10 best games for the Google Chromecast
Fire Team
Fire Team can simply be described as Bomberman on steroids for the Chromecast. The game has colorful retro visuals and will have you and 5 friends simultaneously duke it out against each other in four different game modes: Survival, Deathmatch, Team vs Team, and Capture the flag. Each player turns their smartphone in landscape mode and uses it as a gamepad to control their character on the TV screen.
The classic board game remade in 3D and available for both Android and iOS. Apart from the graphical update and fancy animations, it is much what you would expect from the beloved almost-century-old Monopoly formula, only now you can transfer your frustrations over properties and fake paper bills from the floor of your room to the big TV screen. And if you own a Chromecast, you can play with three other friends, no matter their mobile OS of choice. No turning over the board this time around though!
Alien invaders is a simple, yet addicting, Space Invaders clone that can be played by up to 6 people simultaneously. Talk about chaos! Although it's pure oldschool fun building on a decades-old formula, the game still adds its fair share of novelties to the mix, such as updated graphics and the aforementioned hectic 6-player multiplayer mode. If you own a Google Chromecast, there is no excuse not to download this game and shoot alien scum with friends over a couple of beers.
Tricky Titan is a Chromecast-only, multiplayer game which pits you and up to three of your buddies against each other in a bizarre turn-based fight between recently-awoken giants. Each round, the players must choose between three actions — attacking an opponent, defending, or powering up their Titan — and your choice may make or brake your game. Each Titan stands on a high rock pillar which shortens with every successful blow against it, and once it reaches the bottom of the screen — you guessed it — it's game over for that player.
Grail Cast is an odd button-mashing game that will have you and up to three of your friends drunkenly staggering across increasingly growing in size and complexity labyrinths, in search of ancient treasures. The game features extremely minimalistic pixel art, calling back to the days of the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum. You can also play solo against three computer opponents, but why settle for bots when you can experience this oddity with friends?
The classic strategy board game remade for the Chromecast. You can play with up to 5 friends on your TV for the ultimate living room experience, or even take the battle online with Global Domination mode. Global Domination retains the tried-and-true core formula of RISK, all the while adding to it with modern improvements, such as challenges, multiple maps, and secret alliances. You can also glee at your opponents or celebrate your victories with... emojis. The game is free to try.
Draw King is a local multiplayer doodling game where your goal is to guess what the other player is drawing in the shortest time possible. Each turn, a player receives a word on their device that they need to draw. The other player receives points for guessing the word, with more points being awarded the faster it is correctly guessed. Eligible drawing is also awarded with more points in the end. The game is completely free and to play it, you need a TV, a Chromecast, and two Android devices – one for each player.
Rube is another drawing game for the Chromecast that lets you and a friend make up your own creative games. You can also use the app's game board generator for Sudoku, Loop-d-loop, and Words search for classic pen & paper fun times in the digital age. Rube also features multiple books to “keep your useless doodles organized”, autosaving, infinite undo, and support for Google Fonts so you can write obscenities using over 200 different fonts.
Heist is a Chromecast-only board game that lets you compete with friends in three teams – Cops, Robbers, and Bankers. One player is the Capitan who provides a single word or image hint and says how many cards that hint relates to on the game board. The three teams then use the Captain's hint to uncover their cards before the other teams. Oh yeah, there's also bombs to avoid. Heist features over 750 random words and 520 images and can be played a few times for free.
Available for both Android and iOS, this game needs no introduction. It's Angry Birds and you can play it with friends on your living room TV. There are also global leaderboards and biweekly tournaments to compete in, with every tournament bringing 6 new levels to the table.
Monopoly Here & Now
The classic board game remade in 3D and available for both Android and iOS. Apart from the graphical update and fancy animations, it is much what you would expect from the beloved almost-century-old Monopoly formula, only now you can transfer your frustrations over properties and fake paper bills from the floor of your room to the big TV screen. And if you own a Chromecast, you can play with three other friends, no matter their mobile OS of choice. No turning over the board this time around though!
Alien Invaders
Tricky Titan
Grail Cast
RISK: Global Domination
The classic strategy board game remade for the Chromecast. You can play with up to 5 friends on your TV for the ultimate living room experience, or even take the battle online with Global Domination mode. Global Domination retains the tried-and-true core formula of RISK, all the while adding to it with modern improvements, such as challenges, multiple maps, and secret alliances. You can also glee at your opponents or celebrate your victories with... emojis. The game is free to try.
Draw King
Rube
Rube is another drawing game for the Chromecast that lets you and a friend make up your own creative games. You can also use the app's game board generator for Sudoku, Loop-d-loop, and Words search for classic pen & paper fun times in the digital age. Rube also features multiple books to “keep your useless doodles organized”, autosaving, infinite undo, and support for Google Fonts so you can write obscenities using over 200 different fonts.
Heist
Angry Birds With Friends
Available for both Android and iOS, this game needs no introduction. It's Angry Birds and you can play it with friends on your living room TV. There are also global leaderboards and biweekly tournaments to compete in, with every tournament bringing 6 new levels to the table.
Bonus round!
TRS-80 Emulator
An emulator for the TRS-80 Model I & III micro computers. If you've ever dreamed of typing commands on a faux-monochrome screen that is actually your 50” 4K UHD TV, or maybe playing 1-bit games with your expensive Android phone as a controller, then the TRS-80 emulator for Chromecast is what you need. It's quirky, it's geeky, it's retro. What more could you ask for?
Things that are NOT allowed: