How to Play Mobile Games on PC? [A Two-Minute Guide]

There are so many genuinely good mobile games. A lot of them would work just as well, if not better when played with a mouse and keyboard. The only problem is they’re often only made for Android or iPhone.

So, is there a way to play mobile games on a PC?

The answer is yes, thanks to the magic of emulators and screen mirroring apps.

With most of these programs, you can tailor the entire experience according to your needs. The steps you should take, however, depend on the option you go with.

How to Play Mobile Games on Your PC

The two most common ways for playing mobile games on a PC are screen mirroring and using an emulator.

Before we explore how to do both of these things, let’s discuss why you’d want to move your mobile game to a computer in the first place.

The role of mobile phones in our everyday life continues to expand. They’re now responsible for 54.25% of all internet traffic, meaning they’re already taking over.

However, when it comes to gaming, desktops are still miles ahead. It’s just that the mouse and keyboard setup offers way more possibilities than a touch-screen. Then, there’s being able to multitask with several windows open simultaneously.

Below is a detailed look at how to play Android games on your PC

Mirror Your Phone with Windows

All of us use our phones and computers daily. Connecting these two devices is no longer something only IT experts can do. It just takes a particular app and following a few simple steps.

Here are several apps that will put you on the right path and educate you on how to play phone games on a PC. 

Microsoft’s Your Phone app is one of the most popular, not to mention free, options for mirroring Android. It also works with iPhone, but due to Apple’s restrictions, its functionality is limited.

One of the reasons this app is so popular for playing Android games on PC is that it’s pre-installed on Windows computers and newer Samsung phones. So, you can link the two devices immediately and without any hassle.

There are two ways you can connect your Android device to a PC using the Your Phone app - wirelessly and through a USB cable.

Once the devices are connected, using the app is relatively straightforward. All of the essentials like messages, notifications, and calls are all located on the left side of the home screen, enabling quick access.

The same apps letting you play Android games on your PC also allow you to run other programs on your phone, not just games.

Before running the game, you need to establish a connection between the two devices. The fastest way to do this is to scan the QR code that appears while running the app on your PC.

Another great feature is that it lets you create shortcuts in the taskbar menu. So now, you can make a direct path to your favorite games, giving you access to them with a single click.

Don’t forget to sign in using your Microsoft details since the app won’t work without them!

Use an Emulator

Emulators have become quite the rave in the gaming world; whether you want to hop on your Nintendo Switch, Playstation, or mobile phone while on your computer, there’s an emulator for it.

With that said, there are tons of emulators that make playing mobile games on PC as easy as 1-2-3.

Let’s take a closer look at how they work.

Basically, together with the original hardware and software environment of a game, they work to recreate it on your target device. In other words, these programs allow you to run any type of product on any machine.

Most emulators are separate programs that you need to install on your computer. However, you may also find an Android emulator online that can run your game in the browser.

While in-browser emulators are convenient, they’re typically not as powerful as those with their own apps.

Here are some of the more well-known Android and iPhone emulators, as well as how to play mobile games on your PC with them.

BlueStacks

BlueStacks is often considered the best Android emulator for Windows 10.

It enables you to effortlessly use a mouse and keyboard setup with apps initially made for smartphones. Also, rather than looking at a fixed-size screen, you can resize your BlueStacks window to fit the current one.

Once you install it on your PC, BlueStacks provides an option to log into Google Play right away to download the Android apps you want to run on your computer.

Unlike some other programs, this Android emulator for PC opens each app in a separate tab, letting you run multiple games simultaneously and smoothly switch between them.

BlueStacks also has a viewable sidebar with useful controls that bring an authentic mobile experience directly to your PC. You can use the settings to capture screenshots, make recordings, shake the device virtually, rotate the screen, and all other Android actions.

The app is free to use, but unless you want to upgrade to a paid plan, you’ll have to put up with ads. The premium version is available for just $2 a month.

As you can imagine, the premium version only removes ads from BlueStacks itself, not the in-game ads. If you consider that in-app advertising has been experiencing a 50% growth over the last few years, you can expect a lot of them to pop up.

