Ten clones of popular video games on Android

In Android anything goes, including low blows like shameless copies of successful commercial video games. There practically isn’t a single PC title without a veiled ‘homage’ on mobile devices. That said, after separating the good from the bad, there are many interesting titles beyond those that seem to dip into copyright infringement.

Heroes of Warfare (Overwatch)

Let’s start out strong. The gameplay and visual style of this game is so similar to the popular title by Blizzard (and NetEase as Overwatch’s Asian distributor), that they’ve filed a lawsuit against its creators. The problem is that although the similarities are evident, no names or characters are directly plagiarized, and Overwatch is never mentioned as the inspiration for the game. Even the name of the studio is cryptic. China is killing us. [Download]

Graffiti Stars (Splatoon)

A competitive arena in which the team that paints the greater part of the stage in their color wins. Sound familiar? Graffiti Stars isn’t quite as shameless as the now defunct Sepia Go!, since it manages to feel different by displaying the action from an aerial camera. But the aesthetic, color palette, and gameplay do little to hide the inspiration by Nintendo’s game. [Download]

Survivor Royale (PUBG)

PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS is the most played PC game on Steam today, and the deluge of clones arriving on Android in the last few months is proof of its success. Although we recently listed some of the best alternatives, there have since been a number of new candidates. Survivor Royale by NetEase is the best of these, coming the closest to the original title both in gameplay and number of players per match. There are a few other interesting new titles, like one that takes place in an enormous building, or another based on Terminator 2. You didn’t hear about it from us. [Download]

ARK Survival Island Evolve (ARK Survival Evolved)

Take Minecraft, remove the cubic graphics, and put a handful of people on an island to fight in an open field. ARK Survival Evolved has also had many Android adaptations, most of them completely shameless, like the two that call themselves ARK Survival Island. Shame, shame. Most of these projects say that the multiplayer is ‘in development’, so for now you can only craft coconut trees and order around your triceratops in single player. [Download]

Guns of Boom (Team Fortress 2)

Valve’s Team Fortress 2 is still popular despite being over 10 years old now, and serves as a base for the style and gameplay of many games that came after it. Guns of Boom doesn’t have the depth of TF2, missing many of the distinct classes in the game, but it still tastes and smells similar. [Download]

Critical Ops – Counter Strike

The most copied game on Android has to be Counter Strike, with literally hundreds of games that trick you into thinking you’re playing a handheld version of CS. Critical Ops (also known as C-Ops) stands above the rest by miniaturizing the experience without losing the essence. Terrorists and counter terrorists battling 5 vs 5 on a diverse set of maps, with objectives known to any fan of the genre. Enough said. [Download]

Turbo League (Rocket League)

Although the phenomenon is starting to die down, Rocket League is also one of the most played games, and as a result, one of the most cloned on Android. Turbo League is the most worthy of these copies, with ball physics and vehicle tricks very similar to Psyonix’s title. Plus, the touch controls are great, and the visuals are close to the original. A well rounded game. [Download]

NOVA Legacy – HALO

If there is one studio that embodies the topic of this article, it’s Gameloft. The majority of their products are copies of successful titles adapted to mobile devices, like their version of GTA. Their clone of the HALO saga already has several releases under its belt, and N.O.V.A. Legacy is the most recent and complete. It offers both offline and multiplayer modes. [Download]

Top Eleven – Football Manager

Football Manager addicts have a serious problem. The fact that the 2015 version of the game is still in the top 100 most played games on Steam says a lot about their passion for the sports management simulator. We’ve recently recommended five free alternatives to the Sports Interactive title for Android, and Top Eleven came out at the top of the list. It features official licenses, updated rosters, depth of simulation, and translation into any language imaginable. [Download]

Mobile Legends (DOTA 2 / LoL)

MOBA titles were born on PC and will surely die on Android. Since its explosion in Asia, scarcely a day has passed without the release of a new game from the genre. Of these, Mobile Legends is the most played in the West, simply because it was one of the first to arrive. It was risky to think that a genre requiring such precise controls would adapt to touch screens, but they managed to pull it off. [Download]