Top 28 best soft launch mobile games for iPhone, iPad or Android

Best Games

The biggest games yet to launch on the global market

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Soft Launch games are games that release in select markets, normally to test server stress or A/B test features
Most soft launches take place outside of the USA or UK, in markets with lower population density or non-English speaking audiences
Despite this there are often ways you can access the games, and doing so can get you access to a great game months ahead of its launch

Updated: February 17th, 2025

If you’ve been looking for something new and exciting that isn’t quite fully released then look no further, you’ve found our list of the best games currently in soft launch.

Sometimes developers like to make sure the paying public is willing to play their game before they push it to every device in the world – that’s where soft launch comes in. Available in just a handful of countries and regions, a soft-launched game is subject to drastic change as developers take on board customer feedback (and other metrics) to alter the game and ensure the best possible product is ready for when it goes to worldwide launch.

But here’s the kicker – we can see when developers do that. And when you’re looking at some of the big games, like the ones we have on this list, then you can find yourself getting very excited, and even a little jealous that you can’t play it yet.

Here’s how to play soft-launched games right now, in any country

So to help you out a little, we’ve collected a huge list of some of the biggest and best games currently available in soft launch, which you might well be able to get if you have the right Apple ID or Google Play account to download it with.

Just as a note: In the case of a game suddenly disappearing, it might be because the developer has decided to stop development on it early and save themselves the cost of a big launch, or because the developer is gearing up for a big launch and wants to surprise the world. Whatever the case, we’ll try and keep you updated when these things happen.

Developer: NetEase
Platforms: iOS/Android
Country: Australia and New Zealand

Click Here To View The List »

Starship Survivor

Publisher: Brainium Studios LLC
Platform: iOS
Country: Australia, Canada and USA

Starship Survivor is the next title from Branium, developers of several AppStore twists on classics (like Solitaire, Sudoku), and marks their first time straying beyond casual, word or card gameplay.

It’s a familiar, twin-stick style space shooter where you have to fight against masses of enemies and the bosses that follow them. Last year they implemented mote bundles which are microtransactions to help you push further into the game via upgrades – that said, the developers have gone on record priding themselves as having it as a completely free to play game that is free of both paywalls and gates.

Sonic Rumble

Publisher: Sega
Platform: Android/iOS
Country: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan and Turkey.

Sonic Rumble sees the blue blur returning to mobile, this time as a battle royale of sorts. In the mould of games like Stumble Guys and Fall Guys, it appears we can expect to dash around obstacle-filled courses, dodging the numerous hazards that threaten to eliminate us at every turn. It’s definitely a set-up that suits Sonic and co, but is it entering a market that’s already been conquered by Scopely? Only time will tell.

Ultimate Hunting: Hunter Game

Publisher: Miniclip.com
Platform: iOS/Android
Country: Android – Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Philippines, Portugal. iOS – Australia, Canda, Indonesia, Philippines.

As is often the case on mobile, Ultimate Hunting: Hunter Game is very much what it says on the tin. One of a few of Miniclip’s efforts that are currently treading water in soft launch, it sees you competing in 1v1 matchups, pitting your shooting skills against other players as you try to climb the leaderboards. Along the way, you can upgrade your gear to make sniping zebras, deer, lions and other beautiful creatures I would never actually shoot an easier task.

Crown of Bones

Publisher: Puzza
Platform: Android
Country: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom and United States

Casual strategy games are all the rage these days, particularly on mobile. Anything that gives you a slight hit of feeling clever without required in-depth tactics that take forever to learn. Century Games’ Crown of Bones is the latest attempt at sliding into that niche. It sees you joining the Skeleton King and his army as they battle through numerous realms.

It sports a colourful art style that reminds me somewhat of little toy towns and villages, something you might have created in real life as a child, perhaps. As for the gameplay, it pretty much consists of increasing your numbers, upgrading your troops and toppling your opponents. There are a few special items thrown in for good measure as well.

Divine Match

Publisher: DoubleDown Interactive
Platform: iOS/Android
Country: Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom

As far as match-3 puzzlers go, Divine Match does pretty much everything you’d expect. There are the usual levels where you match colours together to see everything explode in that oddly satisfying way, and then, beyond that, you’ll find the building elements that have crept into the genre in recent years. This time around, the goal is to construct cities and landscapes fit for gods to live in. No pressure, then.

Top Goal

Publisher: Nordeus Belgrade (Android), Nordeus (iOS)
Platform: Android/iOS
Country: Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Malaysia

If you’re a football fan, you’re probably already aware of Nordeus as the folks behind the popular management sim Top Eleven. With their latest effort, Top Goal, they are swapping the touchline for the pitch as you take direct control over your squad, having a more active role in the outcome of a match. Still, it seems some of the strategic side remains as you build your squad and choose your formation before taking on other players in PvP.

