These are the 5 best battle royale games for mobile

The concept of a battle royale is incredibly simple - be the last person standing at the end, and you win. Of course, if you've spent time playing one, you'll know it's rarely that straightforward, which is where the seemingly enduring popularity comes from. Everyone wants to be the best and will put in the hours to get there, even if it's only for that one delicious victory.

But regardless of how familiar you are with it, the battle royale genre owes a lot of its success to two games in particular. Will both of them make an appearance on this list? Well, you'll have to read on to find out. But, yes. Yes, they do. So, for the other three great mobile battle royales, scroll down.

1. PUBG Mobile

PlayerUnknown's Battleground Mobile, also known as PUBG Mobile, took the world by storm when it first launched, racking up millions of downloads along the way. At one point, it seemed like everyone was doing their utmost to earn themselves a delicious chicken dinner. And though it was eventually surpassed by our other obvious entrant, it remains popular to this day. 

You start in an aircraft with 100 other players before leaping out and parachuting to the ground. The objective is to survive until the end without getting gunned down by other players. You can either play solo, duo or as a squad, meaning that even terrible players like myself can occasionally snag a free win if paired with the right team.

Download PUBG Mobile from Google Play and the App Store.

2. Fortnite Battle Royale

Surprising absolutely no one, Fortnite is the next entry on this list. Despite having a tumultuous relationship with mobile over the years, you can now download everyone's go-to battle royale on Android again. At first, Fortnite was unfairly written off as a more colourful copy of PUBG. But then these naysayers played it and enjoyed their serving of humble pie.

With the ability to build structures, Fortnite quickly set itself apart from the competition. It introduced in-depth tactics to each round that added as much value to scavenging for resources as shooting skills. Of course, quick building mastery also played a huge role, leading to me bowing out since everyone else could build a skyscraper in seconds while I struggled with a few planks. Still, for old hands like me, there is Zero Build for anyone who wants a more straightforward experience.

Download Fortnite for Android devices.

3. Call of Duty: Mobile

While Warzone became a go-to for everyone during the pandemic, its popularity never truly translated to mobile. Part of the reason was that Call of Duty Mobile was already available, incredibly popular and equipped with an excellent battle royale mode by that point.

It quickly established itself as a fantastic mobile shooter, changing many sceptical minds that the genre could even work on mobile. I was impressed the first time I dropped down into a few familiar maps for a few rounds of team deathmatch and found myself sticking around when the battle royale mode arrived later on.

Download COD Mobile from Google Play and the App Store.

4. Squad Busters

Squad Busters is Supercell's MCU moment, bringing characters together from across their storied history into one place. It's a slight twist on the usual battle royale formula, tasking you with creating a mini team throughout a match rather than scavenging for weapons, armour and other loot.

To assemble your crew, you must whack the various creatures scattered across the map to earn coins. When you've gathered enough pocket money, you can open chests to add a new character to your team. Gathering enough copies of the same character allows you to fuse them into a bigger, more powerful version. So, most of the strategy stems from picking the best option available at any given time.

Squad Busters is available on the App Store and Google Play.

5. Brawl Stars

What's this? Another Supercell game on our best battle royale list? Indeed. It appears the Finnish developer is capable of adapting to suit gaming trends, and they've managed to crack this one twice. Like Squad Busters, Brawl Stars is a slight twist on the usual formula. However, it's a much more skill-based affair rather than a tactical one.

You see, Brawl Stars takes MOBA elements and blends them with the battle royale set-up. That means your chosen character will have a few skills at their disposal that you'll have to master if you want to come out on top. Several modes are also available with slightly different rule sets, helping keep things interesting over an extended session.

Brawl Stars is available on the App Store and Google Play.