When adding more titles to your trusty Android gaming phone, you'll notice no shortage of puzzle and arcade games on the Android platform. Mainstream titles like Angry Birds and Cut The Rope attract a wider range of audiences with their (more) casual gameplay style. However, stumbling upon games with darker psychedelic themes, such as World Of Goo and Badland, brings a mesmerizing, haunting experience like no other. The powerful effects of mixing audio and artistic expression can put forth an entirely different tone to some genres. So, to inspire people to try out another style of Android games, we've created a roundup of the best atmospheric games that will hauntingly stay with you.

1 Badland

In layman's terms, Badland is a more original and enjoyable Flappy Bird. The game's mechanics are similar: it's a sidescroller adventure where you must tap to fly a creature through obstacles in a dark forest. However, unlike Flappy Bird, Badland is much more intricate than a series of pipes with openings at varying heights.

Badland is unforgiving at times, challenging but more manageable than others. It still remains enjoyable through this high-difficulty spike, never crossing the threshold into the frustrating territory of Flappy Bird. You can play this one without fear of addiction or an impulse to throw your poor phone across the room.

2 Jekyll & Hyde

Based on the classic gothic novella, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," the story is retold as a visual novel adventure mystery game; the most significant contributor of why the game retells the story engrossingly is partially due to the gothic ambiance. The darker visuals and sound mixing are top-notch quality for recreating this famous story on mobile. Unfortunately, only Chapter 1 is free; it requires purchasing or accessing the rest by watching ads.

3 No Humanity — The Hardest Game

No Humanity — The Hardest Game is a bit of a psychedelic experience. Still, it doesn't fall short of being a brutally difficult game, which may turn off some players. It's an unpredictable bullet hell game without shoot 'em mechanics that will certainly put your reaction skills through a stress test. Prepare for many game-overs, but once you've learned how to handle the system — it somehow keeps inviting you back to play even more.

4 Phantom of the Opera

If you appreciate the MazM rendition of the famous Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the previous listing, you will likely enjoy Phantom of the Opera. The eerie, dramatic love story is retold in another visual novel adventure game format, much like Jekyll & Hyde. Again, the darker artistic tones and matching sound mixing are spot on. You can access the first chapter for free, but everything else must be bought or earned by watching ads.

5 That Level Again

That Level Again is a puzzle game with plenty of dark undertones, the level looks the same, but the puzzle's solution is always changing; essentially, there are 96 unique ways to win. You'd be surprised how haunting it is to play out the same level at least 96 times repeatedly. But somehow, the game's premise and gimmick are strangely addictive and unforgettable.

Note that multiple sequels for That Level Again play out similarly by exploiting generic logic puzzles (as it lives up to its name) or is even considered a play-on the puzzle genre itself. The third and fourth games deviate from the first two, but all still hold up well as individual successes.

6 Limbo

Limbo offers one of the best audio tracks, just based on the simple sounds like hearing glass shattering, heavy breathing, and trees falling violently. You can even hear the desperation in your character's footsteps. It's impressive but also spooky, and the whole game is entirely devoid of colors. Everything fits together like a glove for an outstanding dark atmospheric game.

If you search Limbo on the Play Store, it has a separate listing for the demo. The demo would be a fantastic place to start if you're still on the fence about buying the app.

7 Alter Ego

Alter Ego is a trippy game. It's a game where self-reflection is necessary to progress through the story and world; be prepared to take personality tests and answer questions (truthfully) about yourself. It's not afraid to break the fourth wall and is guaranteed to make you think on another level. The dark style and music set the tone and atmosphere, but keep in mind that this game may provoke a lot of introspective thought, which may lead you down the path of unwanted existentialism.

8 Typoman Remastered

Words are power in Typoman Remastered. Carefully crafting words will change your environment and become your greatest asset for solving puzzles. Hints are now included in the remastered edition, so if you get stuck, summon a clue to help blaze your way through. The whole game rides on the eerily dark atmosphere and was recreated from the original to improve performance on mobile while adding brand new content.

9 Orbia: Tap and Relax

The potent combination of satisfying sounds with beautiful imagery makes Orbia: Tap and Relax a pleasant treat to play while relieving yourself from daily (life) stress. You won't get the full effect without plugging in quality headphones, as the various sound cues carry the experience. These experiences also contain hundreds of levels with rhythmic tapping (available for each world), leaving no shortage of content after the game has been out years later.

It's also not the most complex and challenging game on this list, which is why it is so easy to pick up and play and hence why it won a Google Play Store Award in 2018 (Most Casual) in the first place. So it's safe to say that Orbia: Tap and Relax has a formula that works. Though the in-game ads might bring some unwanted interruption, so if you like what you see, you may want to consider paying the premium fee.

10 World of Goo Remastered

World of Goo was a major inspiration for how this roundup got started. Since its arrival in 2011, it brought a surreal experience with its chilling atmospheric setting and had underlying tones that no other arcade/puzzle game can reproduce. However, the World of Goo was released on the Play Store over a decade ago, so the game simply became too old for modern hardware. Thankfully, World of Goo Remastered, coming in hot in 2023, addresses that issue.

The remastered plays like the original but with high-res graphics; World of Good Remastered still includes hours of gooball fun with plenty of experimentation to solve physics-based puzzles. The only downside is that it's not widely available for all Android users. You need to be a Netflix subscriber to access this remastered version. But even with this limitation, it's still a timeless classic and award-winning title that deserves attention.

11 A Dark Room

Many games on this list tastefully use visual and audio mixing to drive a game's atmosphere. For example, monochromatic stylized games propel the darker tones of a game exceptionally well. But imagine a title that only depends on words to paint a game's picture. That's where A Dark Room comes in; A Dark Room peels the visual layers away to bring a minimalistic RPG to Android. The game is based on the web version adapted to mobile screens.

A Dark Room uses a text-based structure to drive the narrative and choices. You will mainly interact with the words on the screen and use your imagination to sketch out the story. The game's pacing feels slow, but the progression systems that get unlocked (the more you play) add a lot more complexity to complement the pacing. The vague, minimalistic approach to the game makes it one of the most unique experiences you will find on Android.

Fall down the rabbit hole of dark and atmospheric Android games

While this is not an exhaustive list of all the atmospheric games available on Android, it's an excellent place to discover the genre. And once you've found new Android gaming favorites, you will find yourself falling down the rabbit hole more often enough.