King of Fighters AFK

Publisher: Netmarble
Platform: iOS and Android
Country: Thailand and Canada

As you’ve probably guessed from the title, The King of Fighters AFK is an idle entry in the popular series. It sees you creating a team of five characters before setting them off to do battle with other teams. According to the developers, you don’t have to worry about ‘tedious grinding’, although I’ve always assumed it was part of the genre.

One aspect of KoF AFK I do like is the retro-inspired aesthetic. The battle screen has that old-school RPG vibe with pixel sprites and backgrounds. Whether that’s a big enough selling point for fans of the series, however, remains to be seen.

ONE Fight Arena: MMA Tactics

Publisher: Animoca Brands
Platform: Android
Country: Czech Republic, Philippines

ONE Fight Arena: MMA Tactics bills itself as part puzzler, part strategic combat, which certainly sounds like an intriguing mix, especially since some high-level fighters describe MMA as highly tactical. This particular PvP offering is officially licensed by ONE Championship, one of the top MMA organisations, so you can expect to find real-life fighters such as Demetrious Johnson.

Oh My Anne

Developer: Neowiz
Platforms: iOS / Google Play
Country: Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States

Oh My Anne is a match-3 game based on the popular novel series Anne of Green Gables. Players proceed through the story by completing levels and associated challenges.

It’s certainly interesting to see Neowiz deciding to take established, historical (1908~) novels and their IP and spin them off into games. There’s a question to be asked about brand recognition and ‘crossover IP’ when those IPs are not ones from the current vogue. We regularly see Warhammer and Marvel crossover games, but those things are currently ‘in’, Anne of Green Gables — and Oh My Anne — targets a different audience and plays on different rules of advertising.

Could there be a Dracula, Canterbury Tales or Beowolf games on the horizon if this takes off?

Monoloot: Dice and Journey

Developer: My.Games
Platforms: iOS and Android
Country: Brazil and the Philippines

Monopoly Go has proven quite the hit since it first released, with people across the globe, scrabbling to get free dice rolls so they can hop around that familiar board some more. Of course, when something does well, imitators are sure to follow, and My.Games are keen to see if they can move in on Scopely’s turf. However, rather than cynically copy the whole idea verbatim and make it look different, they are throwing additional mechanics into the mix, hopefully helping it stand out on its own rather than being dismissed as ‘another one of those’. Here, you’ll also find battles, castle-building and accrue a group of heroes. It’s Monopoly meets D&D, in short.

Vigilant: Burn & Bloom

Developer: Dream Games
Platforms: iOS
Country: UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand

Vigilant: Burn & Bloom is an interesting game, both in terms of its aesthetic and genre. Art style-wise, it has this beautiful hand-drawn look going on that isn’t all that similar to anything I’ve seen on mobile for quite some time. It reminds me of something you might see in a children’s fantasy picture book.

As for the genre? Well, it’s trying to be a lot of things at once. Billed as an endless survival game, it incorporates elements of resource management, tower defence, and first-person shooting. Whether or not that will all come together nicely remains to be seen, but I admire the ambition.

Hunter’s Journey

Developer: DeNA China
Platforms: iOS
Country: China

DeNA have taken a stab at the popular HunterxHunter IP with their 3D RPG Hunter’s Journey. Much like a lot of anime fighters, it looks amazing, with 3rd person fighting interspaced with generous cutscenes and narrative. We’ve seen a fair bit of it in action now, and while we’re not too familiar with the anime that it is adapted from, everything has looked phenomenal.

Here’s the App Store Description (Translated):

“Hunter’s Journey” is a genuine mobile game authorized and adapted from the famous Japanese IP “HUNTER x HUNTER”, dedicated to creating an immersive 3D role-playing adventure experience. Through the combination of classic scenes, plots and delicate animation storyboards, the hunter’s world view is truly restored. During the exploration of the main storyline and dungeons, all Hunter candidates can transform into original characters and visit Whale Island, Dore Port, Lost Melo Wetland, Sky Arena, Youkesin City… Enjoy exploring the Hunter world, and interact with Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio adventure and grow together!”

Disney Realm Breakers

Developer:Joycity
Platforms: Android
Country: EU, South and Southeast Asia, Africa, Middle East, South America, and Oceania

Disney Realm Breakers sees all your favourite childhood characters and beyond joining forces to protect the multiworld of Noi. It’s a strategy game, meaning you’ll deal with the deadly Scourge using your brains rather than relying on reaction speed. With characters from across Disney’s wide range of IPs like Aladdin, Pirates of the Caribbean, Toy Story and The Incredibles, making a team featuring your favourites shouldn’t prove too difficult.

