Games Like Pokémon for Android: Official Ones and Rivals
The main Pokémon games are not on Android. The official spin-offs that are, eleven monster-catching rivals, what each costs and which play offline.
For catching, training and battling monsters through a story, which is what most people mean by a Pokémon game, the best fits on Google Play come from other makers. EvoCreo is free. Coromon lets you play the opening free and unlocks the rest for $4.99. Nexomon does the same for $0.99.
The Pokémon Company’s own Android games are real and free to start, but each takes one part of Pokémon and leaves the rest: walking, cards, team battles. The main series itself is sold for Nintendo Switch consoles, and none of it is on Google Play.
We read the Google Play listing of every game on this page, and the descriptions come from those listings.
The official Pokémon games on Android
| Game | Maker on Google Play | Cost | What it is | Connection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pokémon GO | Scopely Explore | Free, with in-app purchases | Catching Pokémon by walking around the real world | Built around GPS and a network |
| Pokémon TCG Pocket | The Pokémon Company | Free, with in-app purchases | Collecting cards, with quick battles | Not stated |
| Pokémon TCG Live | The Pokémon Company International | Free | The full trading card game | Required for online play |
| Pokémon Champions | The Pokémon Company | Free, with in-app purchases | Battles only, mostly against other players | Online battles |
| Pokémon UNITE | The Pokémon Company | Free, with in-app purchases | Five-on-five team battles | Required |
| Pokémon Masters EX | DeNA | Free, with in-app purchases | Three-on-three battles beside trainers from the series | Not stated |
| Pokémon Quest | The Pokémon Company | Free, with in-app purchases | Expeditions with cube-shaped Pokémon | Tagged offline by Google Play |
Google Play shows no “Contains ads” label on any of the seven.
Pokémon GO
Still the official game that is most about catching. You find Pokémon by moving around outdoors, fill a Pokédex, and join Gym and Raid battles with other players. The listing warns that it may not work on a device without GPS or one that only has Wi-Fi. The Nigerian store page showed us no Install button for it, so it may not be offered there.
The two card games
Pokémon TCG Pocket is the lighter one. Its listing leads with two free booster packs to open each day, and adds trading with friends and short battles. Pokémon TCG Live is the full trading card game, with eight starter decks, a ranked ladder and one collection shared across phone, PC and Mac. Google Play shows neither adverts nor in-app purchases on TCG Live.
Champions, UNITE and Masters EX
Pokémon Champions keeps the turn-based battles of the main games and drops the adventure: ranked, casual and private matches against other players, with Pokémon recruited in the game or brought over from Pokémon HOME. Its official site says phone players can battle people on Nintendo Switch.
UNITE is a team game, five against five with points to score before the clock runs out, and its listing says an internet connection is required. Masters EX is three-on-three battles in which you team up with well-known trainers and their Pokémon.
Pokémon Quest
The one official game that Google Play tags as offline. The Pokémon of Red and Blue appear as cubes, you send a team on expeditions and tap to fight, and you befriend more Pokémon with what you bring back. Save data stays on the phone unless you use the game’s backup.
The rest of the official catalogue is further from the main games: Pokémon Sleep tracks your sleep, Café ReMix, Friends and Shuffle Mobile are puzzle games, and Magikarp Jump is about raising a Magikarp.
Monster-catching games from other makers
| Game | Maker | Cost in the US | Monsters | Offline play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EvoCreo | ilmfinity | Free, with ads and in-app purchases | 170+ | Yes, says the listing |
| EvoCreo 2 | ilmfinity | $4.99, with in-app purchases | 300+ | Yes, says the listing |
| Coromon | Freedom Games | Free to start, $4.99 for the full story | 120+ | Tagged offline by Google Play |
| Nexomon | VEWO Interactive | Free to start with ads, $0.99 for the full game | 300+ | Tagged offline by Google Play |
| Nexomon: Extinction | VEWO Interactive | First chapter free, with ads and in-app purchases | 381 | Tagged offline by Google Play |
| Cassette Beasts | Raw Fury | Free to start, one purchase for the full game | Not counted | Not stated |
| Dynamons World | Azerion Casual | Free, with ads and in-app purchases | Dozens | Tagged offline by Google Play |
| Neo Monsters | ZigZaGame | $0.99, with in-app purchases | 1,000+ | Tagged offline by Google Play |
| Siralim Ultimate | Thylacine Studios | $9.99, no ads, no in-app purchases | 1,200+ | Yes, says the listing |
| Monster Hunter Stories | Capcom | $19.99, no ads, no in-app purchases | Not counted | Not stated |
| DQM: The Dark Prince | Square Enix | $29.99, no ads, no in-app purchases | 500+ | Not stated |
The monster counts are each developer’s own. “Tagged offline” means Google Play attaches that label and the developer does not say it.
Free, or free to start
EvoCreo and EvoCreo 2
EvoCreo was a paid game on our old list. Google Play now shows it free with adverts and in-app purchases. The listing promises more than 170 monsters, over 30 hours of play, an arena for battling other players and the option to play with no connection.
