Games Like Where’s Waldo for iPhone and Android
Ten search-and-find games for your phone, for anyone who still can’t walk past a busy picture without looking for someone in it.
- 10 games
- One of them mine
- Prices checked 8 Nov 2026
Where’s Wally (Waldo, if you’re in America) is still one of the best puzzles anyone has come up with: a huge, crowded drawing with one tiny person hidden in it. You don’t need to learn anything. You just look.
The catch is that there isn’t an official Where’s Wally or Where’s Waldo app on the App Store or Google Play right now. The old ones have gone. So here are the games that scratch the same itch on a phone: big hand-drawn scenes, something small to find, and that little jolt when you spot it.
A few of them are hidden cat games, because it turns out a lot of people (me included) like looking for cats. One of those is mine. It’s at the top because this is my website and I’m allowed, but it’s labelled, and the rest are on here on merit.
If you only read one bit
- Best overall Hidden Folks You want hand-drawn scenes, no ads and no timer
- Closest to the books Where’s the Meerkat? and Where’s the Unicorn? You’ve got a child and an iPad
- Best free Find The Cat You want five calm, free minutes on the bus
- Most puzzly Detective Mio You like a small puzzle mixed in with the looking
I made this one, so I’m biased
1. Purr & Seek
Pomo Games (me)
- iOS
- Android
Price Free, with ads and in-app purchases
Pick it if you’d rather look for cats than people.
This is mine, so take everything here with a pinch of salt. It started from a very Where’s Wally thought: what if every face in the crowd was a cat, and you had to find one particular cat? Each level is an illustrated scene (a bookshop, a greenhouse, a harbour workshop) full of cats, the game shows you the one it wants, and you hunt for it. There are 300 levels: 60 places, and you go back to each one five times with a bigger crowd every visit.
Tap the wrong cat and you lose one of three hearts, which is the bit that makes you actually look instead of jabbing at everything. There’s a daily search too, and a sticker journal you fill with the cats you find. It’s free, which means there are ads, and I won’t pretend otherwise.
Closest to the books
3. Where’s the Meerkat? and Where’s the Unicorn?
Michael O’Mara Books
- iOS
Price Free to try, then one purchase unlocks the rest (£2.99 for Meerkat)
Pick it if you’ve got a child and an iPad.
These are the most literal answer to the question. Both are apps of picture books in exactly the Where’s Wally style: a double-page spread crammed with people, and a handful of characters to find in it. Meerkat has 27 places (New York, ancient Egypt, the Jurassic and so on) with ten meerkats hidden in each, then five bonus things to find. Unicorn has 24 places with seven unicorns each. You can pinch to zoom, the scenes are animated, and hints are off unless you turn them on. Good for kids, and good for grown-ups who were those kids. The downside: they’re iPhone and iPad only.
Best free
7. Find The Cat
Agave Games
- iOS
- Android
Price Free, with ads and in-app purchases (including a Cat Club subscription)
Pick it if you want five calm, free minutes on the bus.
Black-and-white line drawings of places around the world with lots of cats tucked into them, and you tap each one you find. It’s calm, it’s quick to pick up for five minutes, and new levels keep arriving. There’s a daily level in colour as well. The store calls it Find The Cat - Hidden Objects on iPhone and Find The Cat - Spot It! on Android, but it’s the same game.
8. Find The Cat 2 - Spot It!
Agave Games
- iOS
- Android
Price Free, with ads and in-app purchases
Pick it if you finished the first one and want busier scenes.
The sequel came out in February 2026 with all-new levels, and this time the scenes are in colour. The store says it’s harder than the first, with more going on in each picture, so if you finished the first one and wanted more of a squint, start here.
Most puzzly
9. Detective Mio
1N1
- iOS
- Android
Price Free, with ads. Hints and ad removal to buy
Pick it if you like a small puzzle mixed in with the looking.
You’re a cat detective looking for hidden animals (often more cats) in cartoon scenes: attics, galleries, a lab, space. What makes it different is that it isn’t only tapping. Some puzzles want you to drag things aside, swipe, or even turn your phone over. It plays offline, which is handy on a train. On Android it’s listed as Find Hidden Cats—Detective Mio.
How I picked these
Everything here is a search-and-find game in the Where’s Wally sense: one big picture, a short list of things hidden in it, and nothing to do but look. I left out the hidden-object games that are really adventure games with a search bolted on, and the ones that make you race a clock, because the whole point of a Where’s Wally book is that nobody is rushing you.
If you’re on a PC or a console rather than a phone, Devcow’s hidden cat games (A Castle Full of Cats and the Cats Hidden in… series) are worth a look too. They aren’t on the App Store or Google Play, so they didn’t make this list.
If you want something for a child
Start with Where’s the Meerkat? if you have an iPad, or Hidden Folks on anything. Both cost a few pounds once, with no ads and nothing to buy inside the game, which is what I’d want for a kid. The free games on this list all have ads and things to buy, and June’s Journey is meant for adults.
I checked every platform, price and link against the official store pages on 8 November 2026. Prices change and games get pulled, so if something here is wrong, tell me on the contact page.
Questions
Is there a Where’s Waldo app?
Not at the moment. There is no official Where’s Waldo (or Where’s Wally) app on the App Store or Google Play as of November 2026. The closest thing is Where’s the Meerkat? and Where’s the Unicorn?, apps of picture books in the same style, on iPhone and iPad.
What are some hidden cat games for iPhone and Android?
Purr & Seek, Find The Cat, Find The Cat 2 and Detective Mio are all on both. Purr & Seek has you find one particular cat in a crowd of them, the Find The Cat games have you find every cat in a scene, and Detective Mio mixes searching with small puzzles.
Which of these games are free?
Purr & Seek, Find The Cat, Find The Cat 2, Detective Mio and June’s Journey are free to download, with ads and in-app purchases. Hidden Folks and the three Hidden Through Time games cost a few pounds once.
What is the best Where’s Waldo-style game on mobile?
For me it’s Hidden Folks: big hand-drawn scenes full of tiny people, a list of who to find, and no timer. If you want something closer to the books themselves, try Where’s the Meerkat? on iPhone or iPad.
Purr & Seek
One cat, a crowd of cats, and 300 illustrated scenes to find it in. It’s out now on iPhone, iPad and Android, and free to play.
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