Ragnarok Begins

Developer: Gravity Game Hub
Platforms: iOS/Google Play
Country: Canada, South Korea, USA.

While it could be argued that Ragnarok Begins is almost global – being that it has been released in most major markets now – there are some notable absences in its regions of release (France, The Southern Hemisphere, anybody?). It originally slipped into Soft Launch back in October 2022 and has been getting regular updates (including in-game events) every other week since then.

Ragnarok has changed a lot over the years, and Ragnarok Begins’ features list is incredibly different than the Ragnarok Online of old. There’s a card system for upgrading weapons, armour and accessories – which are customizable, there seem to be more players on screen than I’ve ever seen in the series, and Midgard is larger than ever.

Ben 10: Alien Run

Developer: Zapak
Platforms: iOS/Google Play
Country: India and Pakistan

While it might seem as though the era of endless runners has passed on mobile, several still do very well, particularly if they have brand power behind them. Zapak hopes that Ben 10 Alien Run can join that list, putting a lot of stock in the popular children’s cartoon pulling in the younger generation.

In it, you will dash around while transforming into one of nine different aliens, each bringing special abilities to the table. That might be creating a shield to block an enemy attack in one instance while another can clear the path ahead with laser beams. On top of that, there are the usual daily challenges and missions you’d expect from the genre.

Dig into the list of games below and find out what you could be playing later this year, or right now if you’ve got the right account in the right region.

Midgard Heroes: Ragnarok Idle

Developer: Gravity Interactive
Platforms: iOS/Android
Country: Canada, United States

Midgard Heroes: Ragnarok Idle is the latest spin-off to the popular MMORPG Ragnarok Online, which, in turn, is inspired by Norse mythology. In it, you will face off against 50 of the game’s bosses, all of whom have been revamped slightly to fit the idle RPG format.

Pretty much from that description, you likely already know what to expect. Your character will battle on in your absence, meaning that all you have to do is swing by now and then to upgrade their skills and equipment to make them more proficient in battering more foes.

Eggy Party

Developer: NetEase
Platforms: Android/iOS
Country: Canada, Sweden, Spain, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Mexico; China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam.

NetEase’s Stumble Guys killer, Eggy Party, is rapidly moving toward its global release with seven new regions granted access to it in January of 2024, before that it was simply in the SEA region.

What’s the big appeal? Well, if you’re not sold in by the constant party, cheerful colours and multiplayer mania of Eggy Party, then maybe the map creation will be the thing to grab your attention. A bumbling race to the finish might be fun, but doing it on a map that you – or one of your friends – created is vastly more fun.

March of Nations

Developer: Starfox Game
Platforms: Google Play
Country: Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietname

With March of Nations, developer Starfox Game promises a military strategy sim that combines tactics with more casual elements. There are four countries to choose from – the USSR, Germany, the USA and Japan, with each offering different troops to recruit. They range from regular infantry to tanks. Of course, a mixture of each variant will prove crucial in winning your battles. There are also commanders available who can turn the tide of battle with their special abilities.

Outside of the battles, your time is spent creating and developing your base of operations, something that’s increasingly common in mobile games across multiple genres. As for game modes, March of Nations boasts several PvP options, including Arena and Legion Battles.

Tetris Block Party

Developer: Playstudios
Platforms: Android
Country: Brazil, India, Mexico and the Philippines

Despite originally coming out in 1984, Tetris remains as relevant as ever with variants regularly released, helping keep it at the forefront of our minds. Playstudios are hoping they can grab a piece of that action with their latest effort, Tetris Block Party. It’s a PvP-focused take, seeing you trying to eliminate other players’ bases by dragging and dropping Tetrminos into the right spots.

Bullet Heroes

Developer: Rollic Games
Platforms: iOS
Country: United States

Bullet Heroes sees you taking on the role of an elite sniper tasked with eliminating dozens of villains who are predictably up to no good. With each foe you dispatch, you can snag a few extra bullets, something that’s also achieved by breaking the numerous blocks dotted around the place. The further you progress, the more upgrades you’ll find for your ever-growing arsenal.

FruitFall

Developer: Zynga
Platforms: App Store/Google Play
Country: India, Israel, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdon, United States

Zynga, who you likely know for, well, many things, are working on a new addition to their growing merge catalogue. FruitFall – don’t forget the double capital Fs – tasks you with merging fruits to beat each level. Simple, right? Judging by the store description, expect this to become more difficult as you progress.