EvoCreo 2 is the sequel and the paid one, at $4.99. It raises the count to more than 300 monsters, and its listing says there are no adverts and no need to stay online.
Coromon
Coromon’s listing is upfront about how it is sold: part of the early game is free, and one $4.99 purchase unlocks the whole story. You play a researcher in the region of Velua with more than 120 creatures to collect across six zones. It has built-in Randomizer and Nuzlocke modes, which the listing calls fan-favourite twists on creature catching. Google Play shows no adverts on it.
Nexomon and Nexomon: Extinction
The first Nexomon is the cheapest full game here: free to begin, then $0.99, for more than 300 monsters across ten regions. Extinction is a console game brought to Android, with 381 monsters and a free first chapter. Google Play shows adverts on both.
Cassette Beasts
The least like Pokémon and the most its own game. On the island of New Wirral you record monsters on cassette tapes and then turn into them to fight, and any two forms can be fused into a new one. The listing calls it an open-world RPG. The beginning is free and one purchase unlocks the rest. Google Play shows in-app prices up to $6.99 and attaches a “Contains ads” label, though the listing itself says there are no ads.
Dynamons World
A simpler, cartoon-styled game from Azerion with a story to follow and one-on-one online battles. It is free with adverts and in-app purchases, and Google Play rates it Everyone.
Pay once
Neo Monsters
Still here from our old list, at $0.99 with in-app purchases on top. The listing counts more than 1,000 animated monsters, four-against-four battles with teams of up to 16, and six leagues to win over more than 60 hours. Online play against other people is a large part of it.
Siralim Ultimate
The deep end. Siralim sends you through randomly generated dungeons with six creatures a side and more than 1,200 to collect and fuse. Its listing says there are no adverts, no in-app purchases and no need for a connection, and Google Play’s labels agree.
Monster Hunter Stories and DQM: The Dark Prince
Two console games from big publishers, priced like it. In Capcom’s Monster Hunter Stories you hatch monsters from eggs found in dens and fight beside them. The listing says there are no in-app purchases at all. A free version, MHST The Adventure Begins, lets you start the story and carry the save into the paid game.
Square Enix’s Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince has more than 500 monsters to recruit and combine into new ones, with the console version’s extra content included and its online battles left out.
Prices outside the US vary widely. Monster Hunter Stories is ₹1,300 in India and ₦7,210 in Nigeria. The Dark Prince is ₹3,400 and ₦43,000. Neo Monsters is ₹10 and ₦40.
What changed from our old list
- Pokémon TCG Online: The Pokémon Company removed it from Google Play in June 2023 and replaced it with Pokémon TCG Live.
- Digimon Heroes: no longer on Google Play. Bandai Namco’s Digimon game there now is DIGIMON UP, a monster-raising RPG with random-item purchases.
- Clash Royale and Hearthstone: both are still on Google Play. They are card battlers with nothing to catch, so we have left them out.
- Bulu Monster: still on Google Play, free with adverts and in-app purchases. Its listing no longer mentions offline play.
- Beastie Bay: Kairosoft’s island-building game with beasts to capture is still there, free with adverts, beside a paid Beastie Bay DX at $7.99.
- MonsterCrafter: still there and still about crafting your own monster.
- EvoCreo, Neo Monsters and Pokémon GO: still on Google Play, and covered above.
Which one to pick
- Free: EvoCreo, which also says it plays offline.
- One fair purchase: Coromon, because you play the opening before paying $4.99 and there are no adverts.
- The least money: Nexomon, at $0.99 for the full game.
- Nothing more to buy, ever: Siralim Ultimate at $9.99.
- Official Pokémon: Pokémon GO for catching, TCG Pocket for cards, Pokémon Quest if you need it offline.
For more games read the same way, see our pages on offline RPG games for Android and games like Minecraft for Android.
Quick answers
Can you play Pokémon games on Android?
Yes, the official spin-offs: Pokémon GO, TCG Pocket, TCG Live, Champions, UNITE, Masters EX and Quest are all on Google Play. The main series, such as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, is sold for Nintendo Switch consoles and is not on Google Play.
Which games like Pokémon play offline on Android?
EvoCreo, EvoCreo 2 and Siralim Ultimate say so in their listings. Google Play also tags Coromon, both Nexomon games, Dynamons World, Neo Monsters and Pokémon Quest as offline.
What are the free games like Pokémon for Android?
EvoCreo and Dynamons World are free with adverts. Coromon, Nexomon, Nexomon: Extinction and Cassette Beasts let you play the start free and charge for the rest.
Is there an open-world game like Pokémon on Android?
Cassette Beasts describes itself as an open-world RPG. EvoCreo and Dynamons World use the phrase too.
Is there a game like Pokémon GO for Android?
Monster Hunter Now, from the same maker on Google Play, has you hunt monsters that appear around you in the real world.
