This week, Netflix finally launched its mobile games offering worldwide. Opening up the ability to access the games it offers to all users where the Netflix app is available for installation. What are Netflix mobile games, you might ask? If you enjoy games on the mobile platform, then surely you have questions. And perhaps loads of them.
Well, this handy guide is here to answer those questions and hopefully, answer all of them. We’ll break down everything there is to know about Netflix mobile games and what you can expect out of them. At least for the time being. Netflix’ game offerings will be changing eventually, but for now the streaming service company is beginning its gaming adventure with the mobile platform. Let’s dive into things a little bit more.
What are Netflix mobile games?
Netflix recently started offering games through its service that users can play on their mobile devices. You can play on smartphones or tablets, and there are already a few different options for players to try out.
Naturally, some of the games are based on hit Netflix series TV shows. While others are not. Netflix also plans to expand on its library of game offerings, and in due time should have a pretty wide variety of titles to play.
Do Netflix mobile games cost anything?
Netflix games are completely free to play, for now. As it stands none of the games that Netflix offers will cost money to download. Meaning they’re not premium games. All games are included with your Netflix membership.
That does mean however that you will need a Netflix subscription.
Do the games have ads or micro transactions?
No. All games included with the Netflix membership are free of ads and micro transactions. So you can play any of the games completely free as they’re free to download as well. The only thing you have to pay for is the membership.
Which goes without saying since you need a Netflix membership to use Netflix anyways.
Do I need a specific plan?
As of right now, no. Netflix mobile games will be available to anyone who has a membership, regardless of which plan they subscribe to. So even if you have the barebones plan that costs the least amount of money, games will be available to download and play.
Where can I access the games?
All the games are available in the Netflix mobile app. There are no games accessible from the browser, console, or TV apps at this time. Netflix hasn’t confirmed if it will ever offer games on other platforms. But it hasn’t said it won’t either. So there’s always the possibility that games could come to other platforms where a Netflix app is available, alongside the browser.
If you don’t care for mobile games, then that will be something to keep an eye out for.
Are Netflix mobile games available on Android and iOS?
Right now the games are available only in the Android version of the Netflix app. For iOS users, the mobile games are coming, but Netflix has only said that they will be coming soon and hasn’t given out any official dates as to when they’ll show up.
It could be sometime before the end of the year or it may not be until sometime in 2022.
What games are currently available?
At the moment Netflix is offering five games to users. As noted above all of these can be downloaded in the Netflix app. The games which are currently included with the service are listed below:
- Stranger Things: 1984
- Stranger Things 3
- Shooting Hoops
- Card Blast
- Teeter Up
- Dominoes Cafe
- Wonderputt Forever
- Knittens
- Asphalt Xtreme
- Bowling Ballers
Netflix will add more games to the list eventually, but right now it hasn’t confirmed what its plans are in terms of timing. There’s also no information at the moment on what games it may choose to add. However, Netflix has said that it’s trying to cater to gamers of all types.
So that probably means games from different genres will start appearing when more games come to the platform. Netflix content spans a wide variety of genres, so we wouldn’t rule anything out.
Where in the app will I find the Netflix mobile games?
Netflix has created a special category just for games. When you open the app on a smartphone, you will see that games have their own row among the rest of the content. You can scroll through the games listed and hit the download button to install the game and begin playing.
On tablets, you will see the same games row as on smartphones, but there will be an additional location for accessing them as well. You can tap on the ‘Categories’ button and then tap the ‘Available For Download’ button, where you can see all of the games listed on the main home tab.
When are the games available?
Netflix officially started rolling out the mobile games in its app globally yesterday. However, I have personally not seen the games show up in my own Netflix app yet. So the rollout seems to be hitting devices in waves, and likely region by region. Or by a few regions at a time.
This being the case, you may not see the ability to play the mobile games on your device yet. You will however know if they’re there. Since they have their own row and they should be towards the top of the list when you launch the app.
What countries are the Netflix mobile games available in?
Netflix hasn’t posted a definitive list of available countries. But it did say the rollout was global. So presumably the games will hit the Android version of the app in any country where Netflix and the app are available as well.
As noted above though, timing on when they go live may differ for each region since the rollout isn’t simultaneous.
Can the games be played with a controller?
This will probably depend on each individual game. Netflix doesn’t list this information in its announcement either, so you will have to check each game in the app. You may also have to download the game and try to connect a controller and use it after the fact.
That being said, it might be best to go into playing these assuming that they are touch only. And if they do support controllers, then it will end up being a nice surprise for anyone that wants to use them.
Can games only be played on one profile?
Contrary to what you might think or believe, games can be played on any of the profiles. What’s more is that all profiles can play any of the games simultaneously. So if you have a few profiles on your account, everyone can play games at the same time if they want to. Additionally, Netflix will alert you if you reach your profile limit for playing games at the same time.
The only exception is that games are not available for kids profiles. And it’s recommended that if parents don’t want kids playing the mobile games, that a PIN should be set up on the adult profiles to ensure this is prevented.
Will Netflix ever do games for other platforms?
Right now Netflix says it’s focusing strictly on mobile. So it has no current plans to share on the potential of console games, PC games and the like.
These are the early days of Netflix in the gaming space. And the company has said that it’s testing the waters with mobile. That suggests that it might have considered the possibility of games that aren’t for mobile at some point in the future.
For now though Netflix and gaming is limited to mobile devices.
Does Netflix stream the games like it does video content?
No. All games offered are downloadable games. So they’ll install onto your chosen device and you’ll play them there just like any other game. Think of it like something you would access directly from the Play Store (or the App Store on iOS) that needs to be installed.
This doesn’t mean Netflix will never offer any sort of game streaming. But it so far has not said anything to suggest that it has plans to move in this direction. The cloud gaming space is already fairly crowded after all. And Netflix would have a lot of big competition from Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and NVIDIA. Who all already have services offered in the space.
Are Netflix mobile games playable offline?
Some of the games are playable offline while others may require you to be connected to the internet to play. These details might be listed in the details for each game individually when you go to download. So make sure to check whether or not that information is available.
Are the games compatible on all Android devices?
Netflix doesn’t have a list of compatible devices. However, most current Android devices should have no problem playing the games. You will probably at the least want a device running on Android 6+. Which is nearly all the devices out there these days.
Worth noting though is that since Netflix doesn’t seem to list any required specs anywhere, what Android version you need and what device you need is not guaranteed and will likely vary.
2021-12-07 15:10:16