These 10 games are ranked by value: cheap buy-in plus a lot of actual play, judged mostly on how the gameplay holds up after the first few hours. Prices are typical US store prices and can shift with sales.

Terraria

About $5. Dig, fight, explore, and build in a 2D sandbox that keeps opening new biomes, bosses, weapons, and building toys. A campaign run is already long. After that you still have Hardmode, events, map redesigns, and co-op. Touch controls take a short setup, then the loop is the same as PC: gather, craft, push deeper. Average players dump well over 100 hours in.

Stardew Valley

About $5, no extra shop. Farm, mine, fish, cook, romance, and rebuild the town at your own pace. Days are short loops. Years of crops, dungeon floors, and side goals stack up. Main story sits around 50 hours. Doing most of the extras lands closer to 90 to 170. Mobile adds auto-save and flexible controls so the farming and combat still feel complete.

Mindustry

Free on Android, about $2 on iOS. Factory builder mixed with tower defense and RTS. You mine, belt resources, feed turrets, then send units to take the next sector. Two full campaigns plus custom maps, sandbox, co-op, and PvP. The fun is optimizing production lines while waves try to smash the core. Campaign is roughly 20 hours. Systems mastery and extra maps stretch far past that.

Bloons TD 6

About $7. Place monkey towers, pick upgrade paths, and pop balloon waves across dozens of maps. Heroes, Boss events, Odysseys, co-op, and constant new towers keep the puzzle fresh. You can grind everything by playing. Optional IAP only speeds unlocks. Main campaign is tens of hours. All modes and maps can run into hundreds.

Dead Cells

About $8.50 for the base game. Fast 2D combat, weapons that change your build every run, and a map that unlocks new routes as you die. Each attempt is short. Progress is permanent upgrades and new biomes. First clear is around 14 to 16 hours. Learning bosses, higher difficulties, and DLC biomes push that toward 30 to 90. Controller support helps a lot. DLC is extra money if you want every area.

GTA San Andreas

About $7. Huge open map across three cities. Story missions sit beside driving, shooting, gym training, dating, gang wars, flying school, and collectibles. Touch controls work better with a Bluetooth pad. Main story is about 30 hours. Side content and 100% sit closer to 45 to 70. The sandbox is still the reason it lasts.

Dave the Diver

$10 one-time unlock. Dive the Blue Hole by day for fish and loot, then run a sushi bar at night. Combat, stealth, fishing, upgrades, and restaurant management rotate so neither half gets stale. Main story is about 25 hours. Sides and extra content land around 35 to 50. In the Jungle DLC is optional extra.

Slay the Spire

About $10, no extra shop. Build a deck as you climb a three-act dungeon, pick cards and relics, and fight turn-based combats that change every run. One character clear is around 12 hours. Unlocking every character, Ascension levels, and the hidden ending can run 50 to 180 hours. Runs save mid-fight, so short sessions still count.

Ex Astris

$10, no gacha. Hybrid turn-based and real-time combat: plan a turn, then dodge and combo in the action window. Exploration and side quests sit around a 15 to 20 hour campaign. Combat is the hook. It is shorter than the sandbox games above, but the systems stay dense the whole way.

XCOM 2 Collection

About $15. Includes War of the Chosen plus DLC. Turn-based squad tactics, permadeath risk, base building, and procedural maps. Every campaign plays differently because soldiers die, maps shuffle, and the Chosen hunt you. A campaign is about 33 to 50 hours. Full completion and extra runs push toward 80 to 90. Heaviest install and highest price on this list, but the tactics depth is the payoff.

Quick buy guide: pick Terraria or Stardew if you want the most hours per dollar. Pick Mindustry if you like building systems. Pick Bloons or Dead Cells if you want a tight combat loop you can replay for months.