The Best Games To Play On A Tablet

This article is sponsored by Samsung.

Honestly, most of my gaming had never taken place on tablets. In my youth, I was all about consoles and computer games, and now, my hands reflexively reach for my phone.

I blame my parents. Not really, but somewhere along the way, tablets did cop a reputation for being the boomer device of choice. And, naturally, seeing my mum use hers as a chunky camera put me off.

Given my fellow ~youths~ are probably in the same boat, we investigated whether it’s worth adding a tablet into your gaming reserve by finding which games work best on the big screen. To be exact, we used the Samsung S8 Ultra Tablet, so our screen was a huge 14.6-inches.

Below are the five best games to play on your tablet. Give them a try and then good luck squinting at your puny phone again!

Alto’s Adventure

One thing I was worried about with a tablet is dragging my whole damn hand across the screen quickly enough. You need not fear this game. Alto’s Adventure is played in landscape mode and is mainly a one-touch game using one hand. My kind of effort. Suffice it to say, I could hit that same spot on the screen with speed — the Tab S8 Ultra’s Octa-Core processor did give me a helping hand though.

If you’ve never played it, it’s an endless snowboarding game that has you chasing escaped llamas down a mountain for points. I don’t know Alto’s whole story, but I sure as hell wouldn’t let him look after my llamas with a track record like that. The dude has let hundreds of them loose at this point. How has he not learned to close the gate???

Anyway, Alto’s crimes aside, the game is fun. It’s a simple premise, atmospheric and those pretty visuals make me feel like I’m swanning around on a snowy holiday.

Levelhead

In Levelhead you train a delivery robot, GR-18, to deliver a package on time. Yes, not the most thrilling of adventures — makes me think about my own return I have still yet to post.

But the world is your oyster when it comes to the level editor and all the custom obstacles to throw in GR-18’s way. Poor robot. Editing those levels involves a lot of dragging and dropping, so it can be a bit painful on a small device. A bigger screen and the Samsung S Pen will go a long way!

If you prefer not to DIY, there are in-built levels included, or you can mosey over to another player’s creation and give that a try.

Catan Classic

In the past, I’d have laughed in your face if you suggested playing Settlers of Catan online. That would cut out all the best bits. The game is nothing if not a vessel for sledging. Looking a cocky mate in the eyes as you block them from picking up a resource is one of life’s great treasures.

But, turns out you can chuck a tablet into the middle of the table and huddle around that together instead. I played this with my brother IRL next to me and then two computer players. In my opinion, you obviously want to map out that longest road to victory, so it’s easier to gather around a tablet’s bigger screen than a phone’s.

And, you get all the perks of the board game without having to pack up every last piece or worry the dog’s eaten a road!

Machinarium

The steampunk hand-drawn artwork in Machinarium was made to be appreciated on a bigger screen. Just soak this in…that’s the 16 million colour bits in action.

The point-and-click adventure has a good story and great music, so you’ll be engrossed. It also gives you the benefit of one hint per level. As a dummy who gets impatient with puzzles and needs all the help she can get, I appreciate that.

Hearthstone

This collectable card game is in the same vein as Magic The Gathering but is all digital and one colourful graphics party. With PVP and PVE options of play, plus new cards and modes regularly being added, it’s a mainstay for on-the-go gaming.

The cards are nice and big on the tablet — my eyes would struggle with any smaller. Given it’s all up close and personal, I got very into all that pretty scenery, too. Just look at that glowing waterfall! You can also mess around with it. See that fire in the bottom right below? I lit that by tapping my S Pen between plays (please only refer to me as Bear Grylls from now on).

Hearthstone is a hefty game and chews up a good few gigabytes on your phone, so playing it on your tablet will give you valuable space back for everyday stuff on your mobile.

You can find all the above games at the Google Play store. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to nick my mum’s tablet…