The best mobile games like Red Dead Redemption

While we're all super excited about the pending release of Red Dead Redemption 2, it's still quite a ways away. If you need a quality western game in the meantime, though, you'll be pleased to hear there are plenty of mobile options that will help you while away the months until Rockstar's newest cowboy hit lands in stores. Here are five of our favorite games similar to Red Dead Redemption.

2-bit Cowboy, with its classic GameBoy-era color-scheme, is a wild west playground. You can customize your own cowboy or cowgirl down to the very boots on your feet. Each level sees you on a grand, western adventure where you can rest at the casino or saloon after a hard day of gunslinging or exploring the mines.

If2-bit Cowboy isn't enough of a nostalgia trip for you, though, do check out The Oregon Trail. Gameloft revived the classic survival game for mobile quite faithfully. If you're familiar with the PC game, you'll be right at home with the iOS take. Choose a career and your month of departure before guiding your wagon across the continent to the promised land of Oregon. It's tougher than you think!

This follow up to Squids takes our sea-dwelling friends westward. It pairs Angry Birds physics-based challenges with some classic RPG mechanics. The game is clever in both dialogue and story, and there's nothing more adorable than watching your cowboy squid ride around on a seahorse.

Ready Steady Play is an endearing, minimalist collection of mini-games featuring a lone cowboy and his faithful hobby horse. Each game is western-themed, and there's a good variety to keep you entertained. You'll find a classic shooting gallery, a fast-paced endless runner mode, and some quick-draw duelling action. It's perfect if you're looking to enjoy the wild west in little spurts.

A looser interpretation of the western theme, Rodeo Stampede has you wrasslin’ elephants, ostriches, and a whole host of safari animals. Lasso an animal and tame it to add it to your zoo and attract visitors. It's part endless runner, part Zoo Tycoon, which is just fine in my book.

So there you have it--five fantastic wild west games you can play right now. From high-speed rodeo chases, to braving the prairie on the Oregon Trail, to classic arcade shooting--we think that's quite a bit to choose from.

What's your favorite western-themed game on mobile right now? Let us know in the comments!