Polygon reported this week that a store leak points to Mewgenics arriving on Xbox sooner than expected. The Team Meat cat-rogue-lite has been drifting toward release for years, and every fresh clue makes the wait harder. If you are already hungry for that specific mix of card play, run structure, and cruel decisions, Android is loaded with games that scratch the itch today. We tested seven roguelike deckbuilders that hold up on a phone screen and ranked them by depth, replay value, and how well they respect your battery.
We looked at run length, meta-progression, difficulty scaling, offline play, and whether the free tier is a demo or a real game.
What to look for in a roguelike deckbuilder
- Runs that end in 30 to 90 minutes, not multi-hour marathons.
- Meaningful choices between cards, artifacts, and events.
- Meta-progression that unlocks more cards without invalidating early runs.
- One-hand or portrait mode for phone play.
- Offline play. Deckbuilders are perfect commute games.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slay the Spire | The genre benchmark | 8-hour demo | $9.99 unlock | 4.7 |
| Monster Train | Longer runs with two-lane strategy | Demo | $9.99 unlock | 4.6 |
| Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale | Tactical grid deckbuilder | Fully free base | $4.99 unlock | 4.5 |
| Card Crawl | Solitaire-style dungeon crawls | Fully free | $2.99 unlock all | 4.6 |
| Night of the Full Moon | Story-driven boss ladder | Free base | Paid expansions | 4.5 |
| Dungeon Cards | Match-three roguelike | Yes, with ads | Remove ads | 4.4 |
| Loop Hero | Passive-strategy loop runs | Demo | $4.99 | 4.6 |
The games
1. Slay the Spire, the genre benchmark
Slay the Spire created the modern roguelike deckbuilder. Four characters, hundreds of cards, a 50-floor climb, and a tuning that has been the reference point every competitor is measured against for six years. The Android port is a native app with proper portrait mode, no cloud check, and daily challenges.
Where it falls short: No new content since the base release plus the free character. Community mods live on PC only.
Pricing:
- Free: 8-hour demo on Google Play.
- Paid: $9.99 to unlock the full game.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: If you have never played it, start here. Everything else on this list borrows something from Slay the Spire.
2. Monster Train, best for two-lane strategy
Monster Train adds a second axis: your creatures defend three floors, and cards affect placement, order, and adjacency. Runs feel more strategic because a single card can rewire a whole floor. Five clans mix and match for hundreds of build combinations.
Where it falls short: The Android port arrived years after PC. Some interface friction from the original layout survives on phone.
Pricing:
- Free: Demo.
- Paid: $9.99 to unlock.
Download: Google Play
Bottom line: Pick Monster Train after Slay the Spire, when you want a deckbuilder that thinks about board state as much as hand play.
3. Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale, best tactical grid deckbuilder
Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale is a follow-up to the tinier Meteorfall: Journeys. This version puts cards on a grid: you buy monsters and items from the same layout you fight through, and every turn is a puzzle about what to spend to reach what. Runs are 20 to 40 minutes.
Where it falls short: Smaller developer, smaller player base, fewer builds than Slay the Spire.
Pricing:
- Free: Base game with a few classes.
- Paid: $4.99 to unlock everything.
Download: Google Play
Bottom line: Pick Krumit’s Tale when the puzzle-solving side of deckbuilders appeals more than the raw combat.
4. Card Crawl, best solitaire dungeon crawler
Card Crawl is a nine-year-old design that still holds up. Solitaire-style, four-slot inventory, a shield, a sword, and monster cards. Every card matters, every run takes less than ten minutes, and the game is now fully free with an optional unlock for expansions.
Where it falls short: Small deck size limits build variety. Feels lighter than the others on this list.
Pricing:
- Free: Full base game.
- Paid: $2.99 to unlock all expansions.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: Best pick for short runs on a bus ride or a break.
5. Night of the Full Moon, best story-driven
Night of the Full Moon wraps its card play in a fairy-tale story that unfolds run by run. The core is a straightforward deckbuilder, but the multiple character paths and expansions give it real hours. The mobile-first design shows in every corner of the interface.
Where it falls short: In-app purchases for expansions add up. Some translation feels rough in English.
Pricing:
- Free: Base game with the first character.
- Paid: Character and expansion packs from $1.99 each.
Download: Google Play
Bottom line: Pick this when the story wrapper matters as much as the runs.
6. Dungeon Cards, best match-three roguelike
Dungeon Cards merges match-three sliding with roguelike deckbuilding. You push cards around a small grid, matching monsters to damage them and stacking gold to buy artifacts. It sounds simple. The strategy runs deep.
Where it falls short: Ads on the free tier are frequent. The premium unlock is worth it if you plan to play more than a week.
Pricing:
- Free: Full game with ads.
- Paid: One-time unlock to remove ads.
Download: Google Play
Bottom line: Best pick when you want a genre mashup that feels new after 40 hours of Slay the Spire.
7. Loop Hero, the surprise pick
Loop Hero is not a traditional deckbuilder. You place cards on a loop that your hero walks automatically, and the placement decides what enemies and biomes spawn. The card play sits at a strategic layer above the auto-combat. It plays surprisingly well on Android with a controller.
Where it falls short: The passive combat can feel slow. The base game is not built for portrait mode.
Pricing:
- Free: Demo.
- Paid: $4.99 to unlock.
Download: Google Play
Bottom line: Pick Loop Hero when the deckbuilder itch is really an itch for choice-heavy strategy without twitch play.
How to pick the right one
If you have never played the genre: start with Slay the Spire. If you have finished all four characters on Ascension 20: move to Monster Train for more strategic depth. If you want to play in shorter sessions: Card Crawl or Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale. If you want a story wrapper: Night of the Full Moon. If you like match-three: Dungeon Cards. If you want something different from the loop: Loop Hero. And if you are truly here because you want Mewgenics: the best current substitute is Slay the Spire with the Silent character, closest in feel to Team Meat’s usual cruelty toward the player.
FAQ
What is the best free roguelike deckbuilder on Android?
Card Crawl is the best fully free deckbuilder with no ads and a small optional unlock. Slay the Spire has an 8-hour demo that qualifies as one of the most generous demos on the platform.
Is Slay the Spire good on a phone?
Yes. The port is native, portrait-mode friendly, and the interface was rebuilt for touch. Reading small card text on a phone can be tight on very small screens, but tap-to-zoom mitigates it.
Are there any Mewgenics-like games available now?
Nothing exactly matches Mewgenics because the design is not out yet. The closest available games in tone are Slay the Spire (unforgiving runs), Monster Train (creature placement), and Loop Hero (auto-combat plus card play).
Which of these have offline play?
All seven on this list work offline once installed. None require an internet connection for single-player runs.
Do any of these support controllers?
Loop Hero has controller support on Android. Slay the Spire and Monster Train are touch-first but tolerate Bluetooth controllers with some quirks. The rest are touch-only.
How long does a run take?
Card Crawl runs are 5 to 10 minutes. Meteorfall and Dungeon Cards runs are 20 to 40 minutes. Slay the Spire, Monster Train, and Night of the Full Moon runs are 45 to 90 minutes. Loop Hero runs can stretch to two hours if you push a difficult loop.
