I have just made an account after quite a while as an occasional reader because I feel the answers here to be lacking. Presumably you're all reasonable folk and just don't have the same experiences as me, so I'll share. I saw one other person mentioning it - hey, to that person.
There is an actual answer to your first question - only use software from F-droid. It's the opposite experience to the "Play Store"; they actually have your interests at heart. All software I've added to my Android device comes from the F-droid repositories - my Android isn't connected to any Google account, I deleted and disabled all system software I could - and they've got some totally wonderful games too.
The worst I've experienced is downloading a game and then it not being a great game, or a bit buggy, and then deleting it. It's a far less common experience than the game at least working and being testable, and anyway, this is fa-aa-ar better than having no idea if there'll be random pop-ups and ads and tricks and nonsense at any time.
Examples:
+ Puzzles :: 39 single-player logic games. I've brushed off a few of these only, but I went through an absolute love-affair with Net. Don't judge me until you've gotten an under 3-minute score on the wrapped 11x11 board. I'm thrilled even to get to lay down that gauntlet on a public forum, it was days of painstaking tile-sliding.
+ Cards with Cats :: I love the card game "hearts" and am a relatively strong human player, and I have to play my absolute best or else the cats lick me. There's "spades" also but I've never played the game.
+ TIC-80 :: I was so shocked no-one mentioned TIC-80 in particular... It's a sleeping giant here. There are loads of games, it's an absolute gold mine, I wouldn't know where to begin! It's "a free and open source fantasy computer for making, playing and sharing tiny games". You can code your own games and graphics in Lua and get involved, it's very easy.
+ Pixel Wheels :: This is a top-down retro car racing game. The business. The feel of the motion is weird for ten minutes, then you get it, and suddenly you're zooming around like a nutjob putting in gold medal performances.
And various others I will eventually get around to trying hopefully, which maybe someone else has played and can add their experience on, such as:
-- AAAAXY, a "nonlinear 2D puzzle platformer taking place in impossible spaces"
-- Battle for Wesnoth, a "turn-based strategy game with a high fantasy theme"
-- Chip Defense, a "tower defense game with a microprocessor theme"
-- Endless Sky, a "space trading game"
And on and on. In summary, ditch the Play Store and get F-droid if you want high quality games with no ads, spam, loot boxes, and other nuisances.
There is an actual answer to your first question - only use software from F-droid. It's the opposite experience to the "Play Store"; they actually have your interests at heart. All software I've added to my Android device comes from the F-droid repositories - my Android isn't connected to any Google account, I deleted and disabled all system software I could - and they've got some totally wonderful games too.
The worst I've experienced is downloading a game and then it not being a great game, or a bit buggy, and then deleting it. It's a far less common experience than the game at least working and being testable, and anyway, this is fa-aa-ar better than having no idea if there'll be random pop-ups and ads and tricks and nonsense at any time.
Examples:
+ Puzzles :: 39 single-player logic games. I've brushed off a few of these only, but I went through an absolute love-affair with Net. Don't judge me until you've gotten an under 3-minute score on the wrapped 11x11 board. I'm thrilled even to get to lay down that gauntlet on a public forum, it was days of painstaking tile-sliding.
+ Cards with Cats :: I love the card game "hearts" and am a relatively strong human player, and I have to play my absolute best or else the cats lick me. There's "spades" also but I've never played the game.
+ TIC-80 :: I was so shocked no-one mentioned TIC-80 in particular... It's a sleeping giant here. There are loads of games, it's an absolute gold mine, I wouldn't know where to begin! It's "a free and open source fantasy computer for making, playing and sharing tiny games". You can code your own games and graphics in Lua and get involved, it's very easy.
+ Pixel Wheels :: This is a top-down retro car racing game. The business. The feel of the motion is weird for ten minutes, then you get it, and suddenly you're zooming around like a nutjob putting in gold medal performances.
And various others I will eventually get around to trying hopefully, which maybe someone else has played and can add their experience on, such as:
-- AAAAXY, a "nonlinear 2D puzzle platformer taking place in impossible spaces"
-- Battle for Wesnoth, a "turn-based strategy game with a high fantasy theme"
-- Chip Defense, a "tower defense game with a microprocessor theme"
-- Endless Sky, a "space trading game"
And on and on. In summary, ditch the Play Store and get F-droid if you want high quality games with no ads, spam, loot boxes, and other nuisances.