It’s important to mention that BlueStacks is available on Windows 7 or newer and requires at least 2GB of RAM. The app also works on macOS Sierra (10.12 or newer) with 4GB of RAM.

GameLoop

Initially known as Tencent Gaming Buddy, GameLoop has undergone many changes since it first emerged. This Android emulator for Windows was originally just a PUBG Mobile PC emulator.

Over time, the program evolved, and Tencent has been responsible for supporting a massive amount of Android games, including Call of Duty and Free Fire.

However, this doesn’t mean the number of Android apps you can run with GameLoop is limited. The emulator has a separate module for installing Google Play Store. This means you can run all popular games with mouse and keymapping support.

Keymapping is one of the most valuable features GameLoop offers. It’s viewed as the most precise emulator for the highest-grossing mobile game - PUBG Mobile, and similar games. Like all emulators, it isn’t perfect, but it’s as close as it gets.

So if you need an emulator that’ll easily transform the touch-oriented UI into a keyboard and mouse one, GameLoop is the ideal choice.

Also, if you were wondering how to play Android games on PC for FREE, GameLoop is another viable answer - because this emulator is entirely free. 

The program is compatible with Windows 7 and newer and requires at least 3GB of RAM. While the minimum requirements are slightly high, you only need 1GB of free storage to set it up on your PC.

iPadian

Earlier, I talked about Android emulators. They get more attention than iOS emulators since 78% of gamers are Android users.

While Apple is extremely strict about its content, it’s still possible to run iPhone games on your computer. However, to do so, you won’t be using a real emulator but an iOS simulator.

So, if you want to play an iOS game on PC, then iPadian is the best option available. It’s a reskin or, in other words, a simulator that offers access to only some iPhone games. This is because it doesn’t work directly with the App Store. Instead, it has its own iPadian store, which offers a collection of supportable games.

It includes dozens of games, with some of the most famous names being Clash of Clans and Angry Birds.

The program still offers some of the functions you can commonly find on emulators. For example, you can use it to enter the full-screen mode on your desktop.

Fortunately, it’s free and a lifetime premium version is available for $9.99.

iPadian runs on Windows XP and above. It’s incredibly lightweight, operating on just 512 MB of RAM, but 1 GB is recommended for best performance. Note that you’ll need Adobe Air for it to function.

Windows 11

Windows 11 has introduced some awe-inspiring features to our PCs and the way they interact with Android games is one of them.

It isn’t hard to understand how to play mobile games on a PC with a Windows 11 OS.

Since October 2021, Microsoft has allowed testers to try out Android apps. They can be loaded through the Microsoft Store, which then redirects you to the Amazon Appstore.

The new OS lets you run Android apps side by side with any other app and pin them to the Start menu.

At the moment, dozens of mobile games are available for testing. This includes releases like Lords Mobile and Coin Master. However, with 3 million apps available on Google Play Store at the moment, it’s unclear how many Android games will be fully launched for Windows 11.

These games are only available in the beta channel of Windows 11 at the moment, and only users with the OS set to the US region can access them.

Excitedly, Google has also announced that it’ll provide Google Play on PC for Windows 11 in 2022. The company has built its own Games app to ensure all desktops, laptops, and tablets can run Android games with this OS.

However, it wasn’t created in collaboration with Microsoft or popular emulators like BlueStacks. It’s an official Google product, and many mobile gamers are incredibly thrilled about it.

One of the long-awaited features that’ll become available on Windows 11 is the capability to resume games on a PC after playing them on a phone or tablet.

This app indeed promises to revolutionize mobile games for PC and, until now, has only been revealed as a teaser during the 2021 Game Awards.

Wrap Up

There are numerous reasons why you might want to play mobile games on your PC.

Whether you want a larger screen, a mouse and keyboard setup, or you just want to run multiple profiles in one game at the same time - there are ways to do it.

Using emulators and mirroring the phone screen are the most common ways at the moment. But with new features arriving soon on Windows 11, figuring out how to play mobile games on your PC will be a no-brainer.  

It’s not rocket science, so nothing is stopping you from replicating your favorite mobile experience on a PC.