There are two kinds of people in this world. Casual players who game to distract themselves or pass time, and professional players who play their favourite franchises developed for mobile devices. I lied, there is a third category, and they are gamers like me who just adore absolutely anything with cute or ’kawaii’-like visuals.

When most people think of mobile games, they think of generic characters, lagging graphics, or puzzle games with overly dramatic (and annoying) story-telling ads. But for me, the worst crime of all is that there are games with seriously poor graphic designs. For video games to be good, visuals don’t have to be amazing or out of this world, but there is something infuriatingly agitating about lifeless, laggy figures moving around your screen.

So, if you also understand these struggles or are looking for some hidden games to try, here are some chill mobile games that are free to play and, most importantly, have ridiculously cute visuals!

Cats & Soup

It's just cats making soup, with wholesome and adorable animations and visuals. Need I say more? If you’re still not convinced, there may or may not be a cat tower full of cute kitty rooms to customise, accessories to dress your fluffy kitties up in and fun mini-games to keep you entertained. All this cuteness is bundled up in the middle of a forest for that lost-in-nature aesthetic.

Cats & Soups is an idle game for guaranteed chilling. It mostly consists of unlocking food prep stations and assigning a new cat to prepare ingredients or to cook. Don’t forget to buy them trampolines to bounce on and flower fields to frolic in so that they work happily, because they’re definitely not unpaid cute cat slaves. Once you’ve finished your upgrades, you can watch your cat-run business grow by selling your cat’s creations, earning money, and unlocking new items or combinations of dishes. Most importantly you can name each cat and feed them the fish you catch, which levels up their friendship with you. Simply put, this game is perfect for those who want a game full of cuteness overload or a nice little serotonin hit for the day.

The only complaint I have is that I simply refuse to watch thirty billion ads to gain double production speed for a couple of minutes, unlock all limited-season items and earn double rewards on my creations. But at least the ads aren’t shoved in my face.

Cookie Run: Kingdom

Some days I can’t decide if I want to play idle games or adventure games, and Cookie Run: Kingdom is the perfect combination of both. You form a party of cookies that are on a journey to restore the old cookie kingdom and collect more cookie friends along the way. If that isn’t adorable, I don’t know what is!

There are several modes you can focus on. The main two are the story or adventure mode, or the idle village life. You can boost the power of your cookies and challenge each level to progress through the story. If you get bored of that, you can build your own kingdom. You start by building up gingerbread houses and watch all your collected cookies walk around and partake in village life, whether they make or bake materials for your adventure mode or race around and interact with decorative sets you built for them.

Maplestory M

Based on the popular online gaming franchise Maplestory, the game brings energetic retro vibes with a touch of epic adventure to your pocket. This is an online game surrounding the story of the characters you choose (each character story is different) and focuses on fulfilling prophecies, exploring Maple World, and becoming the hero you were always meant to be. Play to button mash your stress away or defeat bosses and complete dungeons to unlock special rewards.

Not your kind of game? Maybe the cute slime and mushroom enemies or the pets that follow your hero around will entice you then? Not to mention, all the amazing customisation items that you can dress your characters in to live out your fantasy world aesthetic dreams (this does require in-game purchases).

To progress quickly, you must level up your weapons, armour, and skills to play through the main story and each area’s side quests. But if you’re looking for an even more chill and casual play experience, turn on ‘auto-play’, put your phone aside, and ‘game’ while you take care of any work or study. For those especially difficult days when I just want to pick up my phone, playing ‘auto-play’ mode gives me a sense of gaming satisfaction that also requires me to leave the application open, which keeps YouTube shorts at bay. (Take that procrastination!)

This is also perfect for those craving a hit of nostalgia. I remember playing MapleStory on my friend’s PC whenever I visited or watching the older kids battle against epic bosses on the weekends and school holidays.

Pocket Love!

This game is so wholesome and adorable! Simply put, you create two people who are lovey-dovey partners and help them build the perfect home together. Occasionally, your partner will ask you out on dates and you get transported to a cute location where you can interact with that room and obtain free items to commemorate the outing. In terms of general gameplay, you don’t need to do anything but wait for the furniture box icon to load. Each hour, this icon gifts you with free furniture to decorate your rooms with. Furthermore, you can dress up and design your characters and there are tons of limited seasonal events with their own sets and designs to unlock.

The only issue is that to unlock some of the clothes and other items, you need to watch tons of ads. But the ads aren’t necessary to play, so I’m content with logging in to collect furniture every hour and play the mini-games for rewards. 

Sky: Children of the Light

Nuanced, visually stunning and an auditory experience. An online open-world game surrounding the themes of love, loss and light, with seven realms to explore, customisable items to collect and constellations to unlock. I highly recommend playing Sky: Children of the Light to immerse yourself in a different and fantastical world. For the full immersive experience offered, you’ll want your headphones nearby, because the music and effects in this game are just gorgeous to listen to. The sounds are incredibly calming and ethereal, and it is the perfect game to wander around, relax and connect with friends. Furthermore, this game revolves around its community. The more you interact with a player, by gifting them collectable candles of light, you unlock “friend constellations,” which are interactions exclusive between you and that player. Some of my favourite interactions are holding hands (with three or more players, you can form a train of friends), the hug and piggybacking. Also, Sky has a huge online following, with pro players calling newbies, like me, ‘Moths.’ How cute!

Whether you’ve played these games before or have yet to try them, make sure to grab some friends to vibe and veg out with (or don’t, I’m not your mum) for a wholesome and relaxing gaming session. My last piece of advice would be to go ham when naming your cats in Cats & Soup. Here is a picture of Monsieur Floofy for inspiration.