game is also free.

Skate Jam

Our old list called this Tony Hawk’s Skate Jam. The listing at the same Google Play address is now Skate Jam – Pro Skateboarding, from Maple Media, and Tony Hawk’s name is nowhere in it.

What the listing describes is a career mode where you enter tournaments to open new regions, plus global events where players compete on a leaderboard for prizes. You skate street, park and vert. It is free with adverts and in-app purchases.

Skateboard FE3D 2

EnJen Games’ free-roaming game has nine skateparks and lets you build your own. There is an Arcade mode against a clock of two and a half minutes, a S-K-A-T-E mode of set tricks and combos, and a Free Run mode with no timer.

Google Play flags adverts and in-app purchases, but the listing makes a promise the others do not: nothing is locked behind a paywall, and everything can be unlocked by playing.

Skate Space

The one for skating with other people. DRSV’s listing describes online sessions with chat, battles with up to ten skaters, and parks built by other players that you can skate in. You can build a park of your own and cut a video part from your replays. It is free with adverts and in-app purchases. The page for it on the Nigerian store showed us no install button, so it may not be offered there.

Quick arcade games

Flip Skater

Miniclip’s game is all halfpipe. You drop in, gain height and land grabs and airs for a score, at ramps from Miami Beach to Lake Baikal. The listing says outright that it does not need an internet connection. It also says the in-game purchases include random items.

Epic Skater

The sequel was on our old list and has gone. The original is still here: an arcade game set on the streets of Los Angeles, with more than 25 tricks to chain into combos. You are scored on distance, biggest combo or total, whichever you care about. It is free with adverts and in-app purchases.

Skater Boy

Two buttons, one to speed up and one to jump, with extra points for tricks in the air. There are 90 levels across three terrains. Google Play flags adverts on it but no in-app purchases.

Rat On A Skateboard

Donut Games’ side-scroller is the only game here whose listing says it is free from adverts. The first game mode and five challenges are free. A single one-time purchase adds the other modes and the rest of its 80 handcrafted tracks.

What happened to the rest of the old list

• Epic Skater 2: its Google Play page has gone, and the developer’s page lists only the first Epic Skater.
• Nyjah Huston: #SkateLife: we could not find it on Google Play.
• Stickman Skate Battle: we could not find this one either.
• Tony Hawk’s Skate Jam: still there under its new name, Skate Jam, as described above.

Which one to pick

• You want it to feel like skating: True Skate, for $1.99.
• The same idea for free: Touchgrind Skate 2, accepting that you get one park.
• A career mode and a controller: Skateboard Party 3.
• Free, with nothing held back for payment: Skateboard FE3D 2, on its listing’s word.
• Other people to skate with: Skate Space.
• No adverts: Rat On A Skateboard.
• Something for a flight: Flip Skater, the one listing here that says in words that it plays offline.

Google Play puts its own “Offline” tag on most of the others, including True Skate, Touchgrind Skate 2 and Skateboard FE3D 2. Their developers do not say so in the descriptions, so try the game with your connection off before you depend on it.

We have gone through offline car racing games and rhythm games for Android in the same way.

Quick answers

What is the most realistic skateboarding game for Android?

True Skate and Touchgrind Skate 2. Both have you move the board with your fingers in place of on-screen buttons. True Skate costs $1.99 in the US, and Touchgrind Skate 2 is free with one skatepark.

Which skateboard games for Android are free?

Every game on this page except True Skate and Skateboard Party 3 Pro is free to install. All of the free ones carry adverts, in-app purchases or both.

Which skate games work with a controller?

True Skate’s listing says it now plays with a gamepad. The listings for Skateboard Party 3 and Skateboard Party 2 say they are compatible with most game controllers.

Is Skate City on Android?

We could not find it on Google Play. The game’s own website names no platform other than Apple Arcade.

Is EA’s skate. on Android?

Not yet. EA’s FAQ for the game says it is in early access on PC, PlayStation and Xbox, with Android and iOS to follow later.

If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.