Thankfully, there are a number of ambient mobile games that can settle the chattering thoughts inside your head and help you embrace a state of mindfulness. These games offer a fully-immersive experience with beautiful and minimal designs, easy controls, and soothing soundtracks that help you access a meditative state. Here is a list of the best ambient games to remain mindful on your mobile.
1. Alto’s Odyssey
Alto’s Odyssey takes you on a sandboarding journey across scenic lands as you venture through sand dunes, travel across great canyons, and explore hidden temples. This endless runner game features nature-inspired graphics, a calming soundtrack, and two different game modes.
In the expansive landscape of the desert, it’s easy to lose yourself in the moment and watch the sunset and sunrise in the gradually shifting environment.
Without any set goals, you can immerse yourself in the present moment without thinking about any destination to reach or scores to hit. There’s just you and the endless desert.
The game’s popular soundtrack is accompanied by the sounds of nature: rainfall, distant birds, and the soothing sound of your sandboard as you glide across the desert, inviting a real-world experience to the gameplay.
Alto’s Odyssey is the perfect game to enjoy a mindful and ambient journey in another world.
Download: Alto’s Odyssey for Android | iOS (Free, offers in-app purchases)
2. Infinity Loop
Infinity Loop is a stress-free puzzle game where you connect different tiles to create an array of geometric shapes.
Its highly minimal design and lack of distracting features help to focus your pure attention on the puzzles. Every puzzle features a pastel background behind tiles to rotate into different symmetric patterns.
Its immersive soundtrack helps bring your awareness to the present moment, featuring repetitive rhythms and no interrupting sound effects to disturb your focus.
There is no pressurizing time limit for the puzzles. There’s also a lack of any score-keeping strategy, and while some eager gamers may find this annoying, removing statistics and progress-tracking features helps to embrace mindfulness. All the attention is centered on the gaming experience itself, rather than goals and achievements to unlock.
Infinity Loop plays up to its name as an endless puzzle adventure.
Download: Infinity Loop for Android | iOS (Free, offers in-app purchases)
3. CircloO
CircloO is a simple physics-based puzzle game with reduced features, easy gameplay mechanics, and a soothing soundtrack. In each level, you must navigate a ball through a maze of shapes to reach a series of endpoints. There’s no way to die in each level, meaning that you don’t have to worry about losing your progress. You can also go at your own pace and enjoy a relaxing puzzle journey.
The intuitive touch controls revolve around only two actions: left and right, giving your brain less to think about. The majority of levels rely on a trial and error approach: if you (the ball) don’t quite reach a platform, you’ll simply roll back down and have unlimited attempts to try again.
The relaxing puzzle adventure isn’t visually overwhelming either; the minimal color palette (with two colors per level) helps enhance your attention and remain your focus on the gameplay itself. This is accompanied by the soothing free-falling motion of the ball as it rolls in the wide space.
CircloO also requires no internet access.
Download: CircloO for Android | iOS (Free, offers in-app purchases)
4. Cats Are Liquid
Cats Are Liquid is a cute 2D platformer where you travel across 120 different rooms as a cat with her friends. The game’s key stunt is the ability to transform into liquid to squeeze through different shapes in the abstract, colorful world.
Unlike the frantic world presented in popular platformers like Mario, Cats Are Liquid remains simplistic with its minimal design to prevent overstimulation. Each element is introduced gradually, so you won’t be thrown in at the deep end and can make your way leisurely through the game.
If you’d like to remove any challenging component to the game whatsoever, you can fully embrace a mindful experience in the level editor. Here, you can create level packs and design abstract worlds using the simplistic shape set. In the editor, you have the creative freedom to mindfully explore your artistic side in an aesthetic editing environment with an ambient soundtrack.
Download: Cats Are Liquid for Android | iOS (Free)
5. Mini Metro
Mini Metro is a fun and entertaining simulation game where you design your own metro systems to carry across passengers. The game is as simple as drawing lines between stations, yet there is an element of strategy to carry across the most passengers each day.
As hectic as train stations can be in real life, this game presents the complete opposite. As you try out different combinations, you can watch the colored trains slowly pass between the stations, watching the days pass by. Randomized city growth means that every game is unique, meaning you can approach every game with a fresh and open mind.
There are multiple game modes available, including Endless mode (which removes the boundaries seen in the Normal mode) and Creative mode (for an unlimited number of locomotives).
If this game suits your taste, you may like these other mobile games for a calming experience.
Download: Mini Metro for Android ($0.99) | iOS ($3.99)
Play These Mobile Games to Lose Yourself in the Moment
It’s easy to lose yourself in the ambient worlds of these games. The minimal, aesthetic design in each game helps to create a stress-free environment, transporting you to another world where any of your real-world worries can be forgotten. And, with reduced features and easy-to-learn controls, your brain has less to think about. As a result, you can fully embrace the gameplay without distractions. Play these games for a relaxing and mindful adventure.
