How to find good indie games before everyone else

The hardest part of mobile gaming isn't playing — it's finding anything worth playing. The charts are dominated by the same handful of giants, and the search results are a mess. Here's how we dig stuff up.

Follow small developers directly. When a studio makes one thing you like, they usually make more, and their next release rarely cracks the charts. A little social media following goes a long way.

Reader tips are gold. Half our favorite finds this year came from people emailing us a link with 'have you seen this?' Communities around a genre share the good stuff fast.

Finally, be willing to install something on a whim. Most of it won't stick, but every so often you tap on a weird little game and it becomes a new favorite. That's the whole fun of it.