At first, it’ll likely be a case of simply merging fruit, while the latter stages will introduce troublesome crates and frozen fruit that need thawing out before becoming useful. Zynga claims each level brings something different, keeping the challenge fresh and fun. Time will tell if that’s the case

Chainsaw Juice King

Developer: SayGames
Platforms: Android and iOS
Country: Brazil, Canada, Vietnam, Singapore, Finland, Ukraine, Belarus, Switzerland and Taiwan

The Vampire Survivors-like has proven a hit on mobile, but the idle RPG is also an enduring beast in its own right. Clearly aware of this, SayGames has decided to blend elements of the two genres in Chainsaw Juice King. The bullet heaven side of the equations sees you heading out with your titular chainsaw and slicing up fruit.

It’s not for sport, though. There is a purpose to your massacre. The aim is to create an all-powerful juice empire. So all that fruit you’ve unceremoniously hacked to pieces will go towards making a sweet profit. Aside from that, you’ll need to handle other aspects of your business, such as upgrading your gear and hiring staff.

Jelly Gunfight: Showdown

Developer: Homa/Naga Studio
Platforms: iOS/Android
Country: iOS – United States. Android – France, Poland and the United States

Now, this one immediately sparks a feeling of Deja Vu. Ah, yes. Gumslinger from Itatake, right? No, apparently not. The less-creatively-named Jelly Gunfight: Showdown is – apparently – another game entirely, coming from French developer Homa. As with Itatake’s game, Jelly Gunfight sees you battling in duels against wobbly characters. You’ll take turns firing shots at your opponent, using the various weapons and abilities at your disposal.

Ace Trainer

Developer: Farlight/Lilith Games
Platforms: Android
Country: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, United States

A lot about Ace Trainer will remind you of Pokemon – the promise of gathering creatures, building a team, and levelling them up so they’re more powerful than ever. It’s all very Pokemon, and that’s likely what Farlight are leaning on here, particularly since Scarlet and Violet dented the public’s perception of the series.

Even so, you can’t just imitate, though plenty try. It’s important to try to do your own thing. Here, that appears to be sending your critters out to battle against zombies rather than other cutesy monsters. And, rather than engage in turn-based battles, this appears to be more of an auto-battler affair.

Nano World

Developer: Nanoreality Games
Platforms: Android
Country: USA, Spain, France, Finland, and the UK

Nano World is – as they often are – a bright and cheerful merging puzzler from developer Nanoreality Games. The team is really doubling down with the whole teeny tiny world idea, it seems. As is often the case with the genre, Nano World looks to throw in a bit more than merging objects together, promising city-building and exploration elements. To get an idea of what to expect, check out the video below.

WordPix

Developer: Pavel Siamak
Platforms: iOS/Android
Country: iOS – US and UK. Android – UK

While they seem easy enough to develop on the surface, word games are tricky to make great. It’s certainly possible, as we’ve seen plenty of popular examples over the years, but breaking into the existing pool isn’t for the faint-hearted. You can see the appeal for developers, though. It’s a genre that most people can enjoy, so if your game takes off, the rewards are great.

WordPix is Pavel Siamak’s attempt at breaking into a tough arena. Rather than entirely relying on guessing letters, WordPix – as the name implies – takes an image-led approach. Facing off against other players, you take turns guessing words from a list by dragging and dropping letters. Each word has an accompanying picture that provides a clue. However, you only have five random letters at your disposal, so there’s a strategic element at play here.

Dark and Darker Mobile

Developer: Krafton
Platforms: iOS/Android
Country: US and Canada

It might sound flippant, but describing Dark and Darker Mobile as a fantasy Escape from Tarkov – or Arena Breakout if you want a mobile reference – gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect. You’ll be battling through dungeons in search of precious loot to extract, getting the job done with one of the six available classes.

Alongside Dark and Darker Mobile’s enemies – The Dark Swam – you need to contend with other players, so venturing into those dungeons alone might not be advisable. Instead, you might want to take a whole team, picking different classes that synergise well with one other to help ensure your victory.

Dunk City Dynasty

Dunk City Dynasty has been on our radar for some time, and now its launch is creeping ever closer. While I’ve never been a fan of the actual sport, something about basketball games has always appealed to me. The fast-paced nature becomes infinitely more intense and engaging when directly involved in the action.

That applies doubly so to street basketball, where a smaller court and teams up the speed a step further. We can expect that here, with plenty of customisation options available for good measure, thanks to focusing on street-style attire rather than traditional basketball jerseys.

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Stephen Gregson-Wood

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Stephen is Pocket Gamer’s Deputy Editor and a lifelong gamer who will tell you straight-faced that he prefers inventive indies over popular big studio games while doing little more than starting yet another Bloodborne playthrough.