It’s fair to say that Red Dead Redemption is an open-world tour de force. Whether you’re a bigger fan of the first game or its maximalist sequel, there’s such a wealth of content in the Red Dead series that you could play for hundreds of hours and never run out of things to do. With that said, sometimes you don’t want to sit in front of your console or powerful gaming rig and get immersed in a Wild West world; sometimes you’d rather fire up your phone and play something for a few minutes to get your cowboy fix instead. Here are the best Android games like Red Dead Redemption that you can play on your phone right now.
West Gunfighter
Although getting anywhere near Red Dead Redemption’s incredible graphical fidelity and depth of gameplay on Android is nigh-on impossible, West Gunfighter gets about as close as we think it’s possible to get. This is an open-world Wild West adventure full of missions to complete, activities to take on, and outlaws to battle. There’s no plot to speak of, so if you’re playing Red Dead Redemption for the story and want a similar experience on Android, this won’t do the trick. However, if what you want is a fun Wild West world to roam around in and make yourself feel like a cowboy, this is one of the best Android games like Red Dead Redemption out there.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Strictly speaking, Chinatown Wars doesn’t bear much of a resemblance to Red Dead Redemption. It’s not set in the Old West, for one, and it doesn’t have anything to do with cowboys, six-shooters, or any of the other Wild West cultural tropes you’ve come to know and love. However, it is a Rockstar game, so you can expect a lot of the same hallmarks as you’d usually get in one of their titles; great character writing, varied activities, and an interesting world to explore and make your own. As all GTA games do, Chinatown Wars sparked controversy, so if you want to see what all the fuss is about, check this one out on your Android device.
Guns and Spurs 2
Improving on the first Guns and Spurs, this sequel revamps the graphics to make them look a little less blocky and adds more activities you can take on. You play as an Old West sheriff, and it’s your responsibility to bring in some dastardly outlaws for the crime of…well, of being outlaws. Along the way, you can indulge in horse races, herding cattle (which is where the term “cowboy” originally comes from), delivery missions, and plenty more. Of all the games like Red Dead Redemption on Android, this one is probably the one that approaches the core gameplay of Rockstar’s epic the most closely, although it doesn’t bear much of a graphical resemblance.
Bloody West: Infamous Legends
If you’d rather engage with the more management-focused aspects of Red Dead Redemption 2 – that is, upgrading your gang and building yourself a settlement – then Bloody West: Infamous Legends should scratch that itch. At its core, it’s a sort of strategy-come-city-building hybrid in which you must build and manage a Wild West town, looking after its inhabitants and battling back bloodthirsty gangs who are threatening to encroach on your territory. There isn’t much action to speak of here – it’s mostly city management and decision-making – but it’s an immersive Wild West experience nonetheless.
Bounty Hunt
There are some discrepancies between the way Wild West media view bounty hunters and their actual reality. Most of the time, career bounty hunters didn’t really exist, with law enforcement generally being the ones to collect bounties. However, that’s a reality that will come nowhere near Bounty Hunt, a 3D mobile duelling game where you must disarm and defeat your opponent. Depending on where you hit, it’s actually possible to win a duel in Bounty Hunt without dealing any damage to your opponent, which is certainly not a liberty that would have been taken by real Old West bounty hunters. This is a fun, intuitive, and fast-paced game to check out if you liked the duelling systems in the Red Dead games.
Guns’n’Glory
Tired of playing as the good guys in Rockstar’s Red Dead series (albeit morally grey good guys)? Guns’n’Glory will let you experience life as a bad boy bandit or outlaw on the run. It’s a tower defence game in which you must use strategy and cunning to get the drop on processions of Western settlers and stagecoaches. As you play through the game, the settlers will get smarter and wiser to your plans, so you’ll have to adapt your tactics and change things up if you want to have a chance of surviving. Guns’n’Glory should satisfy your gaming urges if you’ve ever wanted to step away from life as a law-abiding citizen.
Western Sniper
Last but not least, we have Western Sniper, a game that has a lot in common with old-school lightgun shooters like Point Blank or Time Crisis. Rather than being able to move around by yourself, Western Sniper has you hunker down in a cover position and take aim at ragdoll bandit enemies. These enemies will come thick and fast in the later levels, but you’ll have plenty of tools at your disposal, including several different weapons (yes, that includes six-shooter revolvers), explosive barrels, and more. If the shooting element of Red Dead Redemption is what does it for you, then Western Sniper is definitely a game to check out.
