15 best Android TV games you can play right now

Android TV’s release was exciting. There was a more stable platform than Google TV, and the developer community responded by developing some awesome stuff for it. A little time has passed, and although the adoption rate isn’t quite there yet, the apps and games available for Android TV have only been improving. Here are the best Android TV games currently available! Please note that you’ll need a hardware controller or at least your Android TV remote for all of these! If you want to see more, you can find Google’s official list of Android TV games here.

It’s also worth noting that most games with controller support also work on Android TV as long as the box is compatible with it. That is a very difficult list to compile since some games may be available for NVIDIA Shield TVs but not Xiaomi’s Mi Box. Every game on this list should be compatible with most current Android TV boxes. 

The best Android TV games

Alphadia Genesis

Price: $9.99

BADLAND

Price: Free / $3.99

BADLAND is a legendary platformer from a few years ago. It features pleasing colors, simple controls, and several good features. Among them is a local multiplayer mode that is perfect for Android TV and a level editor so you can make or download custom levels. That helps keep the game fresh despite its age. It’s been good for many years, and improvements over the years have only made it better. It’s one of the good ones, for sure.

Beach Buggy Racing

Price: Free to play

Beach Buggy Racing is a racing game by Vector Unit. This one is a kart-style racer. It features interesting, windy courses, power-ups, and various vehicles and characters to unlock and play with. Even with its limited track selection, it’s a classic in this space. There is also split-screen multiplayer, which makes it great for Android TV. There are even things like daily challenges to keep you entertained.

Vector Unit also makes the Riptide GP series, which is another racing series you can play on Android TV. It uses jet skis instead of cars, which makes it unique and fun.

Goat Simulator

Price: Free/ $6.99

Goat Simulator, published by Coffee Stain Publishing, is delightfully absurd in its simplicity. The premise is straightforward: you’re a goat—an unstoppable, physics-bending force of chaos unleashed upon the world. Think of it as akin to classic skateboarding games, except instead of pulling off tricks, you’re causing havoc, setting off explosions, demolishing property, and just generally creating mayhem. Despite its myriad bugs and glitches, they only add to its charm. Coffee Stain embraces these quirks, opting to preserve them unless they impede gameplay because everything else is too hilariously entertaining to fix.

Crossy Road

Price: Free to play

Crossy Road is one of the most popular arcade games in all of mobile gaming. It’s also one of the best Android TV games. It’s basically this generation’s version of Frogger. You hop across roads, streams, and other places while avoiding obstacles. You lose if you are hit by traffic, fall in water, or other similar fate. This one has both local and online multiplayer. It’s simple enough for most kids, and it’s just a good time all around. It is just an arcade game, so don’t expect much more than that.

Emulators

Price: Free / Varies

Many Android TV owners have a healthy collection of emulators for their devices. Emulators let you play old classics, have the requisite controller support, and are relatively easy to use on Android TV. You do have to sideload many of them, so we have a guide on sideloading Android TV apps if needed. There are a variety of emulators for many systems, including multi-console emulators like RetroArch and Lemuroid. We also have a list of the best emulators on Android if you want to dig deeper.

Star Wars™: KOTOR

Price: $9.99

Horizon Chase

Price: Free / Up to $2.99

Horizon Chase is a retro racing game and one of the better Android TV games. The games have around 100 tracks, along with a bunch of cars, various tournaments, and other content to play with. You get retro racing mechanics through and through, although we appreciate the polish level with this one. It feels like playing an old racing game for the Nintendo 64 but with better graphics and controls. The World Tour update also added nine new tracks, two new cards, and some extra stuff to collect. Real Racing 3 is another decent option if you don’t mind free-to-play games.

Machinarium

Price: $6.99

Machinarium is one of the classic puzzle games on Android. It received updates a few years ago to make it compatible with Android TV as well. The game revolves around a little robot. He lost his girlfriend and wants to save her from the villains. You help him solve puzzles and do just that. It’s not an overly long game, but the puzzles are fun, and the game design is quite far above average. It’s also a premium game with no in-app purchases or ads.

Orbia

Price: Free / Up to $15.99

Orbia is a neat little arcade game. You shoot little puff balls through obstacles and to the targets. You hit the obstacles, and you lose. It’s a fairly basic premise, but it’s executed well. The game features colorful graphics, hundreds of levels, various characters, and multiplayer. Of course, it works well on Android TV as well. This one doesn’t actually require a hardware controller. Any remote should be sufficient to play this one. This one is also free via Google Play Pass if you have it.

PBA Bowling Challenge

Price: Free to play

PBA Bowling Challenge is one of the few decent bowling games on mobile. It also has Android TV support. The game features above-average graphics, simple controls, and more. You get three game modes. There’s a multiplayer mode, a career mode, and a quick play mode, along with leaderboards and all kinds of other things. There are also tournaments and special events. It’s a freemium game, and that isn’t optimal. However, this is another family-friendly game with tons of stuff to do. Plus, it’s bowling. Who doesn’t like bowling?

Real Racing 3

Price: Free to play

Real Racing 3 is a racing game and one of the better ones on Android. The game has also been around for a while and has a metric ton of content. That includes over 40 tracks across 19 locations and over 250 cars to unlock and play with. The graphics are also pretty good for a game its age. With all of the content, you can play this game for a long time before reaching the end. It even has split-screen multiplayer. The ads and free-to-play microtransactions mar the experience a bit, but otherwise, it’s good.

This War of Mine

Price: $13.99

Unkilled and Dead Trigger 2

Price: Free to play

Unkilled is among the best FPS games released in recent years. It’s a zombie shooter, meaning most of your gameplay will be missions where you must go and destroy some bad guys. It features many bad guys, zombie bosses, and hundreds of levels to play through. Updates in 2016 added online multiplayer support, so you can now get online and play with others if you choose to. The graphics are phenomenal and we all know that first-person shooters are better played with actual controllers. It’s a freemium game, but it’s still pretty fun. Madfinger Games’ Dead Trigger 2 is another excellent zombie shooter on Android TV.

Game streaming services

Price: Free / Varies

Another thing many Android TV users play on their devices is a game streaming service. You actually have a few to choose from. Nvidia’s GeForce Now, Xbox’s game streaming, and Steam Link are all available. However, they are not all available on every device, so you’ll need to see which ones work for your specific machine. In any case, the ability to stream a game from another platform gives you access to AAA titles for both PC and console, and with some computer on a server far away doing all the work, you don’t even need a powerful machine to do it. Stadia was part of this until it shut down in 2022.

If we missed any of the best Android TV games, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists!